Emily's Choice (3 page)

The earliest
flight from Santa Fe to Boston wasn’t until 7:52 a.m. As Emily paced the gate
area waiting for their seats to be called, she second-, third-, and
fourth-guessed herself. Was she doing the right thing? Was running the answer?
What if it had been a mistake?

Then for the
second, third, and fourth time, she reminded herself that she hadn’t mistaken
what she’d seen. The memory wouldn’t leave her in peace, and she knew without a
doubt that she needed space and time to decide what to do about it.

When their
seats were called, Emily gathered up her purse and ticket and breathed a short
sigh of relief. She knew she’d feel a little better once she was on the plane.

Landing in
Denver, Emily settled on one of the chairs by the windows. Fingers shaking, she
dialed her parents.

“Are you
okay?”

Emily did
her best to keep the tears at bay, but hearing the concern in her stepmother’s
voice was almost more than she could bear. She considered herself extremely
lucky to have Grace. Emily’s mother, Sara, had died when she was two. She didn’t
know all the details just that it had been complications from scarlet fever.
She couldn’t remember much about her mother but knew Sara had been well loved
and respected in the community, and people were always eager to share their
stories and memories. Mama G never discouraged it either. She herself had been
happy to help ferret out information. When she’d married Clint, it had been
something she’d been adamant about. She wouldn’t let Emily forget her mother,
and Mama G never sought to replace Sara. Instead, she had tried to be a friend,
a mentor, a guiding influence to mold Emily into an adult her mother would have
been proud of.

Her father
was a man, down to the marrow of his bones. What he knew of hairstyles,
fashion, and girl stuff wouldn’t fill a thimble. When Emily had needed her hair
done, school clothes shopped for, the first time she’d gotten into a war with
Gina, the first day of her period, the first time Jason had kissed her, when
she left for college, having Mama G in her life had been a godsend. And
hopefully, despite the distance Emily was putting between them, she would be
there for the birth of her baby, too.

Grace may
not be her biological mother, but she was her mother as far as Emily was concerned.
And Emily sorely needed her mother right now.

“Not really,
no,” Emily said through her tears. She turned her back to the gate and stared
unseeing out the window. She told Mama G the sordid details.

“You’re
going to Hope’s then?”

Emily heard
her father in the background and listened as Grace explained the situation to
him. It was rare for her father to swear, and Emily was a little taken aback at
what she heard through the phone line.

“Are you
sure of what you saw?” her father growled.

“Yes, Daddy,
I’m sure.” Emily said, clearing her throat. She could imagine him stomping down
to his den to pick up the phone in there and Mama G rolling her eyes at his
intrusion on their phone conversation.

“He’s
gonna
wish he’d never been born,” Clint threatened.

“Daddy!”
Emily yelled. “Don’t hurt him.”

“You’ll do
no such thing,” Grace said shrilly. “Get off the line before you upset her
more.”

Emily heard
her father mutter, “He’ll be lucky to be alive when I’m done with him,” before
the line clicked, indicating her father had hung up his phone. Her heart
stopped for a second, before she realized she was angry and what did she care
what punishment her father meted out to Jason on her behalf. 

“Oh, darling
girl, I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Mama G soothed after Clint had hung
up the phone.

Emily nodded
and leaned her forehead on the cool glass. “Me, too. We had our whole lives
ahead of us, Mama G. What am I going to do now?”

“You’re
gonna
go to Boston, get your emotions straightened out, your
head on right, and make a plan. You call me whenever you need me. We’re all
here for you, darling.”

“I love you,
Mama G. So much. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you,” Emily said sadly.

“What do you
mean?”

“When you
said it was bad luck for Jason and me to see each other before the wedding.
That wasn’t just an old wives’ tale.” Emily paused to wipe her nose. “I’d
better get going. I need to use the restroom, and we’ll be boarding again soon.
I’ll call or text when we land in Boston.”

“All right,
darling girl. Be safe. We love you both.”

“I will.
Love you.”

The plane
ride seemed to take forever, which gave Emily plenty of time to think. Not that
she wanted to, though. Her thoughts weren’t of the happy variety. No happy
childhood memories, no hopes for her new life in Boston, no exciting dreams for
the tiny miracle in her womb. Memories of Lila’s initial arrival in
Mosquero
and all her dirty tricks raced through her mind
like an old-time newsreel. She needed a distraction, anything, from the memories
swirling in her mind. Unfortunately, Hope being a frequent flyer meant she had
no trouble sleeping on the plane. As soon as they’d boarded in Denver, she’d
passed out. Emily wished she could be so lucky, but sleep wouldn’t come to her,
even though she was desperately exhausted.

No, it
seemed she was destined to relive one of the most awful moments in her life.
The first time her trust in Jason had been tested.

Lila had
come to live with them the summer before Emily and Hope entered eleventh grade.
Lila’s life had been turned upside down by a stalker. He was her ex-boyfriend
and apparently hadn’t taken the breakup well. His name was Edward, and he was
from a family as well-off as Lila’s own. He called her, texted her, stopped by,
and followed her around school. It got to the point where Lila was afraid to
leave her house. The police’s hands were tied though because he never
made any threats to Lila and had never harmed her. Lila begged her family to
leave town for a while, to let Edward forget about her and so Lila could feel
safe again. Her mother had been all for the idea, having wanting to spend some
time at their home in France and getting tired of life in Boston. Winter was
coming and she did not want to spend another cold, snowy, bleak winter there.
She wanted sun, warmth, and the Mediterranean. 

Lila’s
father, on the other hand, had many business dealings in the works and couldn’t
get away. Besides, he’d said, Edward knows about the house in France, surely he’d
be able to find you there. So a plan had been hatched for Lila to go spend some
time with her aunt in
Mosquero
. The original plan had
been for Lila to stay for six months and then go with her parents to France.
The second part of the plan never happened. Instead, Lila had conned,
manipulated, and cajoled her way into being able to stay for the entire school
year.

Emily
sighed, leaned her head back against the seat, closed her eyes, and let her
mind take over. You couldn’t stop a freight train and she was done
trying.

Initially,
Emily had been excited for Lila’s arrival. She was curious about Mama G’s
family and wanted to meet Hope’s cousin. She thought they’d be similar people,
their fathers being brothers and all, but she couldn’t have been more wrong.
Where Hope was kind, loyal, and helpful, Lila was cold, rude, and lazy. Lila
had hidden it well when she was in front of Mama G or Clint. To them she was
everything she needed them to think she was. But as soon as their backs were
turned, Lila’s inner bitch appeared.

She made
life difficult and reveled in it. The first few weeks weren’t bad, and Emily
chalked up Lila’s odd behavior as nerves and apprehension and the
change and growing pains of living with people you didn’t know well (or at
all). Misunderstandings and miscommunications seemed to be the norm for those
first few weeks. Emily thought they’d never get their differences figured out.
Not having to ever share a room before, Clint had surrendered his office
temporarily so Lila could have her own space. Hope and Emily had shared a room
since Mama G and Clint had gotten married. Their room was barely big enough to
fit them both and putting Lila in there would have made the room burst at the
seams. Tyler was due to leave for college at the end of the summer, and once he
was gone, Lila would be given his room. Tyler was spending the summer packing
up his room and spending as much time with friends and family as he could
before he left. He was going to college in Albuquerque, so he was staying in
the dorms and would only be back for breaks and holidays.

When school
started, Emily and Hope showed Lila around school and introduced her to their
friends. They tried to include her in much of what they did, but Lila made it
difficult. She complained, shied away, and grew testy when they would stop to
chat with their friends. Eventually, they left Lila out most of the time and
went about their normal lives, tired of her nagging and general crappy attitude
with whatever they were doing. By Halloween, Lila had made her own friends and
seemed, if not happy, content. Emily hoped this meant they would start getting
along, but she was wrong. 

Emily and
Jason had been a steady couple since the beginning of their sophomore year
but had been “together” since seventh grade. Everyone knew they were an item.
Everyone. And since she’d been living with them for some time, Emily just
assumed Lila knew, too. So it came as a major surprise to her when Lila began
spending time with Jason and flirting with him every chance she got. When Jason
would come pick Emily up for a date, Lila would greet him at the door and chat
and flirt with him the entire time Emily was getting ready to leave. After a
month of this, Emily made sure she was ready and met Jason out on the
porch. 

Lila was in
the same grade and had a couple of classes with Jason. After their class, she
would loop her arm through his and have him walk her to her next class.
Sometimes, she’d even get him to hold her books for her. She’d smile up at him
and coo at whatever he was saying. Rumors started to swirl through the school
that Jason was hot for the “new” girl and that his and Emily’s relationship had
burnt itself out. When those rumors first found Emily’s ears, her face had
turned pink and tears had sprung to her eyes. She’d been in the toilet stall
and some girls were talking at the sinks. Emily kept herself hidden in the
stall until the girls left, and then she’d slowly come out and skipped the rest
of her classes that day. She’d gone home, cried betrayed tears, and then
promptly gone to Jason’s house and waited for him. 

He’d gently
taken her face in his hands, kissed her mouth ever so sweetly, and assured her
that his heart only beat for Emily. He was being nice to Lila because she was
her cousin, but he felt nothing for her and certainly didn’t want to date her.
He knew her type and he wasn’t interested. End of story.

Happy and
relieved, she had returned home and tried to put it to rest. Rumors continued
to swirl through the school, though, and it became harder and harder for Emily
to blow them off. Jason had stopped walking Lila to class and tried to avoid
her at all costs. But she was tricky and found ways to insinuate herself. She
would “miss” the bus and ask him for a ride home. He was too much of a gentleman
to refuse. She would “forget” what their homework assignment was and need to
run over to his house to get it. Stupid little excuses that began to add up to
a lot of time spent in his company and more fuel for the school
gossipmongers. 

Two weeks
before the Valentine’s Ball, Hope and Emily went to Santa Fe with Clint. He had
supplies to pick up, and they were in need of dresses for the ball.

They had
spent a lovely afternoon in Santa Fe, enjoyed the one-on-one time with each
other and then with Clint. He’d even treated them to a nice dinner, and they
had felt a sweet bubble of love and happiness. That bubble popped when they got
back home. 

Mama G was
waiting for them when they got home. She was wearing her scowl, her movements
were jerky, and she had no interest in seeing their dresses. Clint, sensing
trouble, hightailed it out the door and straight to the barn. 

Emily and
Hope tried to escape to their room with their dresses, but Mama G told them not
to leave. Lila, hidden in the shadows of the living room, betrayed her excitement
with the smirk she wore on her face.

“I am
disappointed in both of you,” Mama G began. 

Emily and
Hope both let their jaws drop. Disappointed? What had they done?

“Why, Mom?”
Hope asked tentatively.

Lila made a
small movement in the corner and Grace sent her away. She waited until Lila had
disappeared up the stairs before she answered Hope.

“Lila and I
had a long talk today. She has confided in me how alone and left out she’s been
feeling. You haven’t made her feel welcome. And to top it all off, you
conspired with Clint to leave her here today and went dress shopping without
her!”

“That’s not
true!” Emily said indignantly. “We offered, but she said she had many dresses
at home that she could have her mother send. She said she wouldn’t be caught
dead in something she could get here!”

“It’s true,
Mom,” Hope confirmed. “We asked her again before we left, but she was adamant.”

Mama G
nodded. “Well, maybe it was a misunderstanding. But that still doesn’t excuse
the way you’ve let her down. She’s family and she should come first!”

“What do you
mean?” Emily asked.

“She’s alone
at school. She has no friends. No one to sit with at lunch. You don’t talk to
her on the bus. You don’t involve her in your extra-curricular stuff. She’s
miserable.”

Emily couldn’t
help it, she growled in frustration. Who was Lila trying to kid? What was she
hoping to gain? Surely she knew getting them in trouble wasn’t going to make
the situation any better?

“Mama G, we
tried,” Emily said, anger barely concealed. “She sneered at our attempts. We
showed her around town, around school, we introduced her to all our friends. We’ve
invited her to parties, to our after-school stuff, to sit with us at lunch. We’ve
tried. She doesn’t like us. Everything is “backwoods,” as she calls it. Nothing
is good enough.” Emily ran her hands through her hair in frustration and shot a
look at Hope, who nodded in agreement.

“We did,
Mom. She makes fun of what we do and where we go. I don’t know what else we can
do.” Hope sat down on the couch and stared at her mother.

“Mama G?”
Emily asked, glancing at her stepmother.

Grace was
standing in front of them, a thoughtful look on her face. She stared off into
space for a moment and then shook her head. She motioned Emily to sit down next
to Hope on the couch.

“Listen,
girls,” she began, kneeling in front of them and taking their hands in her own.
“You two have been sisters and best friends since Clint and I got married. You’ve
been glued to each other’s sides, inseparable. And that has made me so happy. I’m
glad you are close to each other, and I hope you stay that way forever. I know
it can be hard to loosen the bond a bit to let someone else in, but I need you
to do that. No,” she said, shaking her head, “let me finish.” She took a deep
breath and continued. “It’s about perception, girls. You perceive that you’ve
included her in everything and she perceives you’ve left her out. Her
perception is the one that matters because
she’s
the one who is hurting.
Does that make sense? Her perception is one of hurt, loneliness, and a form of
betrayal. You’re her family, and you’re letting her down. Do you understand?”

Emily and
Hope nodded.

“You may
have been doing your best and she may have been rebuffing your efforts. But she’s
here and she’s not going anywhere. You have to keep trying.”

“Yes, ma’am,”
they said in unison.

Grace leaned
forward. “I know she can be difficult,” she said in a hushed whisper. “She is
my niece, after all, and even though I haven’t seen her in years, I do know
what she’s like. Come to me if there’s trouble, but don’t ignore her. And keep
trying.”

“Yes, ma’am,”
Emily said, eyes wide in surprise.

“Go upstairs
and try to make amends, please.”

Both girls
rose and slowly walked out of the room and up the stairs. Neither said a word,
knowing Grace would most likely hear their whispered words. And who knew where
Lila was hiding. Emily didn’t think she was hanging out in her room, not caring
about the conversation being had downstairs. The last thing they needed was for
Lila to overhear and have her be even more offended than she already was.

They went
straight to Lila’s room and knocked on her door.

“I’m not in
there,” Lila said, smirking when they spun around. “Did you really think I
would go to my room like a good country girl and miss the chance to see you get
a dressing down?”

“So you did
it on purpose?” Emily asked, glaring at Lila.

Lila laughed
and opened her mouth to say something but Hope stepped between them, raising
her hands for quiet.

“
Em
,” Hope started. “Calm down. Remember what Mom said.”

“Yes,
Em
, do what Hope says. Wouldn’t want you to get into more
trouble.” Lila laughed. Then she turned flashing eyes on Hope. “Protective of
her, aren’t you?”

Hope ignored
Lila’s words and turned pleading eyes on Emily. Emily shook her head, angry eyes
boring into Lila’s.

“I know,
Em
,” Hope soothed. “Unfair, but it is what it is.”

Emily sighed
and started counting. It never really worked for her, even though she tried it
every time she got angry. She was still angry when she got to ten, but at least
she didn’t feel the need to punch Lila in the face anymore. Not that she didn’t
deserve it, but Hope was right. They had to make peace and keep trying. Not
matter how bad Lila got under her skin.

Taking a
deep, cleansing breath, Emily took a step closer to Lila. “I’m sorry for making
you feel left out and alone. I will do better. Perhaps if you could tell me
what you enjoy doing, we could save ourselves a lot of trouble.”

Lila
scoffed. “There is nothing to do here. No theater, no dance clubs, no museums,
no culture. This is about the most uncultured place on the Earth. And anyways,
why would I want to hang out with you, Miss Perfect? You’re always shoving in
my face your perfect life, and I’m sick of it. Sick of you, sick of your
perfect relationship, sick of your perfect friends and your perfect grades,
your perfect horses and your perfect riding. You make me sick!” Lila spat at
Emily, her eyes glassy with the force of her emotions.