Joy Ride (30 page)

“Emma? Honey?” Her friend sat down on the edge of the bed and gently tugged the quilt and sheet down, resisting Emma’s efforts to hold onto them. “Jesus. What happened?”

That was all it took for the tears to start again. As she buried her face in the pillow, Annie’s soft hand stroking her hair, she wondered how she even had any moisture in her eyes left. She was sure she’d cried enough for an entire family yet still the waterworks came and came.

“I didn’t want you to see me like this,” she said, her voice muffled by the pillow.

“Oh, sweetheart, if not me, then who? Can you tell me what happened? Did Marc turn out to be a rat bastard after all?”

She just nodded, unable to form the words.

“Emma, Emma, Emma.” Annie’s sigh was so heavy Emma could practically feel it. “I am just so very sorry.”

“Not your fault,” she mumbled. “My own stupidity.”

“Turn over and let me get a look at you.”

Emma just shook her head.

“Come on, now. You’re making yourself sick like this.”

“I’m not sure I ever want to get out of bed again.”

Another sigh, then Annie brushed the tangled hair away from her face. “I know. Been there, done that. But trust an old hand at this. Hiding under the covers won’t do you any good.”

“Will, too,” she said stubbornly.

Annie laughed softly. “I know it seems that way but it won’t.”

“I think I’ll burn the clothes I wore last night. And this stupid T-shirt, too. How pathetic am I that I actually put it on and slept in it?”

“No clothes burning. I’m giving you an order. Hold on. I’ll be right back.”

When Annie returned she had a warm washcloth, which she used to bathe Emma’s face. She then went back to the bathroom again and this time, returned with an ice cold cloth. Emma shrieked when Annie placed it over her eyes.

“Just for a couple of minutes, to help with the swelling. I’ve got some of those little sterile tears vials in my purse. I use them when my eyes get dry during the day. In a minute we’ll rinse out those awful red eyes with one. Then I want you to get up and take a good hot shower and wash your hair. No, don’t give me any lip,” she went on when Emma moaned. “While you’re doing that, I’ll put on some coffee. Then I want to hear the whole story. Every gruesome detail.”

Emma wanted to pull the covers back over her head and bury herself until the pain went away. If it ever did. But Annie was relentless. Somehow she found herself standing under a hot spray letting it beat down on her, hoping maybe the some of the memories from the night before would wash away. Finally, clean and dressed in T-shirt and jeans, hair pulled back in a ponytail, she sat at her breakfast room table with a steaming cup of coffee in front of her and Annie in her face.

“Okay, chickadee. Give. And don’t leave out one single thing.”

Reliving it was as bad as going through it the first time. Maybe worse, because now the pain was sharper. More intense. But Annie dragged it all out of her, every excruciating, hurtful, humiliating detail. She was exhausted when she finished, ready to dive back into bed and hide.

“So you see?” Emma took a sip of the coffee, now cooled off, and made a face. “I was right all along. I was just a novelty to him. A new toy. No matter what he said.” She looked across at her friend. “Right? You agree with me, don’t you?” When Annie didn’t answer her she repeated, “Right?”

Annie heaved another long sigh. “I was so afraid of something like this.”

Emma’s eyes widened. “What? You knew he was just fooling around with me? Why didn’t you say something? Why did you encourage me?”

Her friend shook her head. “No. That’s not it at all.”

“Not it? Then what? I don’t understand.”

Annie got up, emptied the cold coffee from both of their cups and refilled them with fresh hot liquid.

“We’ve known each other for ten years now, right?”

Emma nodded, frowning. What was Annie getting at?

“We’ve spent a lot of time together but never really socialized. I mean gone out on double dates or gotten together with the guys we were dating. Right?”

“Yes, but—”

“There’s probably a good reason. You had a very well-ordered life and dated very stable guys. I, on the other hand, took a lot of walks on the wild side so our men had absolutely nothing in common.”

“I guess I never thought about it that way.” She pushed her tangled hair out of her face. “Maybe you’re right and I’m just now able to see it. So, what’s the point you’re trying to make here? That I’m out of my element?” She snorted. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“The point is I know a little bit more about the music scene, the rock scene, than you do. I’ve been to clubs, followed the blogs, all that stuff. And I know what goes on there. Hell, my friend Jodi Lynn dated a guitar player for about six months, and I hung out with her at some of their gigs.”

“So? None of this is making me feel any better.”

“Then listen to me.” Annie took a healthy swallow of her coffee, flinched as it burned her tongue. “Groupies are a hazard of the trade. They’re like viruses, popping up everywhere and there doesn’t seem to be a cure.”

Emma snorted. “No kidding.”

“The point is, my little innocent, they are amoral and aggressive. Whoever brought the redhead to the concert last night, you know it wasn’t Marc. And you don’t know if he made the moves on her or the other way around. What did he say when you asked him about it?”

“I didn’t,” Emma mumbled.

“What? What’s that you said? Speak up.”

“I said, I didn’t ask him.”

Annie flopped back in her chair. “Well, why the hell not? You mean you just turned tail and ran out of there? Boom?” She sat up and took Emma’s hand in hers. “Honey, you’re establishing a pattern here. Do you see it?”

Emma frowned. “No. What do you mean?”

“I love you like a sister. You know that. Right? I don’t think anyone was as excited as me to see you decide to savor life a little more. I was your cheering section.”

“And?”

“And one thing hasn’t changed. When you hit a wall, your first tendency is to run away.”

Emma was instantly defensive. “That’s not true. I don’t either.”

“Yes. You do. When you’d had enough of Andrew instead of sitting down with him, telling him how you felt and breaking it off the way you probably should have, you ran out of his house without giving him an explanation and then resented the fact he wanted you to give him one.”

“I guess you’re right. But at the time it seemed the only thing I could do. Just get up and run. Before he tried to talk me out of anything.”

“No buts. Listen. Maybe you could have saved yourself a lot of aggravation if you’d just laid it out for him and then taken a hike. Not to mention avoiding the issue of the breakup with your folks.”

“They’d still have objected.” Emma took a swallow of her coffee, now cold, and made a face.

“Maybe,” Annie agreed. “But at least you would have gotten it out there and not been on the defensive.”

“So what does that have to do with Marc?”

“You did the same thing with him,” her friend pointed out. “Instead of waiting to see if there was an explanation, you just turned and ran.”

“Hey. I thought you were on my side.”

“I am. I’m just pointing out the truth, as hard as it might be for you to accept it.”

“Anyway, I didn’t need an explanation for this. If you’d seen the two of them together, you wouldn’t have had to ask any questions. The answers were obvious.”

Annie shook her head. “Nope. Don’t believe it. I do believe you saw what you described, but try this on for size. What if
she
went after
him
? What if he was doing his best to peel her off of his body? Groupies are predators and they like nothing better than invading someone else’s territory. And didn’t you tell me he told you more than once he wasn’t interested in her and never had been?”

Emma just stared into her coffee cup.

“Pay attention. From everything you’ve told me about Marc, he doesn’t seem like the type of guy to swim in those waters. He’s fixing up his house. He talks about his family. He’s been willing to put up with you even though you refused to tell him your name. Does that sound like a guy lusting after groupies? Honey, he could have tossed you out any time but he didn’t. Think about it.”

Emma glanced out the big window looking over the backyard. Was Annie right? Had she just jumped to a conclusion because it was what she expected? She’d told herself all along the joy ride would be over soon. Had she deliberately misread what she’d seen?

Was she a coward who ran from confrontation? Maybe the reason she refused to tell Marc her name was because all along she’d been taking a moment in time to step into a life she could never have. Maybe believing underneath it all that she really couldn’t change. Or just playing a game with Marc all along, only he didn’t know it. Or she’d just set herself up for failure….

She wasn’t seeing a very pretty picture of herself.

“I’m sure Marc feels like shit today,” Annie went on. “Especially since he probably expected you to at least give him the courtesy of an explanation. Think how hurt
he
must be?”

“I don’t want to think about how he feels.” Emma knew she sounded like a petulant child but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

“Yes. You do.” Annie reached over and touched her arm. “Honey, I know how badly you’re hurting, but don’t you think you at least owe him the chance to explain? Then if he turns out to be a rotten bastard, I’ll personally help you kick his ass clear across the country.”

Emma gave a weak laugh. “Sounds good to me.”

“So, not to get off track here but how was the concert?”

“Oh, Annie, it was fantastic.” For a moment, all the pain and hurt subsided and she was back at the Amphitheatre, caught up in the enchantment of the night. The excitement. The vibrancy of the music. And Marc, totally absorbed in what he was doing, at one with his magical bass guitar.

“God, Annie, you should have seen them. They were unbelievable. And Butch Meredith went out to talk to them even before they walked off stage.”

“That’s fabulous. He’s made superstars out of Deep Blue River. Honey, this could be the big break every band works for.”

“I know.” She sighed. “And I’m really glad for them. I just wish….”

“Want to see if any of the blogs have picked up the word yet?” Annie grinned.

“Oh, Annie, I don’t think I’m up for anything right now.”

“Sure you are.” Annie rose and tugged Emma up from her chair. “Underneath it all you’re dying of curiosity. Right?”

“Dying of something,” she agreed. “Are you sure I can’t just go back to bed?”

“Not for one minute. Where’s your laptop?”

“In my room.”

“Then let’s get it.”

Reluctantly, very much aware of her bruised heart and drained body, Emma trudged to her bedroom and grabbed her laptop case. Before she even realized what was going on, she was sitting cross-legged on the bed with Annie and her friend’s fingers were flying over the keyboard.

“All right,” Annie crowed suddenly. “There it is. Look.” She turned the computer at an angle so Emma could get a better look.

The heading on the screen read
Music Musings Around the City
. Emma squinted at the words.

“
The formal announcement has yet to be made but informed sources have told Musings hot local band Lightnin’ is about to hit their breakout moment. After a stellar performance last night as the opening act for Deep Blue River, rumor has it they are about to sign a contract with River’s manager, Butch Meredith. We hear a concert tour and a CD are in the immediate future. Stay tuned
.”

“Ohmigod!” As badly hurt as she was, Emma still felt a surge of excitement for Marc and the others.
But that means he’ll be leaving. How will I ever get to see him?

“Indeed.” Annie began scrolling through other pages. “Man, it’s all over the Web. Those guys must be in the stratosphere. Listen.” She turned to Emma. “You have to get in touch with Marc and congratulate him. And at least give him the chance to make this right.”

Emma nibbled on a thumbnail. “I just don’t know, Annie.”

“Sometimes I could just smack you.” Annie blew out a breath of disgust. “You have to give him a chance, honey. You told me there was something strong between you. Don’t throw it away because you don’t have the courage to face him. Or are you afraid of what he offers?” She cocked her head. “Are you scared of becoming Music Lady for real? Having something solid with him? Emma, this is your chance. Your big opportunity. Hey, maybe you can even pull out those notebooks you’ve been scribbling in for years and try your hand at writing the way you want to.”

“I’ll…think about it.” She looked at her bedside clock.

Annie eyes took on a thoughtful look. “Here’s another option for you. Keeping your name secret was to give you an out if this fell apart. So you could go back to your old life. No harm, no foul. Is that what you want to do, Emma? Go back to the way things were? Was the new life too much for you?”

Emma looked at her horrified. “Hell, no. That’s like a living death.”

A tiny smile curved Annie’s lips. “Then you aren’t left with a whole lot of options, are you?”

Silence settled over them while Annie waited patiently and Emma churned everything in her mind. She glanced at the bedside clock. “Hey. How come you’re not at work?”

Annie worked as a paralegal for one of the partners in a large law firm in the city.

“When I couldn’t get hold of you, I told my boss I had an emergency. He’s a really good guy and I don’t do this very often. How come
you’re
not at work?”

“I left a message for human resources saying I was taking a couple of sick days.” No way could she have shown up at work. She could hardly go an hour without a few tears leaking form her eyes and her head felt the size of a house. Not to mention the damage to her heart. But now that she’d had this talk with Annie….

“Then let’s make good use of them.” Her friend swung her legs off the bed and put the laptop on the nightstand. “You need to get out of this house. Right now.”

“No. No, no, no.” The temporary surge of excitement for the band had faded, and Emma wanted to dive under the covers again.