Chapter Seventeen
“It’s too late, Sam. I’m in love with someone else.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Emmi had to fight the urge to grin like a fool. Saying them out loud felt incredible. It was true. It was so true!
“What?”
She shook his hands off her shoulders and took several steps back. “I’m in love with someone else.”
“The fuck? Who? When? Jesus Christ, Emmi. I’ve only been gone a few weeks!”
“You’ve been gone eight weeks. Eight. Without a word to me. After throwing away the twelve years we had and forcing me to choose. Like I said, you made it quite clear this was forever. You made your choice, and it wasn’t me.”
“And so just like that you’re into someone else? Who is he? Is he that guy in the other room with your parents? Oh, holy fuck.” He ran his hand through his hair as understanding dawned on his face. “I met that guy once. He’s some family friend.”
“His name is Daniel, and yes, you met him once.”
“Well he didn’t waste any fucking time, did he?”
“You fucking asshole. Did you waste any time? You made your choice, and now I’ve made mine. You need to leave.”
“God, seriously? Why are you being such a bitch?”
“I’m not being a bitch. This was over the day you got on the plane. You made that clear to me. You can’t just show up now because it didn’t work out for you, and expect me to pick up where we left off, as if your absence didn’t affect me one bit.”
“But I said I was sorry. I admitted I was wrong.”
“And I’ve moved on. You need to do the same.”
Emmi turned to walk away as emotions coursed through her. Elation, a sense of power, and an intense need to look into Digger’s dark eyes and finally tell him how she felt.
Sam grabbed her arm, but she shook off his hand. “Enough. Enough! I will not let you mess with my head like this, Sam. It’s over. Go home.”
“I don’t have a home any longer. You sublet the apartment.”
“Oh, I see. So it was all right for you to leave me with it, and expect me to simply take care of it, but now that you’ve changed your mind, the fact you have no place to live is my fault?”
Her father walked into the room, which at least had the effect of wiping the righteous anger from Sam’s face. “Mr. LoPresti, I was just telling—”
“I heard what you told her. You need to leave my house, Sam.”
“I don’t know where to go.”
A quick flash of regret tore through her, but she pushed it away. “You still have friends here. Go to them.”
“Yeah. I can do that. Emmi, is there really no chance you’ll take me back?”
“None. You sealed that deal when you made me choose and then left me high and dry.” She faced her father. “Is Digger still in the small living room?” She didn’t want to wait one more second to tell him she was in love with him.
“No. I thought he was here. He followed you two a few moments after you left the room.”
“Oh my God…” What had he heard? When had he left? Where did he go? “I have to go.”
They both shouted after her, but she ignored it. She was in a full-blown panic by the time she grabbed her ID and coat, and got into her car. She recognized Sam’s car, but Digger’s was nowhere to be seen. He’d left the house. She prayed he was headed for his condo.
Three times she texted him, asking where he was, but he didn’t answer. What part of that crazy conversation had he heard? Why hadn’t he come into the room? She had to make this right. Granted, it wasn’t her fault Sam had shown up, but Digger wondered whether she’d ever feel the same way about him as he did about her. Whatever he had heard probably convinced him she would not.
She would find him and tell him the truth. It would be okay. It had to be. She’d never felt this way before, and she would not lose him.
****
Digger made it home in record time, and by the time he did, he felt like a damn fool. She had texted him three times, and three times he ignored the message. He was acting as childish as Sam. The only way to deal with this was to face it head-on.
But his heart was breaking, and he couldn’t do it. She kept asking where he was. Where the fuck did she think he was? Leaving the house like that had been impulsive and cruel, but he hadn’t thought about it. He had merely reacted.
Still, considering what Sam had put her through, she likely saw his leaving without a word as the same kind of betrayal. Or maybe not. Who the hell knew? He hadn’t stuck around to talk it out with her. This was fucked up.
Digger had never been through anything like this, but that didn’t excuse acting like a petulant child. He poured himself a drink and called her, but she didn’t answer the phone. That could mean everything, or it could mean nothing.
While he tried to calm down enough to talk to her, he opened his desk drawer and stared at the damn mistletoe he’d cut down from the ceiling. Why the fuck had he kept it? It was so dried up it looked like something he’d scraped off the sidewalk.
You know why you kept it.
Yeah. He knew. But it seemed pointless now. He removed it and put it next to his drink.
Why the fuck wasn’t she answering him? Why text someone three fucking times to ask where they were and then not answer your goddamn phone? He was just about to use the Find Friends app to see if she was still home, when he heard someone coming in his front door.
Christ! There was only one other person who had a key. Digger stood, hardly daring to believe she’d followed him here. Had she come to tell him in person it was over? He drained the drink and poured another one, then picked up the mistletoe for good measure. Maybe it would be a talisman, like it had once been? A guy could hope, after all.
****
Emmi stopped a few feet from him and stared at him, tears in her eyes. “I don’t know what you heard.”
“I heard enough.”
Oh God. Had he heard her tell Sam she was in love with someone else? If he had, why had he left? “What was the last thing you heard?”
“Emmi, please. No fucking games. I can’t handle it.”
He was so angry and hurt! She could still hardly breathe. “Please just tell me.”
For a few horrible seconds, she was convinced he wouldn’t answer. Finally, he sighed. “He told you he made a horrible mistake, and he knew he’d hurt you, but that he was back, and he’d never leave you again.”
“And that’s the last thing you heard?”
“Yeah. Okay? You happy now?”
She shook her head. “You should have stuck around a few seconds longer. I told him he was too late because I was in love with someone else.”
It didn’t register. She saw it in his eyes. “What?”
Emmi stepped closer, and her gaze was drawn to something in his hand. What the hell was that? “I said, I told him he was too late because I was in love with someone else.”
All he did was blink. She moved closer still and took his hand. “What is this?” When it fell, she picked it up. “Oh my God. You saved this?”
“Yep.”
“Digger … I sent him away. I told him to leave. So did my father. I don’t want Sam back. I want you.”
“I’m such an ass. I shouldn’t have left like that.”
“It’s all right. I understand why you did if that’s the last thing you heard.”
“But he left you, too.”
“It’s not the same thing. But I wish you’d stuck around. The conversation got worse. He whined about the apartment being gone and having no place to go. He called me a bitch for telling him to leave.”
“Want me to kill him for you?”
Emmi laughed until the tears that had threatened spilled over her lashes. The mistletoe fell to the floor again, but neither one of them retrieved it. They were too busy kissing.
“Is this real?” he asked, after releasing her mouth. “Are you really in love with me?”
“More than I can put into words.”
“Are you sure, Emmi? I have to know this is forever.”
“It is forever, and yes. I am absolutely positive.”
“No feelings left for Sam?”
“None. He’s a complete ass and a child. But you’re not. You’re a real man. And you’ve always been there for me.”
“Except I left today. I thought it was over.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. It’s not over. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Digger.”
The relief on his face sent her heart fluttering. “Emmi, I’ve waited so long to hear that. I don’t even know what to say right now.” He made a sound halfway between a laugh and a sigh. “This is a dream come true for me.”
“It is for me, too. You’ll never make me choose between my career and you.”
“Never. No way. Finish law school. I’ll be your biggest cheerleader. But I have to ask this. How did you decide what I do for a living is no longer an issue?”
“I finally understood that it doesn’t define you. It’s not who you are inside. No more than my clerking for a few months defines me.” She poked his chest with her index finger. “The person you are in here, that’s the person I fell in love with.”
“God, Emmi. About fucking time.”
She smiled and he kissed her again, sending a wave of desire racing through her body so strong, she could barely stay standing. When he released her, he walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. “I’m sorry this isn’t more romantic, but I can’t wait.”
When he got down on one knee, Emmi had to blink back fresh tears.
“I love you. I love you so damn much, and I have for years.” He opened the velvet Tiffany box to reveal the most gorgeous engagement ring she’d ever seen. It didn’t surprise her a bit that it was extravagant and simply perfect. Digger did nothing half-assed.
He removed it and placed it on her finger. It was also no surprise that it fit. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“The honor is all mine. I would love to be your wife.”
After he took her hands and she stood, he pulled her close and held her as tears ran down her face. This was the happiest she’d ever been, and their adventure together was only beginning.
It had taken coming face-to-face with her past to make her realize who she wanted in her future. But now that she had, Emmi vowed to love Digger with all the passion and emotion she could, every single day of her life.
And she also vowed never to let him forget, not for one solitary moment, how very much she loved him.
The End