Twenty-Six

Emery

Jensen didn’t return a single message for five whole days.

By then, I’d thought of every worst-case scenario—from him being with his ex-wife to his death. My imagination was ripe, but it had no reprieve. I knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong. Not a damn thing. And, at this point, he was ignoring me on purpose. We definitely needed a good long talk, and maybe he needed a sharp kick in the ass.

By Christmas Eve, I was even agreeing to go to church with my mother of all people just to see if he showed up. That way, we could get all of this out in the open.

Kimber, Noah, and Lilyanne decided to stay in since Kimber was due soon, and the days had gotten harder. She wanted to conserve all of her energy for Christmas morning when she would get to see Lilyanne open her mound of presents from Santa.

So, I drove myself over to my mother’s place to pick her up.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” my mother said when she answered the door in a chic black dress.

“Ha, Mom. Never heard that one before.” It was our normal routine and slightly comforting, considering the week I’d had.

“Well, I was going to let Gary Lupton drive me to church, but I suppose you’re a worthy substitute.”

I cringed. “What about Harry Stevenson?”

“A girl has to have options, Emery.”

“Oh God, Mom!”

She cackled and walked out to my Forester. “Don’t be such a prude. I know you’re seeing Jensen Wright. Everyone knows that he isn’t a prude.”

I ground my teeth as I turned over the ignition. “I really, really don’t want to talk about my love life. Thanks, but no thanks.”

“Why do you have to be like this? I thought we were bonding.”

“I can’t bond with you over who you’re having sex with. It grosses me out,” I told her as I pulled out of her driveway.

“Well, you refuse to come by and see me. You aren’t getting married. You aren’t getting your degree anymore. You hate shopping and pedicures and makeovers. What exactly am I supposed to bond with you over?”

“Hey, I like pedicures!” I said. “But just because I’m not…Kimber doesn’t mean that I don’t have my own qualities or whatever.”

“I only needle you because I love you. I just want to make sure you’re happy. I don’t want to see you waste your life away at the Buddy Holly Center again.”

“You set me up to work there!” I accused.

“Temporarily. I thought you’d be going back to school.”

“Well, I’m not,” I said. My mind was still locked on Jensen, and here was my mother, trying to plan my career. As if I wanted to add to the list of things that I had to deal with right now.

“You used to be so full of love for things. Things I hated but you loved them. Soccer and that horrendous skateboard and coaching and tutoring after school and honors society and—”

“Yes, I get it. But, now, I’m adrift, and I need something of my own.”

“Exactly.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll figure it out.”

My mother put her hand on my arm and sighed. “Maybe you should consider working at the high school. You have the degrees. You’d need to be certified, but I know you could do it.”

“High school students?” I shuddered.

“You’d make a difference.”

I brushed her hand off my arm.

I didn’t want to admit that she was right. I probably could get a job teaching history at the local high school, and maybe I’d even get to help coach the soccer team. I’d played on the intramural team at Oklahoma and at an adult rec league for two years at UT. I just didn’t know if that was it.

I’d loved teaching when I was in graduate school. That was the best part. The least stressful part honestly. It was the research and papers and endless criticism that had done me in. Some people were made for that and loved it but not me. I could take some critiques, but eventually, my head had exploded, and I’d felt like it was doing more harm than good.

“Just think about it,” my mom said as we pulled into the church parking lot.

“Okay,” I said, “I’ll think about it.”

“Good, or else I’d have to start talking about Jensen Wright again.”

I groaned and parked in a spot. “You kill me.”

“I love you, too,” she said. Then, she hurried toward a cluster of her friends standing at the entrance.

I scanned the parking lot for Jensen, but it was impossible. The church was huge, and I would never find him out here like that. I killed the ignition and then checked inside the church to see if the Wrights had arrived yet. No luck.

Then, I planted myself at the front of the church with my arms crossed. I felt like I was staking the place out as I waited, but if Jensen was here, then I needed to talk to him. I needed to figure out what the fuck was happening…or end it. Because I was not going to be toyed with.

Just when I had that thought, a bleach-blonde bob appeared before me.

“Ugh! Are you literally following me everywhere?” Miranda asked.

She was in a skintight blue dress that barely hit her at mid thigh and had a low-cut neckline. She looked good in it, but it wouldn’t have been my first choice for a relatively conservative church service.

“I go to church here,” I responded with a sigh.

“Uh-huh. Oh, I’m sure.”

“Miranda,” Landon said, hurrying to catch up, “let’s just go inside.”

“You knew she was going to be here.”

“We’ve gone to the same church since we were kids, Miranda. I can’t help that.”

“And I get no warning?” she asked.

“You don’t need a warning,” I said, “because there’s nothing going on here, and you’re worrying for nothing.”

“Don’t tell me how I feel. Just stay away from us.”

Then, she sauntered inside, as if she owned the place, and Landon gave me a sympathetic look before following her. I shook my head at her ridiculousness and then looked to see if the rest of the Wrights were following. I wasn’t disappointed.

Little Sutton Wright and her new husband, Maverick, had finally come back from their honeymoon in Cabo. She was a deep olive tan, and his nose was a bit red, but they both looked happy. After them, I saw Morgan and Austin enter. She looked to be scolding him, pointing at his pocket. I narrowed my eyes to try to figure out what she was saying. Then, I noticed the top of a flask peeking out of his pocket.

Oh, eesh!

Then, I couldn’t be bothered. Because walking straight toward me was none other than Jensen Wright himself. He looked…unbelievable. I might be mad at him, but he was undeniably attractive. He was in a tailored charcoal suit that fit him like a glove. He had on a red patterned shirt and a dark tie. His cheekbones were sharp, and his eyes were even fiercer. But I could see underneath it. He looked like he’d lost weight…and definitely sleep. There were dark circles under his eyes, like he’d been living off of caffeine and power naps.

He caught my eye, and I stopped breathing for a second. In that second, I just wanted to forget the last week. I wanted everything to be right. I wanted Wright to be right even though it felt so wrong.

But then that moment passed, and I knew what I had to do.

I marched straight over to Jensen and blocked his path before he could get inside. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Language, Emery,” he said, his voice clipped.

“Don’t do that,” I ground out. “Just answer the damn question.”

“I’ve been in New York.”

“Why haven’t you answered any of my calls or messages?”

“I’ve been busy,” he said simply.

I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out of the way of the entrance. “I’m missing something here. What the hell happened? Is it because I didn’t answer your calls that night? My phone died, and I didn’t see you’d called until I got home. I called you back as soon as I charged it,” I rambled on.

“Not as soon as.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, not following him.

“I really don’t want to get into this with you, Emery.”

He moved to brush past me, but I latched on to his arm. “Was it Vanessa?”

Jensen turned back to face me with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Do you still love her? Is that why you were in New York?” I knew I sounded desperate and jealous, but I cared very little at this point. If it was going to end, then I just wanted him to do it.

“You ask me that after last week?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” I demanded. He wasn’t making any sense.

He took a step toward me, towering over me. “I saw you with Landon. I saw the way you were all over him that night. Landon is still in love with you, and it sure looked like you felt the same.”

Landon was in love with me? Ha! That was a riot. And Jensen thought I was still in love with Landon? That was equally laughable.

“That is not what you saw!” I told him.

“Save it, Emery.”

Then, he turned and walked into the church, leaving me sputtering in shock. He thought I loved Landon. He thought that I had somehow chosen Landon over him. And I didn’t even know how he could think that.

Where had he seen me with Landon? At Flips? I definitely had not been all over him then. I’d never even touched him, except when he’d helped me to the door so that I wouldn’t fall over.

I stumbled back a step. Oh, shit.

Kimber had said Jensen had come by. Maybe he’d seen Landon help me. Maybe he thought something had been there that wasn’t. Because nothing was there. And it was preposterous to presume something like that. It was even worse to assume it, not have a conversation about it, and then run.