“You know damn well I’m not saying that. But can you understand how your brother might see it?”
Emma exhaled and looked away, nodding. “I get it.”
“What happened to you, what were you running from?” Celia asked. They hadn’t talked much last night. Between Nate’s reaction and Emma’s exhaustion, Celia had sent everyone to their corners until they’d calmed down.
Emma’s eyes filled with tears and she shrugged even as her fists clenched tight around the blankets on her lap.
“Talk to me,” Celia said.
“A stupid guy.”
“They’re all stupid, aren’t they?” Celia chuckled, but could see in Emma’s face that this specific “stupid guy” was different. “Tell me his name.”
“Luke. Luke Roark.”
Celia’s eyes grew wide. “You mean…?
Emma nodded.
“Does Nate know?”
“Apparently he does. He told Luke everything.”
“Oh.” Celia got up and searched the room for a box of tissues. When she found them, she returned, resuming her seat and setting the box on Emma’s lap. “And what did Luke do with this information that made you take a flight in the middle of the night?”
That made her stop and think. Good. Celia loved Emma and knew she was dealing with a lot, or maybe it was more accurate to say not dealing with a lot. Emma had used Nate’s overprotective behavior as her excuse to take off, but Celia knew she was running away from herself as much as from Nate.
“Sounds to me like Luke Roark may have been trying to help you.” Like he might care about you, she thought but didn’t say.
Emma just looked at her as tears spilled down her face. After a few minutes, she blew her nose and eyed Celia’s belly. “How’s my little nephew?” she asked, attempting a smile.
“Busy,” Celia said, placing a hand over her swollen stomach. “He’s got a lot of energy.”
“Less than two months to go, not long. Are you ready?” Emma asked.
“Have you been counting along with me all this time?” Celia asked.
“My first nephew, what do you think?”
Celia smiled. “I’m ready. We’ve been wanting this for a long time and Nate’s excited. In fact, I don’t think he can wait. You should hear him talk to my belly.”
Emma laughed. “I can just imagine.”
“Hey, go have a shower, get changed. You’ll feel better. Your things are still here. We’ll all go out for lunch and talk. It’s time, Emma. You can’t keep running away from what happened.”
That brought fresh tears to Emma’s eyes.
“Besides, you have to be here for this little guy.” She patted her belly and stood. “I’m going to need your help.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Emma said, pushing the covers away. “I’ll be down in a little bit.”
“Good,” Celia said. “See you downstairs. I’m hungry, so don’t dawdle!” she said, smiling.
Nate was waiting for her in the kitchen, a cup of cold coffee in front of him, his expression worried. “Well?” he asked, pulling out a chair for her.
“She’s having a shower and then she’ll be down. Just take it easy with her, ok? You don’t want to push her farther away. She needs you now, Nate, but you’ve got to give her space. If you push, she’ll run again, you know that.”
“I know. I know, baby. What would I do without you?” he said, pulling her in a for a hug.
“What’s this about Luke Roark?” Celia asked when he picked up his coffee mug. She knew Luke and Nate’s history, but the past was the past as far as Nate was concerned. It had taken some time for them to work through what had happened, but they had and their friendship was strong, even if they only saw each other a few times a year. In fact, it was Nate who had taken extra steps to rebuild their relationship, pushing Luke when he’d been more distant.
“Somehow, she ended up at a club he was at with a guy he apparently knew.” Nate rolled his eyes here, shaking his head. “Typical Emma fashion, find some jerk to fuck you up even more than you already are.”
“Shhh. She might hear and anyway, that’s not fair. She’s had a lot of crap to deal with. Go on about Luke.”
“Well, you know I’d always suspected he had a thing for her and Emma never hid her feelings for him. They apparently got together. He took her home and she’d been there with him. I called him while you were up there to find out what the hell happened, but the line was bad. I haven’t been able to connect again.”