Dear Emily (7 page)

Did it say a lot for her own
state of mind that she could, in fact, stand to be
around Jack? At fault or not, which it was not his
fault, did it say something about her as a
person? Was she supposed to shun him? To hate
him?

She couldn't do that.

Jack Harper was the best
thing to happen to her. He was the reason. Only
him. It had nothing to do
and was completely removed from his involvement four
years earlier.

Amy heard a crunch of broken
twigs underfoot. She fixed her gaze on the moon, needing a moment
before facing Jack. She felt a little sad as thoughts of
her sister crept to the forefront of her mind, making their
appearance at the end of a trying day.

She missed Emily.

As different as
they had been, and as unimportant as
Amy had sometimes felt to her sister, she still
missed her. The thing about growing up with a sibling is the shared
experience. Who else would understand the
life you'd known better than the one
person that went through the same shit day in and day
out? That's not to
say that there weren't good
times. There were many, wonderful
times, just like any other family.

She turned to face Jack and as if
he were expecting it, he gathered her up in his arms
in a well-timed embrace. It was just what she
needed. She pressed her cheek to his chest and his arms wrapped
around her reassuringly. She
noted that this was not their first
embrace.

They stood like that under
the ficus for a long time. Just when she
thought it was time to pull away from his body, he
surprised her by running his rough fingers through her
hair.

This wasn't a good idea,
but it felt comforting so she chose not to protest.
His deft fingers smoothed her hair down, again and again, until her
face was square in front of him and
he was looking down at her with those deep-set
eyes.

“You won't always like me so much,” she
said.

“That sounds like a promise.” He
sounded much more clearheaded than she'd expected from
him.

“It is,” she said
nodding gently.

He held her gaze a moment longer before
releasing her. His hands slid down her arms and he produced the
keys to the truck, seemingly out of nowhere, and held
them against the palm of her hand.

They walked back to the truck and Amy
cursed the difficulty it caused her to get into
the mammoth of a vehicle. She squinted in the darkness as they
drove toward the city, thinking it was about time
she got her eyes checked.

She didn't just think about
the health of her eyes. She thought about upcoming exams, the
professor that was always late to class,
the seemingly low supply of chocolate in the apartment,
current events, the coming spring, and so on.

Amy thought about any random
topic that she could produce, to avoid the one
thought that threatened to overtake all brain
function.

She was falling in love with
Jack Harper.

Dear Emily,

I haven't missed
the irony.

Chapter 6

A week later, Amy left her Chemistry
class and found Jack waiting for her. “This is a
surprise.” Then she noticed the look on
his face. He rolled his shoulder and took a deep breath.

“What is it?” she
asked.

“Tom was in an accident,” he
said.

Amy gasped, and her hand flew to Jack's
arm. “Is he okay?”

“He's pretty banged up, and
unconscious. Someone ran a red light and t-boned Tom's
car.”

“We have to go to the
hospital,” Amy said, already heading toward the parking
garage.

Jack fell into step next to her.
“That's why I came to get you.”

They made it to the hospital
and sat in the visitor's area. Amy scrubbed her face with her hand
and paced back and forth while Jack went to find Terri for an
update on Tom's condition.

Amy watched him where he
stood at the end of the hall. His back was to her as he
spoke to Terri in hushed tones. She felt the urge to go
to him, and almost did, but then her phone vibrated in
her pocket. She read the screen and didn't recognize the number.
She answered the call in case it was someone from
the farm looking for an update as well.

“Amy Knight? This is Patricia calling
from the student housing office.”

Amy sat back down, resting her elbows
on her knees and feeling like she'd received a
call from the great beyond.

“Yes?”

“I wanted to inform
you that we've found a match just blocks from
campus. The rent is in your price range, and the two women are
looking for a roommate as soon as possible.
You could move in as early as this week.”

“Really?” was all
Amy could manage to say.

“You're still looking for permanent
housing, right?”

Amy looked back down the hall
at Jack. She hesitated for only a moment, before returning her
attention to the call.

“I'm sorry I didn't notify your office
sooner, but you can go ahead and remove me from the
list.”

“Alright, Ms. Knight. I am glad
to hear you've secured permanent housing. Please
respond to a survey that will arrive at your student
e-mail.”

Patricia continued with a list of
disclaimers until Amy thanked her again for her time,
and then ended the call. She leaned on her forearms, and
ran her fingers through her hair, wondering what in the
world she'd just done.

They returned to the apartment complex,
and Amy felt the tension coming off Jack in waves. They
walked into the apartment and Jack went straight for the sink. He
grabbed a glass from the drying rack and filled the cup halfway
with water from the tap. He leaned back against the counter and
drank the water in two large gulps.

Amy stood at the mouth of the kitchen
with her arms at her sides. Tom was still unconscious and
Jack was worried about his mentor. She wished
she knew what to do to make things better for him. She
took a deep breath, stretching her lungs, but not enough, so she
did it again, this time feeling the hitch in
her chest.

“Jack,” she said because she
didn't know what else to say.

He pushed off the counter, with a grace
only known to certain men, and crossed the small distance
of the kitchen. His hands slid up her shoulders and cupped the back
of her neck and her head. His fingers slid into her hair. He looked
into her eyes for the briefest moment before pressing his lips
against hers, and she melted against him, held onto
him, unable to get as close as she needed to be.

The feel of his lips against
hers was incredible, but she didn't even need it.
She just needed to be close, to finally be
close to him; to finally press her cheek against his
chest and breathe in his scent without
restraint. That would have been enough for her,
but Jack's kiss offered so much more.

Their bodies pressed tighter. Her mouth
opened in content and she felt his tongue against hers.
She wanted to think. Her instinct demanded an analysis of the
situation, but she knew that she loved him
at that moment and forgot to think about anything except
the way it felt to be with him and to give herself
over to him.

His arms were wrapped around
her body as he led her backward toward his bedroom. They made love
while whispering sweet, loving words to each other.
Amy knew that they never had a chance of
stopping this from the beginning because neither of them ever
really wanted to stop it from happening.

They'd never had a
choice.

Dear Emily,

The earth moved.
Chapter 7

Amy slept better than
she had in years. Her body
fit perfectly against Jack's as they slept, wrapped up in
each other, under the covers. The phone rang and Amy hesitated
before answering. Did she want to answer a phone call from her
mother while she was in Jack's bed?

No.

Reluctantly, she pushed up from the
mattress. Jack squeezed her arm but didn't try to stop her. “Seems
important,” he said. Considering it was her
mother's third try in a row, he was right.

She pulled on the first article of
clothing she found, one of Chase's t-shirts that hung to
her mid-thighs and left the room.

“Surprise!” Her mother said from the
other side of the phone. “We're here.”

Amy broke out in sweat,
and it felt as if her stomach had dropped.
“Here where?” Chase exited the bedroom, wearing basketball shorts
and a t-shirt.

“At your apartment, we came to visit
you. Open the door.” 

Then they heard the
knock on the door. “You're outside the door?” Amy asked.

“That's what a surprise is,
right?” Her mother said. “Amy?”

“I'll be right there,” she said.
She ended the phone call and stared at Jack with wide eyes.
“You have to hide.”

Jack stood taller, with
a look for fierce determination in his eyes. “No, I'm not
hiding, and you're not lying anymore,” he whispered.

“Are you crazy?” she asked.

He kissed her hard and fast.
“Go get dressed. Everything is going to be
okay.”

“You don't know that,” she
said, shaking her
head. But he was already heading to the
front door.

Rather than having her
parents see her in Jack's T-shirt, and nothing else, she
dove for the bedroom door and closed it behind
her just in time before Jack Harper opened the front door
to her parents.

Safe in her bedroom, Amy dressed
in a flurry of movement. She threw on jeans and a tank top as
she heard Jack say, “Mr. and Mrs. Knight.”

“I don't understand,” her mother
said.

Amy entered the living room, as
Jack was asking them to sit down. 

“No, I think I'll stand,” her father
said.

“Amy, what's going on here?” her mother
asked.

Amy sputtered nonsensically.

“Mrs. Knight, I'd like to
speak with you and your husband, please.” Jack said.

Amy felt her chest go tight.
She had to have known this would happen
and she'd tried to prevent it. She
should have known there was no stopping
this. She should have known the truth would come
out eventually.

Secrets bring a cost.

Amy's worlds were colliding
and there was nothing she could do
about it.

“What are you doing here? In Amy's
apartment?” Her father went to his wife to place his hands on her
shoulders, shielding her as if she were weak.

“Sir, this is my apartment. Amy and
I have been living together for a few months now and she
hasn't told you because she was worried about what you
would say. But I want you to know that I
care about her a lot and I'd like to be a part of her
life.”

Amy had to remind herself to
breathe as she divided a look between her parents and
Jack Harper.

“I don't understand.” Carol said to
Amy.

“Mr. Knight,” Jack said. “I'm in love
with your daughter.” He looked at Amy when he said this
and she felt sick and lightheaded because
she felt the same way too.

“What do you mean?” her mother said,
her voice high and bordering on hysterical.

Her father stepped forward and for a
moment Amy worried this was going to turn
physical.

“She's nineteen and she's supposed to
be focusing on school. How could you take advantage of
her like this? Not to mention how inappropriate this is. Her sister
is dead. What sort of man are you?”

Jack's hands were in fists at his side.
“I'm the kind of man that took your daughter in when
she was at her lowest. I'm the kind of
man that helped her get back on her feet. You
made your daughter believe that she couldn't turn to her
parents for help. Making her live up to your ridiculous
expectations. She was about to live out of her car and
you had no idea.”

Diane's eyes were wide, and
she stared at Amy in disbelief. “Amy, is this true?”

“I'm in love with your daughter, Mrs.
Knight,” Jack repeated.

“And what do you want from us?”
Diane asked, her focus on Jack. “Our blessing? How can you expect
us to welcome you? I can barely stand the sight of
you.”

“We still don't know why
Emily was out on that road. We don't
even know what happened that night. For all
we know you were out there with her,”
her father said through his teeth.

Jack winced.

“Dad, that's enough!” Amy
said, finally finding her voice.

“Don't raise your voice to
me. You've completely lost your mind,” Phil said.
“You're supposed to be studying and you're having an affair with
this man. I don't know what's gotten into
you.”

“You wouldn't know, would you?”
Amy said. “You have no idea what I've been
going through for the past four years. Because you never
asked me.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” her mother
said.

Jack stepped forward. “Mrs. Knight, I
didn't know Emily, but you can't keep comparing Amy to
her. You have to let Amy be her own person. Can't
you see what you're doing to her?”