Emily's Choice (23 page)

Emily woke
slowly. She could hear beeps and a humming noise. Even behind her closed lids,
she could tell the lights were bright. Her throat was dry and she wanted to
cough, but as she tensed to do so, a sharp pain shot out from her shoulder. She
moaned, trying to figure out why her shoulder hurt so much.

“Emily?”

She cracked
an eye open. “Where am I?”

“The
hospital. Can I get you anything?”

“Water,” she
croaked.

Jason stood
and brought the straw to her lips. She drank thirstily. “Whoa, just small sips.
Doctor’s orders,” he said with a small smile.

“Sadie?”

“With your
Dad. She’s safe.”

“Thank God.”
The short conversation had exhausted her, so she fell back to sleep, her mind
at ease over Sadie. When she woke a little while later, some of the events came
back to her. Grace, the funeral, Lila going crazy. The lights were dimmer in
the room now, so she chanced opening both eyes this time.

“Is Sadie
safe?”

“Yes, she’s
with your Dad.”

“And Lila?”

“Dead. Fred
shot her.”

“Does Sadie
know where I am?”

“Yes. She
knows you got hurt and are spending some time in here. When you feel up to it,
she wants to see you.”

“How long
have I been here?”

“Three days.”

“What?” she
asked in a panic, trying to sit up. The pain in her shoulder made tears spring
to her eyes.

Jason gently
pushed her back against the bed. “Lie down,
Em
. You
need to rest. You lost a
crapload
of blood and your
shoulder required surgery.”

“But three
days?”

“You
obviously needed the rest. You’ve been through a lot, and did I mention you
lost a lot of blood? You weren’t conscious when I found you.”

“My baby.
She’s never been away from me this long.”

“She’s doing
fine, I promise. To her, it’s all a big adventure. Plus, she has Hope.”

Emily sighed.
“Right. Okay.” She took a deep breath. “How long do I have to stay in here?”
she asked, yawning.

“I don’t
know. The doctor will be around first thing in the morning.”

“Why am I so
thirsty?” she asked, eyeing the pitcher of water again.

“Don’t know?
Blood loss? The fact you’ve been asleep for three days? Who knows. Another
question for the doctor in the morning.”

“And I’m so
tired,” she complained, fighting her eyes to stay open. “I have more questions.”

“Sleep,
Em
, we can talk later.”

She nodded
and promptly fell back to sleep.

When she
woke the third time, it was with a squeal of pain as she tried to roll over on
her injured shoulder.

“
Em
?”

He was still
here, oh God. What was she going to do? How could she face him? What could she
say to him to make up for the horrible things she’d said and done?

She kept her
eyes closed, praying he’d leave if he thought she was asleep.

“Emily? Are
you in pain?” He took her hand in his and caressed the back of her hand.

“Why are you
still here? What have I done to deserve it?” she whispered, keeping her eyes
tightly closed. Afraid of what she’d see if she looked at him.

“Because I
love you, Emily. Because when I found you, in that room, blood everywhere and
you unconscious, I thought you were dead. My heart shattered. I prayed. I
begged. I bartered my life for yours. You are and have always been my true
love. You will always be my entire life.”

She cracked
an eye open, peering up into his eyes filled with love and concern.

Hers filled
with tears. “I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

He leaned
closer, his fingers tightening on her hand. “What do you have to be sorry
about?”

“So much,
but mostly for running away without giving you a chance to explain. And for
keeping Sadie away, you missed all her firsts.”

“Well, yeah,
I guess there’s that,” he said, smiling.

“With
everything that’s happened, I feel like an utter fool for letting it go on so
long. All I can say was that I was hormonal, excited, nervous, scared, and I
couldn’t see past what was right in front of me.”

“I didn’t
remember a thing. The only way I know nothing happened was because I woke that
morning fully clothed.”

Emily
giggled. “Well, we know that’s not normal behavior for you.”

“See, and
that’s what I tried to tell you all along. I don’t remember her being in my
room. I don’t remember kissing her. I can’t imagine we got far. I woke up with
a hangover you wouldn’t believe. And my first thought was that you were
gonna
kill me for being late to pick up the cake and man
flowers. Then I heard your dad downstairs putting up a ruckus. I raced
downstairs and he clocked me,” Jason said, rubbing his jaw like it had happened
that morning.

“He didn’t,”
she gasped.

“He did.
Knocked me back against the railing. Would have done more, too, if Dad hadn’t
pulled him off me!”

She ran her
hand down his face. “I’m sorry.”

“It might
have been worth it,” he grinned, raising his eyebrows. “If this conversation is
going in the direction I hope it is.”

“And what
direction is that?”

“In the
direction of you plus me equals happily ever after.” He lifted her hand to his
lips and placed a delicate kiss on her palm.

“I have a
life in Boston. It’s going to take me some time to extricate myself from that.”

“Understood.
We can make it work, we can make everything work—so long as we believe and
trust in each other,” he said earnestly.

“You’re
right,” she said, taking a long, deep breath. “We can and we will.”

“When they
let you out of here, I have something special to show you.”

“Are you
really going to do that to me?”

“What? Leave
you in suspense?”

“Yeah.” She
nodded.

“Sure am. I
figure I have a few freebies to use and this is one I can’t pass up. It’ll be
totally worth it.”

Emily grinned,
inclining her head. “You do. And I guess I’ll try to be patient.”

“How long do
you think it’ll take for you to pack up your life in Boston?”

“I don’t
know. I have some projects to finish up. I won’t leave Kendra in the lurch.
Ideally I’ll wait until she hires my replacement, but I can work from here.
Well, once my shoulder is healed.” Her eyes widened and she gasped. “Oh no.”
Her eyes darted around the room. “Where’s my phone? Oh crap!”

“What?”

“The
proposal and Maryanne,” she groaned.

“Calm down.
I spoke to some guy named Phil. He called your cell phone the other day, and I
answered it after the fifth time he called.”

“You did?”

He nodded
and smile reassuringly. “I did. I told him what happened and he said to tell
you to take your time, take it easy. He has the proposal well in hand. And he
presented everything to Maryanne. She loved your design with the new window and
wants to go with it. And she’s willing to wait until you’re all better to get
started.”

“Are you
serious?”

“About what?”

“Maryanne.”

“Yeah, that’s
what Phil told me. He also said to tell you: ‘You’re the Man.’ Whatever that
means.”

Emily barked
with laughter, which quickly turned to a moan when her shoulder resisted the
sudden movement.

“Please be
careful,” Jason pleaded.

“We bet on
Maryanne’s designs,” she explained. “I won. That’s what he meant.” She giggled,
trying hard not to move her shoulder. “Anyway, as I was saying. Ideally, it
would take about a month to get situated, but here’s the thing.” She paused to
catch her breath and gather her thoughts and courage. She took a sip of water
and looked him straight in the eye. “I love you, Jason. In fact, I never
stopped. I dreamed of you almost every night. I wished for our life, the one we
planned in our apartment in Santa Fe after we found out I was pregnant with
Sadie. I longed for your arms around me, your strength, your sense of humor. I
longed for a partner, someone to snuggle with in front of the TV, someone to
cozy up to in bed. Every breath I took was yours. Every beat of my heart sang
your name. I am
so
sorry for running away. I promise never to do that
again.” She finished strong. No tears and she was proud of that. She wanted him
to know she meant what she said. No questions, no qualms, no worries.

“Ah,
Em
.” He rested his forehead on the hand he was clutching in
his. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that?”

“Like two
years?” she laughed.

“Yeah, like
that.” He bent over and placed a tentative kiss against her lips.

She wasn’t
having that. She reached up with her good hand and pulled him closer. She
parted her lips, letting him know she was all in.

God, how she’d
missed this. Missed him. She wanted more. So much more. She slanted her head,
trying to get more. And he gave her more.

It didn’t
last nearly long enough. He pulled away.

“
Em
, we need to slow down. You are in
no
shape for
this.”

“But it’s
been so long,” she cried in frustration.

“It has,” he
agreed. “But you still need to rest. And besides,” he said, sitting back down
in his chair. He reached into his shirt pocket. “I can’t give this back to you
if your lips are busy with mine.” He held up her engagement ring. It sparkled
in the fluorescent lights, and she gasped in delight.

“How did
you?”

“Grace found
it one day while she was cleaning. Gave it to me, just in case.”

Emily reached
for it.

“Uh-uh.” He
raised it just out of her reach.

“Hey!”

“Nope, you
can’t just have it back. It comes with conditions.”

“Oh, really?”
She raised a brow. “Like what?”

“Like, you
have to promise to love me forever.”

“Done.
Promise.”

“You have to
promise to move back here and live happily ever after.”

“Done.
Promise.”

He dropped
to one knee. “You have to promise to marry me.”

“Oh,” her
voice cracked, tears gathering in her eyes. “I promise.”

A smile,
bright as the summer sun, bloomed across his face. “All right then. I guess you
can have this back.”

She held out
her hand and he slid the ring back on her proper finger. It still fit perfectly,
and it felt so right to be wearing it again.

“I love you,
babe,” he said as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“I love you.”
She sighed, leaning her head back against the bed. “Will you be here when I
wake up?”

“Wild horses
couldn’t drag me away. I’ll have your Dad bring Sadie in the morning.”

“Perfect. I
miss her.” Her eyes drifted closed. Just as she drifted off to sleep, she
remembered the canceled hotel. “There’s just one thing I can’t figure out,” she
said sleepily.

“What’s
that?” he asked, stroking her hair.

“Who
canceled our hotel room? Lila never mentioned it, and I would assume after
everything she confessed, she wouldn’t have forgotten that.”

“Oh,” Jason
said, smiling brightly. “That was me.”

“What?”
Emily gasped.

“Yep. They
were booked solid, so I canceled your rooms, knowing you’d have to get some
elsewhere. It was my sneaky trick to spend more time with you while you were
here.”

Smiling to
herself, Emily laid her head back against the pillows and closed her eyes. “Sneaky,
indeed. But it worked. You started worming your way back into my heart.”

Jason leaned
forward and placed a kiss on her lips.

“Thank you
Jason,” she mumbled, quickly losing her battle with consciousness. “Thank you
for not giving up on me.”

“Anytime,
babe,” he whispered, brushing a lock of hair away from her eyes as she drifted
into sleep. “You don’t give up on the one you love. Ever.”

Six
weeks later

“Where are
we going?” Emily asked, looking out the window of Jason’s truck.

“It’s a
surprise,” he replied, grinning.

“Are you
finally going to show me what you promised me in the hospital?”

“I am.”

“We have
enough time?” she asked, glancing at the clock on the dash.

He nodded.
“It’s on the way, and it shouldn’t take too long.”

Emily smiled
and reached for his hand. She tilted her face to catch the warm breeze blowing
through the truck’s window. In a few hours she’d be on a plane back to Boston
to start packing up the apartment. Jason would be following next week with
Sadie and they were going to drive the moving truck back to
Mosquero
.

Emily smiled
to herself, thinking back on the couple of weeks after she’d gotten out of the
hospital and was recuperating at home. She’d been half-afraid to call Kendra
and offer her resignation, but she knew it was the right decision. She wanted
to move back to New Mexico, to be with Jason and close to her family. If
Grace’s death and her own near-death experience had taught her anything, it was
that family was important and you never knew when your time was up.

So, when
she’d called to offer her resignation, Kendra refused to accept it. Instead,
she’d given Emily her dream come true. She offered Emily a partnership in the
company, an equal partnership, and suggested Emily open an office in New
Mexico.

She was
still pinching herself. She’d been calling around
Mosquero
,
Logan, and Roy looking for office space, but so far she hadn’t found anything
she liked or that worked for her purposes. She didn’t really want to go to
Santa Fe, the commute and time away from her family wasn’t something Emily was
excited about.

Phil was
planning to take over all of Emily’s Boston projects, starting with Maryanne’s
remodel. When Emily got back to town, she and Phil were going to go over all
the plans and Emily was going to help him start the remodel later in the week.

She lifted
her arm to put her hand out the window, wincing a bit at the pain in her
shoulder. The doctors told her she’d feel it for at least a few more weeks and
encouraged her to continue with the physical therapy. She just wanted to be
better, and the drive into Santa Fe twice a week was starting to wear on her.
 

Jason had
been her constant companion. He’d surprised her several times with romantic
dinners, picnic lunches, and hours of togetherness. She was enjoying getting to
know him again and loved watching him with Sadie. He was a terrific father, and
Sadie was blossoming under his love and attention.

The
aftermath of Mama G’s death was still hard to come to terms with. There was a
huge empty hole in the family and Emily could feel it even in the house. Clint
was throwing himself into work on the ranch and spending time with all his
grandchildren. There wasn’t a quiet moment in the house when Clint was away
from the ranch work. Emily would catch glimpses of his grief deep in his eyes
when he didn’t think anyone was looking.

Hope was
grieving in her own way. She’d flown Lila’s body to Boston and attended the
funeral. Lila’s parents had kept her crimes a secret and no one could blame
them. There was nothing to be done anyway; Lila had paid the ultimate price for
her crimes. Death.

Hope was
contemplating a move to New Mexico as well. Derek had kept himself close,
working from the kitchen and being available for Hope. They’d chosen a date for
the wedding, Grace’s birthday, and were busy planning the big day.

Emily felt
Mama G’s presence often in the past weeks. A smile on Sadie’s face for no
reason, the scent of her perfume on the breeze, a bit of peace in the midst of
grief. Yes, moving back was the right choice, and if she had but one regret, it
was that she’d ever left in the first place.

“Here we
are,” Jason said quietly, pulling her from her thoughts.

Emily looked
up and then turned to Jason.

“What is
this?” she asked, confusion marring her face.

“Our home,”
he said simply. “At least, I hope it’ll be our home.”

“Our home?”
Emily asked, pulling the handle on the door and jumping out.

Jason
grinned and joined her in front of the truck. He took hold of her hand and
started leading her to the front door. “Our home. This was supposed to be your
wedding present. Of course, it wasn’t finished then, basically just an idea on
paper. But I’d gotten Dad to give me some land and started gathering bids for
the job.”

“Oh, Jason,”
she croaked, tears gathering in her eyes. She turned stricken eyes on him and
leaned her forehead against his chest.

“I had hope
that I’d win you back eventually, so I chose a company to build the house. And
after you said you’d marry me, I called them and had them build an addition.”

They’d
reached the front door and Jason opened it. He bent down and scooped Emily into
his arms, walking her across the threshold. “Welcome home, babe.” He leaned
down and brushed a gentle kiss across her lips.

“This is the
sweetest, most amazing gift,” she whispered.

“I hope you
like it,” he said, setting her on her feet.

They spent
the next twenty minutes exploring the house. The huge kitchen with bay windows
overlooking the backyard. The four bedrooms upstairs, one already decorated for
Sadie. The master bedroom and bathroom adjacent to the kitchen. The great
family room, complete with fireplace and large windows. Emily oohed and
aahed
over it all, finding no fault with anything she saw.
Excitement bubbled up inside her when she thought of all the ways she could
decorate.

“One last
thing before we head to the airport,” he said, taking her hand and leading her
outside. They rounded the side of the house and Jason led her into what Emily
assumed was the garage. But once she crossed the threshold, she realized what
she was actually looking at.

The perfect
office space.

“It’s not
attached to the house; you have to go outside to get to it. I can have them
change that, but I thought it would be a better idea to have it separate. That
way it really feels like an office and you don’t have clients going through our
house.”

“It’s
wonderful,” she said, eyes bright with more tears. “It’s perfect.”

“You like
it?”

“I do, I
really do.” She turned and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Thank you.”

He kissed
the top of her head, wrapping his own arms around her. “I love you, Emily.”

“My heart is
overflowing, Jason,” she said, squeezing him tightly. “I love you.”

“Good
surprise, then?”

Emily nodded
and grinned up at him. “I notice there’s four bedrooms upstairs. Is that a
hint?”

His eyes
crinkled with mirth. “Maybe.”

“We’d better
get started,” she said, raising up on tiptoes and fixing her lips on his.

“You’ll miss
your plane,” he warned, fisting his hands in her hair.

She pulled
his shirt from his jeans. “I’ll get the next one.”

“I love you,
Em
.” He scooped her up and took the stairs two at a
time. “God, I love you.”

“I love you,
too.”

The End