Emily's Choice (10 page)

“You have
one new voicemail message. Emily, it’s Jason. Just checking in. Hope you and
Sadie are doing well. Call me when you can. I love you,
Em
.
Always.”

Emily leaned
her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. Every message ended
the same. I love you. She didn’t believe him. In her opinion, he said it out of
habit, a last-ditch attempt to win back her affections. Life would be much
easier, for everyone involved, if he’d just stop. She wasn’t interested, and
rumor had it he was seeing the very reason they’d split in the first place.

“Sadie!” she
called. “Come FaceTime with Daddy.” She smiled when she heard her daughter
toddle down the hall. It was past dinner time, closing in on bath and bedtime.
She’d been working long days to finish a project that was due at the end of the
week, so they hadn’t spent a lot of time together lately. Emily was planning to
rectify that this weekend with a special trip to
Splash!,
an outdoor water park.

Emily had
worked her way up, rather quickly, to lead designer. She’d interviewed for the
position when she’d first moved to Boston and she loved her job. Her boss,
Kendra, was a dream to work for, and she enjoyed the freedom that Kendra gave
her to make the clients happy. The firm was bursting with work and Emily was
busy all the time, and while she loved her job, she sometimes resented how it
got in the way of spending valuable time with her daughter.

Sadie didn’t
seem to mind, but then she didn’t know any different. This was the only life
she knew. Sadie had daycare, she had her friends, and usually she had either
Emily or Hope. Hope, who had accepted Derek’s proposal and was now slowly
freaking out about planning a wedding. Mama G wanted Hope to get married in New
Mexico, but Hope wanted it in Boston. The possibilities for locations were
endless, and as Hope had rediscovered her roots, she really wanted to honor
them, and her father, with her wedding. Emily could understand both points, and
she knew Mama G would bow to whatever Hope wished for, eventually. But until a
final decision had to be made, Mama G would continue to press her wishes. She
couldn’t wait to start helping Hope plan the wedding. When Hope got home from
her latest shoot in two weeks, they were going to tour a few venues to get a
feel for what Hope was looking for and also for pricing. 

Breaking
herself out of the wedding fog, she pulled Sadie up onto the couch with her and
dialed Jason’s number. He picked up on the first ring, and Emily quickly
shifted the phone’s camera to Sadie’s beaming face.

“Daddy!”
Sadie squealed. She grabbed at the phone and poked Jason in the eye. Emily bit
back a bark of laughter.

“Hi,
Sadie-girl, how are you?”

“Sadie good,”
she replied, continuing to poke at Jason’s face on the screen.

“Be careful,”
Emily whispered to Sadie. “You’ll accidentally hang up on Daddy.”

“Hi,
Em
,” Jason called out.

“Hello,” she
replied through gritted teeth. Why couldn’t he just talk to Sadie and leave her
alone? “Thank you for the flowers. They’re lovely,” she said, referring to the
beautiful purple roses. “I wish you wouldn’t send them, though. Save your money
or use it to buy things for Sadie.”

“I like to
buy you things,” he began.

Emily quickly
interrupted. “But I don’t. We aren’t together, and it makes me uncomfortable to
receive gifts from you. Please stop.”

Jason
sighed.

“Talk to
Sadie. I have some things to do. If she hangs up on you before you’re ready,
just call back and I’ll set it up again.”

“
Em
, we need to talk. I have an idea I’d like to run by you.”

“I’m done
talking,” she replied tersely. She stood and looked down at Sadie. “Talk to
Daddy, I’m
gonna
get your bath ready.” She ran her
hand over Sadie’s blond curls and hurried off to the bathroom.

She could
hear Sadie’s babble and Jason’s responses and questions. Why did he have to
fight her on everything? He hoped and wished for them to get back together, but
it wasn’t going to happen. Why couldn’t he see that? Why couldn’t he accept
that? It had been almost two years! He really needed to get the hint already.

Shaking her
head, she gathered up a wash cloth and towel for Sadie and set them on the
counter. Then dropping a color fizz into the tub, she turned on the water.
While it was filling, she set out Sadie’s pajamas and her clothes for tomorrow.
She hoped it would give them an extra few minutes in the morning but knew they
would be just as rushed as every other morning. Nothing she tried ever made
their mornings go smooth.

Turning off
the water, she walked back to the living room to monitor and hurry the video
call along.

Jason’s face
was no longer the star of her phone. He’d been replaced by Emily’s father, who
was laughing and making faces, which in turn was making Sadie laugh.

“Hi, Dad!” Emily
said, sitting down next to Sadie and popping her face into the camera view.

“Hello!
Sadie just phoned me. She was saying Daddy when I first picked up.”

“Oh, she was
on the phone with Jason. She must have hung up on him. You know how she likes
to press the buttons.”

“Well, it’s
a nice surprise,” he chuckled, sticking his tongue out at Sadie.

“How’s Sophie?” Emily asked,
referring
to her sister-in-law who was hours, if not minutes, away from giving birth to
her fourth child.

“
Uncomfy
is the word I hear,” he replied sheepishly.

“I bet she
is. Give her our love.”

“I will.”

“I hate to
break up the comedy party, here, but Sadie needs a bath and bed. We’ll call you
this weekend.”

“Sounds
good. Good night, my princesses.”

“Night, Dad.”

“Night,
Gamps
!”

Forty-five
minutes later, Emily had Sadie in bed and a silent apartment all to herself.

Hope would
be back soon. She loved her sister, enjoyed living with her, was so grateful to
have a place to live, but it was moments like this—when she was alone, with no
one to entertain, no one to converse with, no one to intrude on her solitude——that
she was at her happiest.

Hope had
plans to go to
Mosquero
for Labor Day weekend, and
Emily was contemplating letting Sadie go with her. She was old enough to sleepover
at Jason’s with minimal fuss, and she knew her parents would relish the time
with Sadie. She planned to stay in Boston to work, relax, and enjoy some alone
time. Phoebe, who was currently single, had mentioned coming out, and Emily thought
that might be a good time to suggest a visit. She wouldn’t hold her breath,
though. Phoebe was in and out of relationships quicker than most changed their
socks.

She slowly
walked down the hall, knowing she should clean up from dinner but quickly
losing her ambition. All she really felt like doing was sitting on the couch
and moping. She was still irritated about her quick conversation with Jason
earlier and his nerve at sending her those beautiful roses.

Sighing, she
decided to clean up the kitchen and the clutter around the apartment. The
messiness stressed her out. Yawning, she mentally added exhaustion to her list
of reasons. A good night’s sleep would do wonders for her. She had to get out
of this funk.

Exhausted
and hoping that was the real reason for her mood, Emily climbed into bed three
hours later. She’d cleaned the kitchen, done a load of laundry, spent time on
her work projects, and then taken a warm shower. She placed her tea on the
bedside table and turned on her Kindle. She opened the latest release by Tess
Gerritsen
and started reading where she’d left off in chapter
five. But as she read, she couldn’t remember what she’d read before and
realized it had been weeks since she’d given herself time to read. Sighing, she
went back to the first chapter and began again, promising herself that she
wouldn’t let time get away from her again.

Groggy and
disoriented, Emily startled awake. She glanced at the clock and was surprised
to see it was a little after midnight. Her Kindle laid next to her, and Emily
realized she must have fallen asleep while reading, confirming her earlier
assumption that she was exhausted.

She couldn’t
figure out what had woken her so she put her Kindle next to her untouched cup
of tea and turned out her bedside light. Closing her eyes, she was just
drifting off to sleep again when she heard what must have woken her in the
first place. The message ringtone on her cell phone. Someone must have called.
She threw off the covers, knowing that if someone had called her at this time
of night, it couldn’t be good.

She
unplugged her phone from the charger on her dresser and checked her caller ID.
It was a call from her brother, Tyler, and Emily felt a jolt of excitement run
through her. His wife, Sophie, must have had the baby—or they were at least on
the way to the hospital.

She quickly
dialed his number and waited for him to answer with the exciting news.

“
Em
?”

“Tyler! Oh
my gosh, I’m so excited! Is it a girl?”

“What? What
are you talking about?”

“The baby!
Is it a girl? Did Sophie give birth?”

“Emily,” he
said slowly, “didn’t you listen to my message?”

“N-no, why?
Is everything all right? Are Sophie and the baby okay?”

“Sophie and
the baby are fine. But Mama G isn’t. She was in an accident tonight. She’s in
the hospital, and they don’t expect her to make it. How soon can you get home?”

Emily’s
knees buckled, and she dropped to the floor. “What? What?” She couldn’t wrap
her mind around what he had just told her. “What happened?”

“Drunk
driver. She swerved to avoid and lost traction on the gravel. Her car flipped
and hit a tree. She’s in surgery right now, but from what we understand, she
had a lot of trauma to her head and they don’t anticipate her waking up.”

“Oh my God,”
she gasped. “Oh my God. Um, okay.” She took a shuddering breath and tried to
calm herself down. “Okay. I’ll call the airlines now and see about tickets. I’m
sure I can get something for the morning. Do you want me to call Hope or are
you? She can probably get her flight changed easily, too.”

“If you
could call her, that would be helpful. Dad’s not doing well, and I don’t want
to be away from him for long.”

“I
understand. I’ll text you when I know our flights. Don’t worry about picking us
up, we’ll rent a car. What hospital?”

“She was
airlifted to Santa Fe General.”

“Okay. See
you soon.”

She hung up
and rested her head on her knees. There would be no more sleep tonight; she had
a lot to do and little time to get it done. Dragging herself to her feet, she
rushed over to her desk in the corner of her room. Sitting down, she pulled out
a piece of paper to start a list. She wrote: call Hope, change flights, call
Sadie’s daycare, rent car, book hotel in Santa Fe, call Phil, pack clothes,
pack work . . . she was sure there was more to add, but she stopped there and
began.

She dialed
Hope’s number while she pulled up her favorite airline website. She selected
flights and compared the prices and times to other airlines while she waited
for Hope to pick up. As groggy and disoriented as Emily had been, Hope had just
as much trouble as Emily had deciphering what was being said to her.

“What do you
mean?” Hope asked. “This doesn’t make sense.”

“I know it
doesn’t. She was in an accident, Hope, and they don’t think she’s going to make
it. You have to get home, now!”

“Are you
going?”

“Yes. I’m
working on flights now.”

“I need to
call Derek.”

Emily could
hear the tears in her voice and wanted so badly to be there to comfort Hope. “You
do. Call him, he’ll want to know. And no doubt he’ll be able to meet us in New
Mexico to be with you.”

“You think
so?”

“Yes. Call
Derek and then call the airlines. Then call me when you know your flight info.
I’m going to rent a car so don’t worry about that. I’ll either wait for you at
the airport or come get you. Mama G is at Santa Fe General, so I’ll try to get
a hotel close by. Do you want your own room or do you want to share with us?”

“Sharing is
fine,” Hope said quickly. “Oh my gosh. What am I going to do without her? She’s
too young, Emily. What if she doesn’t make it? She’ll miss my wedding,” Hope’s
voice broke and then she gasped. “Sadie and I were supposed to go dress
shopping over Labor Day weekend with Mom. We were going to go out there for the
long weekend.”

Emily could
hear Hope’s soft cries over the phone but didn’t know what she could say to
help Hope.

“Oh my God,”
she croaked. “I haven’t even had babies yet! She’ll never get to meet my
babies!”

“I know,
Hope. Let’s try to think positive though, okay? At least until we get there and
know what’s what. Let’s focus on getting there and being with her. Okay?” Emily
took Hope’s sniffle to mean yes. “Call the airlines and then call me back. I
love you, sis. We’ll make it through this.”

Emily spent
an hour on the phone with the airlines getting their flights arranged. While
she’d been on the phone, and on hold a dozen times, she’d gotten a car rented
and hotel booked. She reserved two rooms, knowing that if Derek was able to go
out to New Mexico, they’d want their own room. She’d also sent an email to Phil
with a promise to call him as soon as he made it into the office later that
morning.

Now that the
flights were arranged, she texted her brother the information and walked back
to her room. It was almost two in the morning, but she knew sleep was still out
of reach. She pulled her suitcases from the closet and began to pack.