Chapter Fifteen

Dylan

My heart stopped at the smile on Emma’s lips as soon as she saw me heading into her diner. If I were a good man I’d turn and run the other way. I’d leave her alone. God only knows what she was thinking about me. Did she think there was a future? Did I? For better or worse we were drawn together. There was too much history, too many mistakes.

“Anything I can do around here?” I said. I’d timed my surprise visit for closing time.

“No, that’s all right. I’ve got it.” Emma smiled. “Did you want anything from the fridge? I have a few éclairs left and some muffins.”

“I’m good.” I shook my head.

She paused at the end of the counter and ran her fingers through her frazzled hair. Damn, she was sassy. “So, if you’re not here for a snack, can I ask what you’re here for?”

The one thing I wasn’t allowed to have.

I pushed aside the mental images of all the ways I wanted her and forced a polite smile. “I came to walk you home.”

Emma frowned. “Dylan, I live literally one flight of stairs away. I don’t need a babysitter. If I’m in some kind of danger then I want you to tell me.”

I flexed my jaw. “I don’t know what happened to Jimmy and Tommy. All right? I’m still working to put it together. All I do know is that I’ll feel better knowing where you are and that you’re safe.”

Emma stared at me for a minute, her eyes bouncing back and forth between mine, as though she was looking for something. When she looked away she heaved a sigh and then went to stack chairs on the tables crowded around the front window. “I’ll be fine, Dylan. Don’t worry about me.”

“Emma—”

“No.” She turned on her heels and a spark flit to life in her eyes. “I’m not some damsel in distress. I don’t want a bodyguard. I’m leaving here and going to run some errands with my son. I’m not going to explain to him why some man in a black motorcycle jacket is following us around. He’s confused enough as it is.”

The blood in my veins kicked into a simmer, but I gave her a curt nod and strode back to the doors. “Fair enough. I’ll let you know what I find out about the shootings,” I said. “Have a good night.”

“Goodnight, Dylan.”

***

My mom was the only one home when I arrived back at my parents’ house. She was sitting alone in the dining room, a cup of tea to her right as she flipped through a magazine. “Where’s everyone?” I asked as I came into the room.

She glanced up. “Oh, Dylan. I didn’t hear you come in. Your father and Uncle Paddy went out to get a pint.”

I frowned. “Hopefully that’s all they find—” I muttered under my breath. Cause if a poker game or a slot machine was involved, we could all be in trouble.

“What was that?”

I shook my head, dismissing it. “Mom, you really ought to lock the front door when you’re home alone.”

She flapped a hand. “Sit down. Have some tea with me.”

I laughed. “I’m not really a tea guy.”

“Well there’s some of that god-awful beer in the fridge too, if you’d prefer.”

“I would.”

I grabbed a beer and then padded back into the dining room and sat beside her. “How are you?”

She closed the magazine and reached over to squeeze my hand. “Holding up.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Tell me that you’re here to stay.”

Her words twisted my heart into a crumpled ball. “I wish I could.”

“Do you?”

I sighed. “Yes and no. Being back has been interesting. I realize how much I’ve missed you guys. But even in the last few days I’m getting restless. This neighborhood is too small. I don’t like the fishbowl feeling that’s following me around. Everywhere I go people come up and want to talk. It’s all meant to be friendly, but it’s a little intense.”

“You’re a real life hero to these folks.”

“I know.”

She sipped at her tea, and as she set the cup aside a smile formed on her lips. “Have you seen much of Emma since you’ve been in town?”

I groaned. “Mom—”

Her smile widened. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

It was good to see her smile, even if it meant delving into the past.

“We’ve seen a little of each other.”

“And?”

“What? She’s going through a lot. I’m just trying to help.”

“You sure that’s all?”

“Ma, I’m surprised by you!” I shook my head. “She just lost her husband.”

“Well...some would say she lost him a while ago.”

I cocked my head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Tommy and Emma were never the picture of perfection, Dylan. You ought to know that considering how well you knew them. Didn’t they ever strike you as an odd pair?”

I swallowed hard as the memory of getting Emma’s letter in the mail sprang to life, playing out like the terrible crux of some sappy romance flick. “I try not to think too much about it.”

“Well, they were oil and water, son. You know how people talk in this neighborhood. They argued in restaurants, at the diner, even bickered in the grocery store.”

“Was she ever happy with him?”

“I don’t know, son. But if you want my opinion, she was only using him to get over you. It was doomed from the start.”

My jaw tensed. “And now what? We should just lay aside all the reasons we ended all those years ago and pick up again? She’s got a kid, Ma. A whole new life.”

“I’m not telling you to do anything.” She gave another smile and went back to sipping at her tea. “When do you leave?”

“A couple of weeks.”

“Where are they sending you this time?”

“I don’t know. Probably back to the Middle East. That’s where I was when the news reached me.”

“In your last letter, you mentioned you were trying to decide which way to go, as far as the future. Any more thoughts on that?”

“Lots of thoughts but no decisions.”

“What’s holding you back?”

I scoffed softly. “Hell, if I know. It makes the most sense to stay in, re-up my contract, and keep on keeping on. Why not? I don’t have anything else going on right now.”

“You have your family. Emma.”

I smiled at her. She was too insightful to get around. She’d always been the one person I couldn’t bullshit.

She reached across the table and squeezed my hand again. “I sure would like to have you home again, and I have no doubt that I’m not the only one.”