Chapter 20
The next day, from Gate 24 of Buffalo Niagara International Airport, Emma makes a call to Hawk. I never thought she would be able to pull this off, but son of a bitch, she did.
I can hear Hawk yelling through the phone. Then Emma replies, "I'm calling to tell you that Honey, Ari, and I are safe. We're in Buffalo at the airport, about to board a plane." Then there is more yelling from Hawk, and then Emma says, "We're going to Ireland." And some more yelling. "Sorry, Hawk, but that's not gonna happen." She pauses then adds, "I love you—really, I do. And I know you're doing everything to keep me safe. But you have a club to run and Ice is counting on you."
The yelling seems to have subsided and Emma is listening. Then she replies, "No, he is not. I'll make sure of that. This decision was mine and mine alone. I can't put you all in danger again. Not after all the turmoil you all went through because of me in the last few weeks. That rattlesnake was the last straw. Anyone could've been bitten. I'm not taking any more chances. I'll be safe in Ireland and I'll be with Caden. I need him, Hawk. Once he finds out about all the threats he will be glad that I'm with him and not here where he can't protect me."
She's quiet again and then looks at both Ari and me. "My initial plan was to go alone. It's a long story, but they both insisted that they go with me. They really didn't give me much of a choice,"
Just then, I hear over the intercom, "This is the final boarding call for Aer Lingus flight 3784 to Belfast. All passengers, please board immediately."
Emma says, "Hawk, I need to go. They just announced the final boarding call for our flight."
I tug on her arm and say, "Let me talk to him."
"Hang on, Honey wants to talk to you." She hands me the phone.
"Hey," I say into the phone.
"Have you lost your ever-loving mind? You know better, Honey," he yells.
"Yes, I know better," I reply.
"I swear you fucking girls are gonna be the death of me yet. You're gonna give me a fucking heart attack. Is that what you want?"
"Hawk baby, calm down. I'll look after them. No worries. I've got this."
He finally stops yelling and says, "If you say so. Doesn't look I have much of a choice in the matter, now does it? Put Emma back on." I hand Emma her phone back and say, "He's better now."
She takes the phone and says, "Hawk, we really need to go. I'll let you know when we get to Belfast."
She listens for a minute and says, "I will," then disconnects the line.
She looks over at Ari and me and says, "That went well," and we all bust out laughing as we proceed to board our plane.
We get ourselves settled on the plane. Emma purchased first class tickets and I have to say, it's really nice. I've never been on a plane before and I'm a little nervous, but I don't tell the girls that. I've always been the one to ground both of them and I refuse to let them know that I'm a little scared right now. Emma is sitting next to me by the window and Ari is in the middle section of the plane across the aisle from me. Once everyone is on the plane, they close the door and a few minutes later, the plane begins to move away from the gate.Here goes...
Taking off is a rush. The thought of something so big lifting off the ground and flying into the air amazes me. Part of me wishes I had the window seat so I could watch, but the part of me that is still a little shaky about flying is glad that I am sitting on the aisle. Once we reach our cruising altitude—I only know that terminology because the pilot just announced it—Emma takes out a book and begins to read. I brought a book too, so I reach under the seat in front of me to get my backpack and pull my book out as well. Ari gets a set of headphones from the flight attendant and starts watching a movie. The screen is in the back of the seat in front of her, so it's like she has her own personal movie theater right there. It's really cool.
The flight is long but direct. We're offered food, snacks, and drinks. Alcohol is free in first class and it takes everything in me not to order a drink. Lord knows I want to. But my sobriety is important to me, so I don’t. Eventually, I fall asleep and I don't wake up until the plane is about to land. My nerves come back as the plane touches down on the ground, but thankfully we land safely.
We go through the process of customs, getting our bags, and hailing a cab. This part is definitely not fun, but obviously, it is something that all international travelers must go through.
It's pretty late when we finally get to Rebel's family's home. We approach the door and Emma knocks. I'm sure we're going to wake up the whole house. A few seconds go by and nobody answers. Emma knocks again and then we hear yelling from inside the house.Holy crap. What the fuck is going on?
The door finally opens and we see Rebel standing there shirtless and barefoot, wearing only a pair of sweatpants that hang low on his hips. But his state of undress is not what concerns me, it's the sexy redhead standing in the middle of the living room wearing nothing but a pair of black lace panties. We all just stand there in shock and then Emma says, "Rebel? What's going on here?" Poor Ari looks like she is about to cry and frankly, I can't say that I blame her.
I can’t believe that Rebel has allowed himself to get into a situation like this. He’s a smart guy and to cheat on Ice's sister right in front of him would be a death wish. Surely he knows that. But I’ve seen him get himself into sticky situations in the past and it wouldn’t surprise me if this is exactly what it looks like. The fact that Rebel is tongue-tied and remains silent just makes him look more guilty.
"Ari …" Rebel says loud enough for all of us to hear. Silence deafens the room, then Rebel finally yells, "Ciara, I fucking said to go back to bed! Now!"
The half-naked girl who I assume is Ciara looks from Rebel to Ari with a pout. "Fine!" she stammers. As she stomps up the stairs, she yells, "Good luck explaining this one!" Her laughter fills the silence in the room.
Rebel watches her go and then turns back toward us. "What are you girls doing here?" he asks as he gestures for us to come in.
We walk through the door silently, bags in hand. It's very awkward and Rebel hasn't started explaining yet, which is making the whole situation worse. Emma says as we walk into the house, "Maybe first you should explain what we walked in on."
Rebel looks at Ari apologetically and says, "Babe, it's not what it looks like, I swear. I never touched her."
