Emerson's Fury : L.B. Pavlov (22 page)

I felt my body tense up. He was already asking too many questions. Personal questions. I didn’t like it.

“I don’t have a hang-up. I have dated the normal way, and it didn’t work for me. I just don’t really want to have a real boyfriend. But you kept pestering me about it, so I came up with this idea. Do you have a better one that I could have used?” I asked in a serious tone.

“So serious, Miss Hollingsworth. No, I don’t have a better one; I just haven’t ever met someone who concocted such a crazy plan. But I’m not complaining because I’m the one benefiting from your madness,” he said with a wink.

For a moment my stomach dropped from the way that he looked at me. Poor Jax, he was such a nice and charming guy, and now he would be wasting his time on me.

“Well, anytime you want to go back to being just friends, all you have to do is say the word,” I said honestly.

“Hmmmmmm, I wonder what kind of breakup you will allow us to have,” he joked.

Jax and I went on to talk about our families, and he was a huge fan of my father. I wondered if that was part of the allure for him. I thought back to Cross, and how he hadn’t known who my father was when we met. It had been so nice to finally have someone meet me by accident and not have planned to meet me just so he could meet my father. But then the insecure side of me quickly wondered if my father was right and if it was all a setup, which would have meant that he did know who I was when we met. I guess I would never be sure.

“Emerson? You OK?” Jax inquired. I must have been deep in thought.

“Sorry, part of the agreement will be that you have to deal with my brain. It’s always thinking, so sometimes I get lost in thought,” I said, laughing.

“There isn’t any part of you that I can’t deal with,” he said, pouring on the charm.

“Oh no. You’re doing it again. None of that smooth talking. You don’t have to charm me. We have the arrangement already,” I said happily.

This may actually work. No games. No nonsense. No emotions involved. This was the perfect relationship for me. I was so proud of myself for coming up with it. I could focus on track and school and have my fake boyfriend take me on occasional dates.

We continued our conversation through dinner and dessert, and by the time he walked me to my door, I was exhausted.

“Thank you for dinner. It was so nice. I will pay next time because I don’t want this to be a financial drain on you,” I said equitably.

Jax burst into laughter once again. I was clearly funnier than I had ever been before because he sure laughed at me a lot.

“You are not a financial drain, and I like to pay for my dates. I think I should get a few choices on the rules, and I am not flexible on this one. I pay, you eat,” he said firmly.

“Anything else?” I asked curiously.

“Occasional flowers are allowed, and a kiss on the cheek seems fair,” he said, smiling at me, and I could tell he was trying to lock eyes, but I refused to meet his gaze. Too dangerous.

“Fine and fine,” I said, turning my cheek.

He kissed me on the cheek, but the way that he wrapped his arms around me made a cheek kiss far more intimate than I could have anticipated.

“Good night, Emerson,” he said as he pushed open my door.

“Good night. Thank you,” I said, trying to keep it business-friendly.

I heard him laughing as I closed my door. Hannah was sitting on her bed smiling at me when I walked in. “You look nice. Did you have fun?”

“It was fine. Everything’s fine,” I said, kicking off my boots.

“Do you really think Jax Savage is going to stick to the arrangement?” Hannah asked curiously.

“Well, he did pretty well so far,” I said confidently.

“You just need to be careful. You don’t want to hurt your friendship with him. How long do you think you can keep this up?” she asked, taking a sip of her tea.

“I could keep it up for a while. He’s easy to be around. I told you my mom is very concerned about me not being social and not dating since everything happened with Cross. So, this will make my parents feel as if I’m totally fine. It’s really a genius plan,” I said proudly.

“But, um, you’re not fine, Emerson. Maybe you should tell them that,” she said, and she squeezed my hand.

“I know what you’re saying, but the situation is just not normal, so nothing normal will really work. If I tell my parents that, they will feel guilty. But how can I ask them to let me date the son of their enemy? It’s just never going to happen. So I will just fake-date Jax for a little bit so everyone stops worrying,” I said, hoping this would really work.

“Of all the people you could have pretended to date, you picked Mr. Charming,” she said, laughing.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

c h a p t e r    n i n e t e e n

I met Carlos at our favorite coffee shop for an update. We met weekly to go over the security details and any findings on Blane. We arrived at the same time, ordered our coffee, and found a table out of the way from the crowd. Carlos went over the usual security arrangements for each of the kids as well as for Charlotte. He opened his notebook, and he paused for a moment.

“What is it? Has something happened?” I asked nervously.

“No. Nothing’s happened,” Carlos said quietly.

“Is there something on your mind?” I inquired, certain that something was going on by his actions.

“Can I be straight with you, Daniel?” Carlos said, meeting my eyes with a very serious gaze.

“Of course you can,” I said, curious about what was going on.

“We’ve known each other a long time. I know I work for you, but I consider you family,” he said, and then he paused again, trying to find the right words.

“I consider you family as well,” I said, trying to give him a moment to gather his thoughts.

“Daniel, look at this notebook. Nothing has happened since the day this guy got out of prison. Nothing. It’s all blank. He isn’t coming after you or your
family. He hasn’t seen Cross since the one meeting they had when he first got out. It’s obvious they don’t know each other,” he said, pausing again to gauge my reaction.

“Do you really think he is going to leave us alone?” I asked. I needed to know Carlos’s opinion. I trusted him with everything that I knew.

“I don’t think he is going to come near you. I really don’t. I also don’t believe that Cross is involved at all, Daniel. Blane appears to have some sort of medical problem. He has been at the hospital every day to see a doctor. And he stays for hours. I don’t have any details, but he doesn’t look well. He’s very frail. He has never contacted Cross again either. I think if they were involved in some conspiracy together, he would be reaching out to Cross if he has a medical condition.” When he was finished, he stopped and took a sip of coffee, giving me a moment to respond.

“You really don’t think Cross is involved? Do you think he knew about Blane before we found out?” I pressed.

“I don’t, Daniel. I’ve said that to you from the beginning. The kid is totally removed from the situation. He seems as much a victim as all of you are,” he said matter-of-factly.

“How could I have been so wrong?” I whispered, suddenly realizing the gravity of what I had done.

“I think fear makes it hard to be clear-headed. I think that you were scared for your family. And I think that everyone will understand that when you finally let this go and move on,” he said, and he set his coffee down and stared me in the eyes. He wanted me to hear him, and I did. Loud and clear.

“I’ve been pretty irrational, haven’t I?” I said shamefully. Charlotte had been trying to tell me this for months, but I thought she just didn’t understand the magnitude of the situation.

“It’s understandable, Daniel. It’s a unique situation. But you have to look at the evidence now, and you have to move on. Otherwise fear is going to destroy you,” he said with concern.

“I feel bad. I wasn’t fair to Cross—or to my family. I don’t know how to fix this,” I said, feeling the guilt start to fill me.

“Daniel, listen. You went through a lot with Blane DiAmico. We were all stunned to find out that Cross was his son. Your reaction was fair. But you’ve just held on far beyond what is warranted. The best way to fix this is to tell the truth—to admit that you were scared and that you are sorry. You will be surprised how understanding everyone will most likely be,” he said, and I could tell that Carlos felt relieved that he had said this to me.

“Thanks for putting up with me,” I said, genuinely grateful for his honesty.

“There’s no one else I’d rather put up with.” He laughed.

“Well, I need to fix things, and it starts now. Can you handle dropping the restraining orders?” I asked, suddenly standing up as if I was in a hurry to be somewhere.

“Of course I will. Where will you start?” he asked as he got up from the table as well.

“At Notre Dame. The only place I can start,” I said humbly.

Football season had ended, and we had made it through a cold winter. I was working out with my team year-round and busy keeping up my grades in school. I had only been home once to see my grandparents, and it proved more difficult than I had expected. Everything at home reminded me of Emerson. Time had not healed things at all, and I still thought of her every day. Home was also a reminder of who my parents were and where I came from. I did not see my mother or let her know that I was home. I left as quickly as I came and used it strictly as a time to see my grandparents and make sure that they were OK. John had come up to see me a couple more times, and he was really happy I had stopped drinking. I had bumped into Indy a couple of times on campus, and he would walk over and ask how I was when he saw me. I was still nervous about the restraining order, but he assured me it was fine. Greg and I ran into him when we were grabbing a pizza one night, and I couldn’t help myself from asking that time.

“How’s Emerson doing at IU?” I asked, feeling suddenly self-conscious that I had crossed a line by asking.

“I think she is doing about the same as you are,” he said, looking intently at me. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Could Indy tell that I was still having a hard time with everything? Or did he think I was fine and want me to know that she was fine? I didn’t know what to make of it, and it really didn’t matter. I would always be Blane DiAmico’s kid to the Hollingsworths.

“OK, well, I’ll see you later, Indy,” I said as Greg grabbed our pizza and we headed out the door.

“See ya, Cross,” he said as he patted me on the shoulder.

I pondered his answer all night as I lay sleepless in bed. I wondered if Emerson was dating, if she had moved on, if she missed me or hated me. I hardly slept, and I decided to get up and go for a run. Spring was approaching, and the weather was finally getting really nice. I thought about Emerson whenever I ran, because it was something we’d done together often.

When I walked back into my dorm and opened the door, I was stunned to see Daniel Hollingsworth sitting with Greg in our room. Greg was elated, obviously; he was reciting every game he ever saw Daniel play. Daniel was a humble guy, and he thanked Greg graciously for all the kind words. He told Greg he had come to a few games this season and was impressed by him as well, which caused Greg to almost fall over as he tried to walk out the door to give us some privacy. I was surprised to hear that Daniel had been to a game.

I stood anxiously unsure of what he was here for and what I should do.

“How are you doing, Cross?” he asked matter-of-factly.

“I’m good, sir, how are you?” I replied nervously.

“Can you give me a few minutes? I just wanted to talk to you about a few things,” he said, and I sat down on my bed as he sat on one of the desk chairs.

“Of course…Is something wrong with Emerson?” I suddenly asked in panic.

“No, no, no, everything is fine. Well, I shouldn’t say that. Emerson is fine. I am actually here to apologize to you. And I am hoping you will hear me out,” he said, and I could tell that something was heavy on his mind.

“Sure,” I said, confused.

“Cross, when we found out who your father was, I was shocked. I panicked because I let fear rule my emotions. I thought maybe he had put you up to dating my daughter to get to us, and I know that I was wrong,” he said honestly. “I was so wrong. I should have let you explain. You’re a good kid, and I shouldn’t have come down on you the way I did. It was fear, Cross, it had nothing to do with you.”

“Well, I don’t blame you for thinking that at all. It makes sense. What are the chances that my biological father would be your enemy? But honestly, Daniel, I didn’t know my father was alive. And I don’t know the guy at all, I promise you,” I said adamantly.

“Cross, I know that. I should have let you explain that in the beginning, but I was too upset. It’s no excuse, it’s just a fact. And sadly, I have had Blane followed since he was released, and I know that you don’t have a relationship with him. But I should have known that by the way you treated my daughter. You were nothing but a gentleman to Emerson, and I feel very bad for how I reacted,” he said humbly.

“I understand. I would react the same way if I thought someone was a threat to Emerson,” I said sympathetically.

“I know you would, son. And I’m very sorry that I doubted you. But I thought it was important that I come to you and make amends. We consider you family, and I treated you very unfairly. All I can say is that I was scared for my family, and I reacted poorly,” he said. He was obviously ashamed of his actions.

“Well, I appreciate you coming to me now. I didn’t want you to hate me,” I said quietly.

“I want you to know that the restraining order has been dropped, and you are welcome in our home anytime you like,” he said kindly.

“Thank you, Daniel. But the fact still remains that I am the son of Blane DiAmico, and that will always be an issue,” I said, pushing my hands through my hair in frustration.

“I came here to tell you that it doesn’t matter to me. And it has absolutely never mattered to Charlotte. Blane DiAmico has nothing to do with you, and I am sorry for making you feel like it mattered. What I did to you, and to my daughter, was wrong and unfair. And I am truly sorry, Cross.” I stared at him in shock.