His Paradise Wife (16 page)

Dante opened the door to the bedroom where
he’d left Emily sleeping and was surprised to find that she wasn’t
there, lying in the center of the bed where he’d left her. He
checked the bathroom and she wasn’t there either. Where had she
gone so quickly?

He took his cell from his shirt pocket and
dialed her number, then waited, anxiously listening to the rings
and wondering when she would pick up. After five rings, though, it
went to voicemail. He hung up and called right back, hoping that
she’d answer, but again – voicemail.

He sighed and sat on the bed perplexed.
That’s when he noticed that her suitcase was gone.

He dialed her cell phone a third time, and
when the voicemail picked up, he left a message:

Hey, Emily. It’s Dante. Where are you?
Please call me when you get this.

He slid his phone back into his pocket and
just sat there on the bed without knowing what to do next. He
didn’t want to eat. As a matter of fact, he’d lost his appetite
that quickly. Why would Emily wake up and just leave after the
morning they’d shared? After they’d made love? He was careful not
to hurt her, so why? Did she regret what happened between them?
Even after her breakthrough in therapy and after making love to him
this morning, it hadn’t been enough to sway her emotions and
feelings for Melvin.

Dante stood up from the bed and in a bout of
anger and frustration, he grabbed the bag of food and slung it
across the room, its contents spilling out onto the floor. Just
when he thought he’d had her where he wanted her, she up and do
this. To make matters worse, he looked over at the nightstand and
saw the ring.

Chapter 28

After a layover in Atlanta, she finally
arrived to Jacksonville where she’d took a taxi to the hospital. If
something happened to her mother and she hadn’t had the chance to
apologize, she would never forgive herself for being intentionally
distant.

At the hospital, she raced to her mother’s
second floor room, pushing the door open, seeing her lying on the
bed. Her eyes were closed.

Her father had been sitting next to the bed
and rose up from his seat when Emily burst into the room.

“
Dear, please don’t wake
her,” he said. “She just came out of surgery a few hours ago and
the doctors just want her to rest.”

“
Oh my gosh, Dad,” Emily
said, rushing around the bed and finding herself in her father’s
embrace.

“
It’s okay,
honey.”

“
No, it’s not,” she cried.
“I’m an awful daughter. I should’ve been here.”

“
You can’t blame yourself
for this, Emily.”

“
Yes I can, because I should
know about mom’s health problems. I just became so consumed by
Melvin’s death that I forgot about the people who are still alive –
people who love and need me.”

“
Well, you’re here now
aren’t you honey? And guess what?”

“
Yeah?”

“
Today is a good day to
begin again.”

Emily smiled through her sadness. Her father
had always told her that as a child. Begin again. How true that
was. She couldn’t go back and change the years she’d wasted
avoiding her parents. All she could do was start over.

“
What did the doctor say
about her recovery?” Emily asked, staring at her sleeping
mother.

Her father walked up next to her and said,
“He said she’ll make a full recovery, but it’s going to take quite
a while before she’s back to one-hundred percent.”

Emily pondered how she might be able to help
her parents, especially since they were in Florida and she was in
North Carolina. Then again, she was closing the store. What else
would she be sticking around for if she stayed in Asheville?

Chapter 29

The next day, Dante walked around the resort
dumbfounded, trying to figure out what had happened between himself
and Emily. He tried to call her several more times this morning,
but still, she hadn’t answered. Then he got an idea – call Emily’s
boutique. She had mentioned to him that her friend Sherita was
running the store in her absence. Maybe she knew where Emily had
run off to.

He Googled the store number on his phone,
then dialed it.

“
Emily’s Boutique, may I
help you?”

“
Hi. Is this
Sherita?”

“
This is she? Who’s
speaking?”

“
This is Dante Champion. I’m
a friend of—”

“
Oh, hi, Dante.”

He frowned. “You know me?”

“
Yeah. Emily told me about
you.”

That made him feel good, but didn’t do
anything to give him any sort of indication where Emily was. He
told her, “Emily left the resort yesterday afternoon and I haven’t
been able to reach her. Would you by any chance know where she
might be?”

Sherita thought for a moment and said, “No.
I don’t. I did speak to her yesterday about the store.”

“
You did?”

“
Yeah.”

“
About what
time?”

“
Um...must’ve been around
one.”

“
Did she seem upset at
all?”

“
No. Well, I take that
back...she was a little upset about the rent increase.”

“
Rent increase?”

“
Yeah. I got the notice from
the landlord about a rent increase and I told her about
it.”

“
Oh...”

“
You said she left yesterday
afternoon?” Sherita inquired.

“
Yes, and I have not been
able to get in contact with her and have no idea where she might
be.”

“
Hmm...” Sherita said,
brainstorming a moment. If Emily left, it must’ve been for a good
reason. Then she thought of a perfect solution. “I’ll call her and
tell her that you’re looking for her because I honestly don’t know
where she is either.”

“
Thank you. I appreciate
that.”

“
I can call you back at this
number?” she asked.

“
Yes. This is my
cell.”

“
All right. I’m going to get
off the phone and call her now. If I get her on the phone, I’ll
call you back and let you know. If she doesn’t answer, then I won’t
bother calling you back.”

“
Okay. Thanks
again.”

“
You’re welcome.

While Dante appreciated Sherita’s efforts,
he wanted to be the one in control of the situation, not sitting on
the sidelines waiting for a phone call. So he did the next best
thing he knew to do – he called the hotel where her friend Melanie
worked. Since he used the site for several business functions, he’d
already had the number programmed into his phone.

“
Guest services. Melanie
Summers speaking.”

“
Hi Melanie. This is Dante
Champion.”

“
Hi, Mr. Champion. Looking
to book another meeting here?”

“
Not at the moment. The
reason for my call is a personal one.”

“
Personal how?”

“
I’m looking for Emily.
She’s a friend of yours if I’m not mistaken.”

“
Yes she is, and what do you
mean you’re looking for her?”

“
I don’t know if she told
you about the mass wedding at the resort this weekend—”

“
Yes, she told me all about
it.”

“
Well, yesterday afternoon,
she left and I have no idea where she is. Would you by any chance
know where she is?”

Melanie hadn’t responded. She had spoken
with Emily this morning and had known where Emily was – in
Jacksonville with her sick mother. And Emily had also told her how
she thought the time she’d spent with Dante had been a mistake.
Melanie didn’t want to hear that from her because she knew Dante
was the perfect man for Emily. Still, Emily wasn’t convinced.
Melvin had her heart.

After a relatively long period of silence,
Dante said, “Melanie, if you know where she is, please tell me. I’m
worried about her.”

Melanie sighed. “I don’t know if it’s my
place to get in the middle of you two, Mr. Champion, so—”

“
Melanie, please. I need to
know where she is.”

Melanie still hadn’t responded. She knew
Dante had deep feelings for Emily. She could hear it in his voice.
The only problem was, Emily wasn’t convinced. If she was, she had a
good way of pretending she wasn’t falling for him. “She’s in
Jacksonville, Florida. Her mother had a heart attack and she left
the resort to be with her and her father.”

Dante’s heart sank. He was relieved that she
was okay, but felt sorry for her mother and for Emily to have to go
through that.

“
Thanks for letting me know.
I appreciate it.”

“
Oh, and Dante...” she said,
foregoing the formality of calling him Mr. Champion.

“
Yes?”

“
If you love her, you really
need to be patient because she’s still not over Melvin’s death. I
know you know that, and I also know that trying to love someone who
won’t love you back is tiring, but Emily really needs
you.”

“
I know. Thank you, Melanie.
I owe you.” As soon as Dante ended the call, he made plans to be
picked up by the company jet. He’d see Emily today. He wanted
nothing other than to be there for her through this distressing
time in her life.

Chapter 30

Later in the evening, Emily was walking from
the cafeteria with two cups of coffee – one for her and her father
– when she saw Dante walking towards her.

Dang-it,
Melanie
! She wanted to scream, regretting
the fact that she told Melanie where she had gone. How else would
Dante know because she surely hadn’t told anyone else.

Emily was so nervous, she almost dropped the
coffee when she saw him walking towards her, wearing a pair of dark
jeans and a camel colored jacket that matched his leather shoes and
plaid shirt.

“
Hi,” he told her when he’d
gotten a little closer.

“
What are you doing here,
Dante?”

Her question took him aback. “What do you
mean? My wife is here and I wanted to be here with you, to help
you, Emily.”

“
No. I don’t want you here.
I want you to leave.”

“
Emily, I’m not leaving. I
want to be here for you,” he repeated.

“
No. Leave. I don’t want or
need you here. Goodbye.” She continued walking pass him like he
wasn’t even standing there.

Dante turned around and said, “What did I do
to deserve this?” still watching her walk away from him.

He sighed and threw his hands up in the air.
Instead of causing a scene, he returned to the end of the hallway
and took a seat in the waiting area. He removed the wedding ring
he’d given her from his shirt pocket and twirled it in between his
thumb and index fingers. Emily meant too much to him only for him
to walk away now. She’d penetrated too deep into his heart.

He stood up and headed for Emily’s mother’s
room. It was time for the Mitchells to know that they had a
son-in-law. Once there, he tapped on the door then proceeded into
the room like he was family. Well, he was family. He was Emily’s
husband. Her parent’s son-in-law.

Emily’s eyes nearly popped out of her head
when she saw Dante step in the room.

“
What are—” she
began.

“
Mr. Mitchell,” he said
interrupting Emily before she had a chance to silence him. “I’m
Dante Champion, your daughter’s husband.

“
Husband?” her father
responded, holding the cup of coffee in his right hand. He looked
at Emily, wearing a frown like it was a crown.

“
Emily, what is this man
talking about?”

“
Dad, I can explain, but
first, I need to speak with Dante in the hallway, okay.” She walked
pass them both to reach the door.

Dante followed her into the hallway.

“
What on God’s green earth
do you think you’re doing?” she asked with a hand on her
hip.

“
I’m being here for you. I
told you that.”

“
You must have it twisted. I
told you to leave, Dante.”

“
I heard what you said. Now,
you hear me—”

“
No, no, no! Stop
talking.”

“
No. Don’t tell me to stop
talking, Emily.”

“
You got some nerve. Why are
you even here? Thought you were done with me.”

His frown deepened. “Done with you?”

“
Yeah. Done.” She crossed
her arms. “You had sex with me and I woke up and you were
gone.”

“
Correction...I made love to
you and the reason I was gone, as you put it, is because I went to
get us some lunch. You knew I hadn’t left. My suitcases were where
they’ve been since we arrived at the resort. Come on, Emily. What
is this really about?”

“
I can’t talk to you right
now.”

“
Emily, you’re still my wife
and I thought everything between us these past few days were going
good. So tell me...are you having second thoughts? Is that what’s
really going on here?”

“
I have to get back to my
parents.”

“
Okay, since you want to
play that game. I’m right behind you.”

Emily took a deep breath and sighed. It was
going to be a long night.