Steeling My Haart (31 page)

“It’s no big secret
George, and I’m happy to tell you. When I walked in here that morning, it felt
like walking home. I felt like total crap that morning, my head was pounding
and I’d even missed my flight home to come and visit and have a look.
 
Like something was pulling me here,
especially after hearing your story.
 
Aside from the fact the premises were a perfect size in a perfect position
for what I had in mind.
 
I knew it
was fate when I was sizing up the street side potential and I saw you, Emma
walking past. I swear in that moment I was going to pay whatever it took to buy
this place. I just stood here at the window and watched you as you walked on
by, lost in yourself but looking so much more beautiful than I remembered you.
It was the sign I needed.”

“Well, I never.”
George looked stunned.

“Why didn’t you come
after me?” Emma whispered.

“I did, but as
quickly as I pulled myself together and I got out of the door, you’d got in a
cab and gone. Out of my life again, but I was determined to get you back.
 
Just wasn’t quite prepared at that point
for what it was going to take.” He laughed out, then wiping the tears from
Emma’s cheeks, he kissed her on the lips.

“I bought enough of
the place to help George out, we decided on a renovation plan and were open
within a few months.”

“An’, Miss Emma, my
life started ‘gain.
 
It wasn’t long
after we opened that I remember you first visitin’ here with your friend Miss Lily
as it happens.”

“That’s right. And
that day you saw me Charlie, was my first proper day in New York, too.
 
I was here for my induction and I’d been
living with Lily just round the corner. I can’t believe how this has all
happened, I really can’t! And if I told you that M’s Place is what encouraged
me to buy my apartment. And it all makes sense, Blaze’s Bake and the pumpkin
lattes… They were for me, weren’t they?” As Charlie nodded, just when Emma
thought it couldn’t be possible, she fell more in love with him.

Charlie

        
As
the afternoon drew to early evening, the diner had become increasingly quiet.
George and Bobby seemed preoccupied and the other staff had disappeared, along
with the crowd of diners he had expected to see at this time on an evening. As
Charlie had made his way up to the office to go through some paperwork he saw
Emma had opened her laptop. She been engrossed answering some emails and trying
to get hold of Bruce. He had told her Bruce hadn’t a clue they were coming and wondered
if wanted to at least get him and Lou to come over and grab a latte with her.
 
In reality Bruce and Lou were in on the
secret.

        
Just
before seven, Charlie appeared at the staff door and stood in the entryway
watching his sweet Emma working away. She had no idea of what was happening
tonight, but he needed her out of the way for a few minutes. Bruce was primed
and ready to distract her and he quickly tapped out a text and sent it to him.
Within about thirty seconds, Lou appeared at the diner door and headed over to
Emma to surprise her.

        
“Hey,
darlin’.” Lou spoke up first, making Emma jump. Charlie smiled at the look of
surprise on her face at the sight of him in front of her. It had been a couple
of months since they had been back out to Edmond and Charlie knew she missed
them. He stood there and watched her animatedly filling him in on their last
few amazing months together. His heart was full and he was starting to get a
little nervous. Lou caught his eye and indicated that they would be leaving
soon with Emma so he could get his plans into action. He took this as his cue
to head back upstairs to his office and he waited just a few minutes before
Emma shouted up and let him know she was heading out her old apartment to
surprise Bruce.

        
“Okay,
sweetheart, I still have a little work to do up here. I’ll let you know when
I’m done and you can bring the guys back here for dinner? Love you,” he shouted
back down to her as she left.

        
The
next part of the plan kicked in and the staff that she had thought she had seen
leaving all flooded back into the back of the diner with arms full of
decorations. They officially locked the diner up for the day and pulled down
the blinds at the windows to shield the he helped them set up the banners,
filled the helium balloons and set about transforming the diner.

        
Bobby
and George were busy in the kitchen and they had been handsomely rewarded for the
additional hours they had put in over the last couple of days to get everything
ready. Neither had been fully let on in the secret until Emma had left. George
couldn’t wipe the smile off his face since. He was amazed at the results of
their efforts and once again after he had seen what they had created, the
butterflies took flight in his stomach.

        
About
half an hour after Emma had left with Lou, a couple of taxis arrived bringing
the special guests that had been invited to the function that Charlie was
holding tonight. He shepherded them into the diner quickly and settled them
quickly. Everyone wanted to greet him personally and although they were all
familiar faces, some he hadn’t seen in a while, he had to excuse himself to get
ready. He had given Bruce and Lou pretty strict instructions about when to
bring Emma back and time was ticking on. A couple of the guests needed to leave
pretty quickly so it was imperative he was ready.

        
He
undressed swiftly and he put on the shirt that he had found over the back of
his chair in the office and shrugged on his smart jacket over the top. Taking a
look at himself in the mirror he was happy that he gave the right impression
before he headed down the stairs and re-joined the guests. They were all eager
to have a part of him and he relented for a few minutes, embracing a couple of
the more eager ones.

        
Just
before seven that evening, he heard the sound of Emma, Bruce and Lou
approaching the diner. He could distinctly hear Emma complaining that the place
seemed to be shut.
 
He nodded to
George who walked over and opened the door.

        
“Miss
Emma, Bruce, Lou, would you all like to step this way?” he requested with a
huge smile on his face as the rest of the guests hushed.

        
“What
on earth is going on George?” she asked, a hint of worry in her voice. “Why is
the diner closed?”

        
“Miss
Emma, we’re holding a private function this evening. Why don’t you come in and
see?”

        
Charlie
was now sweating slightly and his heart was beating out of his chest. All would
be revealed as she walked round the corner into the diner and he was now
extremely nervous.

        
As
Emma walked in she struggled to take in the scene before her. The diner had
been decked out in the short time she had been at the apartment with Bruce and
Lou. As she looked around the room she saw a sea of familiar faces. The next
thing she heard was a shrill little voice shouting at her form the corner,
“Hewwo Emmamomma” Leo’s tiny little voice echoed round the room.

        
“Mom?
Dad? What are you all doing here?” she said. Charlie watched as she then
spotted Uncle Hank and Sonia, Charlie’s mom standing beaming at her from cross
the room. He saw her scan the room more closely and saw her gasp as she saw a
whole bunch of ‘congratulations’ banners hanging from the walls. Charlie waved
across at her mom and quick as a flash, Nicky released a now walking Leo along
with a very giddy Adie to head over to her confused daughter. As the two
children approached, Charlie watched as Emma noticed they were wearing printed
sweaters, both of them saying in bold letters, “Can Charlie be our daddy,
please?”

        
He
watched as she crouched down in front of them and it took a moment for it to
sink in before her hand went across her mouth and she slowly stood. As she turned
to Charlie, opened his jacket to reveal his t-shirt that simply said, “Marry
me?” He reached onto the table and picked up a small blue cake box and stepped
a little hesitantly towards her and getting down on one knee, he opened the box
to reveal one Blaze’s bake cupcake, with the most beautiful pink diamond solitaire
ring fixed into the icing on the top.

        
The
room fell silent as Charlie cleared his throat and he said, “Emma McKellan, I
love you, will you marry me?”

        
She
immediately fell to her knees, tears of happiness streaming down her face and
said the only thing she could say in answer to her precious Charlie. “Of course
I will.”

        
Charlie
slipped the ring on to her finger and took her in his arms, kissing her deeply
as the entire room erupted in cheers around them. “Thank you, Emma, for giving
me a second chance. I made a huge mistake all those years ago leaving you, and
I don’t think I could survive again without you. It took years of steeling my
heart to survive without you and I’m not doing that again.”

        
It
was hard to make out through the closed blinds what was happening, but in the
apartment across the street from M’s Place, a solitary figure had been watching
the events of the day with interest.

        
The
telescopic scope of the now disarmed sniper rifle had provided a perfect way to
watch the happy couple coming back to the city. From behind the lens, a sense
of peace washed over the observer when it was clear that things had finally
come together for the pair. No instructions from the boss had been issued in
the last couple of days at least and the opportunity to observe the day’s
events had been a refreshing bonus.

        
In
another life, the engagement party that was going only a few yards away from
the empty apartment would have been a source of great joy, but today it only
brought sadness.

        
They
hoped never to have to be asked to target the two beautiful children that had
arrived at the party and that had once belonged to someone else. The same ‘Someone’
had been wiped out of existence under an execution order last year.
 
At least one of the lives that were
extinguished that day had once been as innocent as those precious two lives
over there. The children’s true identity had so far been kept under wraps and
that was something. They were also glad to know that the two precious children had
been moved away from New York and they were living a happy life away from the
danger that lurked in some corners of this vile city.

        
More
recently their interest in the children had almost been made known. A couple of
times they had been careless in their covert surveillance. The last thing that
could happen would be for their identity to be disclosed. It was okay to watch,
but from a distance, and only when circumstances permitted. Like today, New
York was their base and the yearning to see the children up close like this was
too much to resist. In future better care would have to be taken to remain in
the shadows. From this range, the scope had allowed a rare close up of the
faces of the two children and now a fresh image of the innocent faces had been
stored to memory for future use. Who knew when another opportunity this good
would ever present itself again?

        
The
burner cell startled them from their own thoughts and they went to pick it up.
The harsh, lifeless female voice echoed around the empty room, “Hello?”

        
“You’re
needed back at base ASAP! Where the fuck are you? The Raven is about to chew
your ass to hell and back if you aren’t here in twenty.” The familiar gruff
voice echoed across the line.

        
“I’m
on my way. Just so you know, the angels have flow in and are safe,” she
whispered, a hint of humanity had crept back into her harsh voice for the first
time in a long time.

 
       
“How
do they look, Lil? Are they happy?” A slight quiver marred the husky voice on
the other end of the phone.

        
“Yes,
just perfect, Gary. They look so happy,” she whispered, then clearing her throat
and hardening her voice she said, “I’ll be there in ten.” She disconnected the
call and sprinted down the three flights of stairs to the unmanned lobby.
Exiting the building, she hopped onto the high-powered motorcycle parked out
front and tore off into the night. You didn’t keep The Raven waiting.

To be continued

This has been
such an amazing experience and I have so many people to thank! First of all I
want to say thank you to YOU for buying and reading this book. It’s a first for
me and I hope that you have enjoyed Emma and Charlie’s story as much as I
enjoyed writing it.

        
It
goes without saying that I want to say a huge thank you to my family, and more
particularly my husband who has encouraged me to write this book as well as
offering me help with my two amazing kids. The next thanks goes out to them for
their patience (sometimes not always forthcoming, especially when you are two
and irritated when Mummy wont let you play on the computer!).

        
Next
I want to say a huge thanks to my best literary friend Nicola Haken who has
been a near constant voice in my ear, encouraging me to set to and write. She
encouraged me to start blogging and from there my whole life has changed. Thank
you so much for your friendship and also your encouragement and also for
reminding me how disgusting Curry Pot noodle actually is.

        
I’d
also like to thank the team of ladies who offered to be my guinea pigs
throughout this process and a huge thanks goes to GEW (you know who you are and
I thank you so much for not only your help but your friendship and introducing
me to Krispy Kremes and vanilla lattes. Here’s to many spa days and even though
we don’t live close you are still always there! Next I’d like to say thanks to
Claire Dawson for your valuable input too and the “We Love Charlie”
appreciation society! And a thanks also goes to Karen Peacock for her help and
friendship too!

        
Liz
Borino – what can I say? You have been an asset on my journey and I just
want to say I love your nitpicking! Without your help I’d seriously have sunk
before I started! And finally a huge thanks to Debra Presley aka the Book
Enthusiast for her support and hand holding from start to finish. We started as
acquaintances and I feel like I have made a fab friend from our late night
writing discussions!