Emily's Choice (11 page)

When she was
finished with that, she packed her briefcase with her current projects and her
laptop and set everything by the door. She went back to her desk and crossed
the completed items off her list—the rest would have to wait until later in the
morning. Their flight didn’t leave until one, so Emily would have plenty of
time to get phone calls made, the rest of the things they’d need packed, and
get them both over to the airport.

She only
planned to rest on her bed for a couple minutes, let the situation sink in and
then get back to organizing and getting ready to leave, but the next thing she
knew, Sadie was shaking her awake.

“Mama!”

Emily
blinked and sat up. Eyes darting to the clock in panic, she sighed in relief
when she saw it was only four in the morning. “What is it, Sadie?”

“Pee bed,
Mama. Sadie sorry,” she said, lip quivering and tears ready to spill.

“Oh, it’s
okay baby,” she soothed, drawing her in for a hug. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Sadie was
basically potty-trained during the day; she did great and barely had any
accidents. It was a feat Emily knew was unusual for a child Sadie’s age. Not
unheard of, just unusual. But they struggled at night. Sadie refused to wear a
diaper or Pull-Up because she was NOT a baby, but she was a deep-sleeper and
couldn’t wake herself up until it was too late. Emily was grateful for the
plastic mattress covers they had now. They made the middle of the night
cleanups much easier.

She got
Sadie cleaned up and into dry pajamas. She stripped Sadie’s bed, cleaned the
plastic cover, and remade the bed. Sadie went right back to sleep, thankfully,
and Emily took the soiled sheets and threw them in the washer. She made a
mental note to remember to throw them in the dryer before they left.

Heading back
to her room, she picked up her phone and texted Phoebe and Gina with the news and
her flight and hotel information. She was sure she
’
d hear from them as soon as they
saw her messages in the morning.

She picked
up her Kindle and tried to focus on her book, giving up after reading the same
paragraph five times.

While she
waited for the TV to turn on, she quickly ran out to the kitchen with her cold
tea and reheated it. Then she laid back down in bed, flipping through the
channels and waiting for the morning to arrive so she could get home to her
family and Mama G.

Jason
glanced at his phone. Eight o’clock and he was just now sitting down to dinner.
The repairs on the fencing ate up his day, and by the time he was chased home
by the descending darkness, he’d been too tired and too lazy to make dinner.
So, he’d taken himself to The Dustbowl, his favorite haunt (and really the only
option that wasn’t at least an hour away), for dinner. They served typical bar
food and Jason opted for a burger and fries. He ordered a beer to go with it
but wished it was something stronger. He had more fencing to repair before
winter set in and knew if he started on the hard stuff, he’d never be able to
pull himself out of bed in the morning.

When Ben,
the owner of The Dustbowl, set his beer down in front of him, Jason took a long
drink and let his thoughts have free rein . . . not that he was in charge of
them anyway. He freely admitted he spent way too much time coming up with plans
to get Emily back, but lately, he’d run out of ideas. After his initial visit a
few months after she fled
Mosquero
, he’d returned to
Boston four times but hadn’t taken the chance to interact with Emily. Instead,
he let the calls, gifts, and actions make his point. He was religious about
sending cards, flowers, and gifts for both Emily and Sadie. He made sure to
send Emily a check every month even though she never asked for help.

Every
Tuesday, he stopped in at the
Camancho
ranch and had
breakfast with Grace. She updated him on Emily and Sadie, shared pictures and
anecdotes. It had taken Grace a while to warm up to him after Emily left, but
daily visits back then had finally worn her down. He remembered the morning she’d
relented. About a month after Emily left, the morning started out rough. He’d
tried for the zillionth time to call Emily. Straight to voicemail, so he’d
thrown his phone against a wall. It shattered and he cursed a blue streak. He
tried to brew some coffee but the damn thing shorted out and a small fire broke
out. Giving up, he went outside only to see it raining sheets. There went his
plans to get any major work done that day. He turned to go back inside the
kitchen when his eyes had fallen on Emily’s house on the other side of the line
of trees.

Stiffening
his spine, he stormed off his porch and stomped his way to the
Camancho
home. He pounded on the kitchen screen door and
waited for someone to answer.

Grace came
to the door and all of Jason’s pent up worry, rage, and confusion came pouring
out. “I still love her. You’re supposed to be a mother—how can you ignore me
like you’ve never met me before? Has our relationship meant nothing to you over
the years? Where is she? I still love her!”

Grace had
kindly shown him in and sat him down at the table with a towel and a hot cup of
coffee. She had sat at the table with him and listened as all his feelings came
pouring out. She hadn’t told him where to find her, but she had told him that
Emily was doing okay. And every Tuesday, from then on, Jason had shown up at
the kitchen door and had breakfast with Grace. She told him bits and pieces of
Emily’s life, things that were of no serious consequence, but things that Jason
drank in. And once Sadie had been born, she’d been a fount of knowledge giving
him all the growth and physical milestones as well as giving him a plethora of
photographs.

He needed to
see them in person, again. The FaceTime chats with Sadie were a treasured
treat, but he needed more. Especially for times, like tonight, when he and
Emily had a difference of opinion. He had to make his case, face-to-face, to
Emily. How much longer could this go on? Maybe Emily just didn’t realize how
incredibly serious he was about getting her back. Maybe she thought he was just
going through the motions. Though, how she could believe that was beyond him.

Ben set his
dinner in front of him, and nodding his thanks, Jason dug in.

“Hello,
handsome,” a silky smooth, yet grating, voice greeted him.

“Lila.” He
acknowledged her presence with a curt nod and pulled his arm away from her
touch. He went back to his food, praying she’d get the hint even though he knew
better.

“Will you be
here Friday with the guys?”

Jason
shrugged, but knew if she was going to be here, he sure as hell wasn’t.

“Why won’t
you talk to me? You know how I feel about you.” Lila pouted.

“Lila,” he
growled between bites. “We’ve been down this road. Go away.”

Eyes going
to slits, Lila’s true nature spilled out. “Obviously, she doesn’t want you
back. You’re wasting your life.”

“It’s mine
to waste,” Jason warned, taking another long gulp of his beer.

“Did you
hear about Aunt Grace?” Lila asked innocently, inspecting her cuticles in the
dim light.

Jason
whipped his head around, his burger and fries forgotten. “No.”

“She was in
a car accident this afternoon.”

“What?”
Jason asked, straightening up on the barstool, alert and worried.

Lila nodded.
“People have been coming in to the bank all afternoon talking about it. I don’t
know all the
deets
, but people are saying she was hit
and the car rolled. She’s at the hospital right now.”

“Shit!”
Jason stood and threw a twenty on the bar. “Which hospital?”

“Santa Fe
General,” she said, placing her hand on his arm again. “Where are you going?”

“To the
hospital,” he growled.

“Don’t be
ridiculous. It’s two hours away, and you know they’ll never let you see her,”
Lila said with a smirk.

“We’ll see
about that,” he replied over his shoulder, already jogging to the door.

He sent a
prayer toward heaven for Grace. She was more to him than just his only
connection to Emily and Sadie. She was like a mother to him. No, she
was
a mother to him. His own had died when he was two and taken his little sister
to heaven with her. Living next door to the
Camanchos
had been a blessing, and when Grace joined the family, she’d welcomed him into
her heart with open arms, long before he’d seen Emily in any kind of romantic
light. She’d bandaged his skinned knees and elbows, helped with homework, and
fed him almost nightly. His father had more than enough on his plate with
running the ranch and overcoming his devastating loss, and he knew his father
credited Grace for turning him into the man he was.

Arriving at
the hospital, he headed straight to the gift shop, hoping they were still open
at this late hour. He would not show up empty-handed . . . at the very least he
could buy her some flowers. She loved flowers, and Jason had bought her a
bouquet every year for Mother’s Day and for her birthday, ever since he’d
gotten his first paying job. Before that it had been random weeds and
wildflowers picked from the fields and the sides of the road. Even these past
few years when tensions were strained, he never failed to give her flowers.
Only instead of bringing them to her in person, he now sent them from the
flower shop.

He stopped
at the information desk to find out which room Grace was in, surprised to learn
she was in the ICU. After wiping his suddenly sweaty palms on his jeans, he
pressed the button for Grace’s floor. He didn’t know how they would react to
his arrival, but he hoped they could see and remember how much Grace meant to
him.

The nurses’
station was right outside the elevator, so Jason walked up and asked for Grace’s
room. The nurse smiled up at him and pointed him in the direction of her room.
Jason thanked her and continued down the hall.

Arriving at
Grace’s room, Jason knocked on the door and waved to Clint through the window.
He watched as Clint rose from his chair and met Jason in the hall.

“Jason,”
Clint said, holding out his hand.

“How’s she
doing?” Jason asked, shaking Clint’s hand.

“Not good,”
Clint answered, his worried eyes scanning his still wife through the window.

“What
happened?”

Clint sighed
and motioned toward the flowers in Jason’s hand. “Can’t have those in the room.”

Jason set
them on the floor in the hall and followed Clint into Grace’s room. It was
quiet, save for the occasional beeping from the machines. Clint motioned for
Jason to sit in the chair he’d just vacated. Sitting down, Jason held Grace’s
hand in his own, marveling at how small her hand seemed next to his own.
Had
it always been so small?
He never remembered that. Grace had always seemed
larger than life to him. Of course, you always thought of your parents being so
much bigger, even when you were fully grown.

“Drunk
driver was in her lane. We think she swerved to avoid him, skidded on the
gravel, flipped the car, and landed in a tree.”

“Where’s he
at?”

“The police
station, sleeping it off in a jail cell. Sheriff Fred said he found him about a
half mile down the road in a ditch, passed out. Not a scratch on him, either.”

“Is she
going to be okay?”

Clint
sighed. “Doctors aren’t optimistic. She’s had a lot of trauma to her head.
There’s swelling, and she’s in a coma.”

Jason nodded
and squeezed Grace’s hand. He knew visiting times were limited in the ICU, so
he stood, leaned over, and kissed her cheek. “Get well soon, Grace. I love you,”
he whispered in her ear. He shuffled toward the door and looked Clint in the
eye. “I’ve been out fixing fences all day. I just found out when I stopped at
The Dustbowl for dinner. I had to come and see her for myself.” Jason shook
Clint’s hand. “If you need any help at the ranch, don’t hesitate to call.”

“Thanks,
Jason,” Clint said, resting a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “I appreciate it.”

Jason’s eyes
found Grace, so pale beneath the blankets. “She’s always been kind to me.”

“She has a
soft spot for you.” Clint chuckled. “Not that I blame her. You’ve always been a
good boy.”

Jason
smiled. “Will you let me know how she’s doing?”

Clint
nodded. “Sure. Glad you stopped in.”

Jason cast one
last glance at Grace and then silently walked out the door.

He meandered
down the hall, nodding to the nurse at the station and then slipping into the
elevator. His hands were shaking as he pressed the button for the ground level.
He didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t the easy acceptance he’d
received. He was happy it hadn’t been awkward and figured Tyler’s absence
helped in that respect. He still had an immense amount of respect for Clint,
even more now. Clint allowing Jason in the room, giving him a chance to sit and
hold Grace’s hand, just reinforced that.

When he got
to the truck, he rested his head against the steering wheel for a moment. He
missed them and he hadn’t really realized how much until this moment. It had
almost felt like old times for a few minutes there. That, as much as anything
else, made his resolve to get Emily back even stronger now.

He drove for
an hour and then pulled over in a rest stop to get a little sleep. Resting his
head against the headrest, he was almost asleep when a thought made his eyes
pop open. As it gained traction in his mind, his heart rate sped up. There was
no way she could stay away, not with Grace in such bad shape. Could she? Could
it be possible that Emily would be coming home?

After
getting Sadie settled by the window, Emily pulled out her cell phone and dialed
the office to check in before her flight. Between getting calls made and the
packing finished, the morning had flown by and she had completely forgotten to
call Phil. But she and Sadie were one of the first on the plane, so she had
just enough time to get it done before takeoff.

“A Touch of
Flair. This is Phil, may I help you?”

Emily
smiled, it was nice to know that the employees were professional and polite
even when she wasn’t in the office. “Hey, Phil, it’s
Em
.
Just wanted to check in before this flying deathtrap takes off.”

“Jeez,
Em
, try some positivity. Bad things happen to people who
envision bad things,” Phil warned her.

“You know I
don’t like to fly,” Emily said, cringing when she realized there was just the
tiniest bit of whining in her voice. Clearing her throat, she continued, “How
are things?”

“Ugh,
horrible. Jenny’s sick as a dog, and she won’t go home. I’m afraid to get
within ten feet of her.”

Rolling her
eyes, Emily sighed. This was the last thing she needed. The owner of the
company was away on a months-long trip across Europe with her husband and
children. Emily was in charge, and she needed both Phil and Jenny in the office
this week, especially now that she was heading home for who-knew-how-long.
Emily was Kendra’s backup, and Phil was hers. There was no backup for Phil. She
couldn’t risk Jenny infecting Phil and then having no one in the office.

“Tell her to
go home and email me the new project from Friday. I can sketch it out and get
it started while I’m in New Mexico.”

“You tell
her; she’s not listening to me.”

“Are you
crazy, Emily?” Jenny shrieked into the phone. “There’s too much to do around
here, I can’t go home!”

“You have to
go home, Jenny. I can’t afford for you both to be sick. Take a project home
with you and work on it there. Phil can handle the office by himself.”

“He’s
sticking to his side of the office and he’s wearing a face mask. I’m fine. I’m
just a little stuffy,” she said, dissolving into a coughing fit.

“Uh-huh.
Just a little stuffy. Go home, Jenny!”

“Fine, I’ll
go.”

Emily heard
the unmistakable sound of an aerosol spray across the line.

“Thanks,
Em
! I didn’t think she’d go.”

“Did you
just spray Lysol on the phone?”

Phil
laughed. “Yes. I’ve been spraying everything she touches since she came in this
morning.”

“Nice.”
Emily chuckled. “Is she going?”

“Yeah, she’s
packing up her desk.”

“Email me
the project notes, and when I get to the hotel this evening, I’ll start working
on it.”

“Are you sure
you’ll have enough time to work on this stuff? Shouldn’t you focus on your mom?”

“The ICU
only allows five- or ten-minute visits every hour. I’ll have a lot of downtime.
Just do what you can this week, Phil. When I get back, we’ll update all the
project plans and see what needs doing. You know we always manage to get it
done. Somehow.”

“Sounds
good. Have a safe flight.”

“Hm. I’ll
practice some of that positivity you like so much.”

Emily hung
up with seconds to spare. She was putting her phone back in her purse when the
announcement came over the loud speaker to turn off all electronic devices. She
watched as the flight attendants went through the safety procedures, but it did
little to ease her mind on the safety and survivability of the aircraft. Sighing
to herself and trying to calm her racing heart, Emily held Sadie’s hand and
rested her head against the headrest, closing her eyes and practicing deep
breathing exercises.

A few
minutes later, the plane taxied out onto the runway. “Mama, fast!” Sadie exclaimed
excitedly, eyes glued to the scenery outside the window.

Unable to
help herself, she gripped the armrest hard during the takeoff and didn’t relax
her grip until the plane leveled out. Who had the bright idea to invent planes?
Weren’t trains, boats, and cars enough? How much of the world was missed
because people were too high in the air to see it and appreciate it. She
wondered what life would be like if the airplane had never been invented. Would
families have continued to live close? Would children be better adjusted? Would
there be less crime?

Shrugging
her shoulders, she pushed the thoughts out of her mind. They’d been invented,
so there was no use imagining a world without them. She pulled out her copies
of
US Weekly
and
People
, reading through both of them and then
starting on the word find puzzles book she’d tucked into her purse at the last
minute.

She was
relieved when the plane landed with barely a bump in Dallas and was glad for
the break, a chance to stretch her legs and get something to eat. Even better,
a chance to use the restroom—one that wasn’t cramped and impossible to maneuver
in. Sadie had fallen asleep during the flight and was groggy and slow as they
tried to deplane. They quickly used the restroom and then stopped at a TGI Fridays
for some food.

When it was
time to board again, they gathered up their belongings. Emily was grateful that
the airlines saw fit to let passengers traveling with small children board
first. Settling into their seats, she made sure Sadie’s bag was in easy reach
yet still under the seat in front of her. Then she turned off her phone and
pulled out the word find puzzles, tucking it under her leg for easy access. She
leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. One more takeoff and
landing. I can do this. When the plane had leveled out again, she slowly opened
her eyes, peeking out the window. All she saw were puffy white clouds, a soft
carpet beneath the plane. Deciding that wasn’t as comforting as she thought it
should be, she pulled out her puzzles and left the window gazing to her
daughter.

It was close
to ten when the plane landed in Santa Fe, and Emily was exhausted. Sadie had
fallen asleep again and was now refreshed, wired, and ready to take on the
world. A sharp contrast to Emily’s travel fatigue, exacerbated by the little
sleep she’d gotten the night before. She gathered their luggage from the
carousel and walked over to the rental car desk. She’d be all too happy when
they arrived at the hotel, were checked in, Sadie was set up with a movie, and
Emily could fall asleep in a bed with no fear of falling out of the sky.

Hope wouldn’t
arrive until midday tomorrow, and Emily had promised to pick her up at the
airport. The next few days were going to be excruciating, and she promised
herself that that with all that was going on, she would push all thoughts of
Jason to the farthest reaches of her mind.