CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Chase
WHAT THE HECK? I’M TOTALLY stunned that Sheridan and Emerson know one another. New York is a damn big city, Nels Cove is a tiny town in the middle of Colorado, yet the three of us are linked. After getting a round of drinks for everyone, we head toward ‘our’ booth and we all sit down. Sheridan, Rooney, and I all catch up. Emerson chats with Talia, but she is really quiet. She keeps glancing at Sheridan, and I begin to wonder if she thinks that Sheridan is one of my previous conquests. I need to get her alone and talk.
“So, Sheridan, what brings you to Nels Cove?” I ask, as the waitress delivers our burgers.
“Ummm.” She looks to Emerson unsure how to answer, “I, ahh, just wanted to catch up with my girl, Emerson, here. See how’s she’s doing and all that.”
Well, that’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one. Emerson relaxes under my arm. She seems relieved with the story that Sheridan told. I’m still intrigued, but I want my happy Ems back.
“So, what juicy stories do you have to spill on Emerson here?” Rooney says with his mouth full of burger.
“I see your manners haven’t gotten any better, Rooney.” She looks to Talia. “You sure you want to marry this guy?”
Talia looks lovingly at Rooney and with a super big grin replies, “Yep, I’ll take him. No manners and all.”
“Naw, I love you too, babe,” he says, leaning over to kiss her. Their gentle kiss quickly turns heated. It starts to become awkward for Sheridan, Ems, and me when thankfully they pull apart.
“Thank God for that,” I whisper to myself, but it wasn’t all that quiet. When I look up, everyone is staring at me. “What?” I say. “It was like I was at a live-action porn show.”
With that comment, silence falls over the table. Until Sheridan sings, “Bom-chicka-wow-wow.”
And Ems adds, with a totally fake over the top accent, “I’ve come to clean ze pool.” She pretends to rub her fake pornstash. With that, we all burst out laughing and fall back into easy, non-porn related conversation for the rest of the evening.
Before I know it, it’s closing time. We walk outside to our cars. Everyone is hugging and saying goodbye when I happen catch the tail end of Ems and Sheridan’s conversation/good bye and hear her say that she will see Sheridan tomorrow when she stops by. Sheridan is the first to drive off, as usual Rooney and I fall into another conversation, but out of the corner of my eye, I notice that Ems is really quiet and has withdrawn into herself. Rooney notices too and he silently tells me to go look after my girl; my girl, I like saying that. After hugging Talia, I slap Rooney on the back and walk over to Ems. “You ready to go?” I say, as I link my fingers with hers.
“Yep,” she quietly says as she follows me to my car.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just tired. Totally ready to fall into bed.”
I can’t help it and I suggestively wink at her, this garners a timid smile from her but it doesn’t reach her eyes. We climb into my truck and head toward Emerson’s place. The silence in the car is deafening. I break it when I say, “What a small world, you are Sheridan are friends from New York.”
“Yep.” She lets the P pop, “I never realized that you guys went to CU together. She had mentioned a Chase from her time there, but I never put two and two together.”
We pull up to her house and get out of the car; silently we walk up the path to her front door. She digs in her clutch for her house keys. Unlocking the door, we walk inside. “Do you want anything before bed?” she politely asks.
I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her waist. “I want you to tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been off all night, I’m worried about you.” Her body begins to shake in my arms and then I realize that she is crying. “Ems, talk to me, what’s wrong?”
She cries in my arms for a few minutes before she quietly says, “It’s all my fault, Chase. All my fault.” This admission causes her to completely fall apart in my arms. Scooping her up, I walk down the hallway to her room. Gently I lay her down on the bed, one by one I slip off her boots and place them on the floor next to the bed. As I gently place her shoes on the floor—gently because she’s protective of her shoes—she scoots up the bed and rests her head on her pillow. Lifting my shirt over my head, I throw it on the floor—kick off my shoes—not taking as much care as I did with Emerson’s boots, and slide in next to her. She rolls onto her side and snuggles into me. Wrapping my arms around her, I press her close to me, her back to my front. Gently kissing her on the temple, I quietly say, “Everything will be okay, Ems. I promise.”
She just keeps repeating over and over, “It’s all my fault.” Eventually her breathing evens out and I know she has fallen asleep.
Flopping onto my back, I stare at the ceiling and wonder what could be her fault. I need to speak to Sheridan; grabbing my phone I shoot her a text.
CHASE - We need to talk about Emerson
Immediately, I get a reply.
SHERIDAN - I can only tell you so much. Attorney-client privilege.
CHASE - Just tell me she’s going to be ok?
SHERIDAN - I don’t know
I stare at those three words until they start to go blurry. Placing my phone on the bedside table, I snuggle into Ems again. My last thought, before I drift off to sleep, is that I will do anything to help Emerson, anything.