Hope Unbroken (Unveiled Series Book 3) (19 page)

chapter twenty-six

Pause

Life’s chaos never seemed to hinder the calendar’s progression. Winter fully surrendered to spring. Classes went on. But every now and then, in between waves of end-of-the-semester stress, my world paused long enough for me to remember how to breathe. Especially now that the center had enough funding to cover at least two years of expenses.

Riley and I were the only ones outside my apartment aside from two sparrows and a rambunctious squirrel rustling in a tree across the street. Greeting the warmth of the late-April day like an old friend, the weathered oak swayed in the wind until every last bud gleamed in the sunlight.

Seasons would always come and go, but maybe not all memories had to fade with time.

Riley studied me as though reading a perfectly legible rendition of my thoughts. His boyish smile moseyed closer. “You’re spending the night with your best friend. You’re supposed to look excited.”

“I am, but you sure you don’t mind?”

We spent virtually every evening together. It felt sort of strange to be going somewhere without him. Not that Jaycee would’ve let me bring him. She’d been begging me the last few weeks to come to her new place for a girls’ night. No guys allowed.

“Of course I don’t mind. It’ll be good for you. Besides,” he said, “Jake and I are going to have a guys’ night.”

“Doing what? Sharing milk bones?”

He laughed. “Hey, don’t knock ‘em till you try ‘em.”

“Sick.”

He drew me close and gave me one of those looks that cut through my attempt at hiding anything from him. “We have—”

“The rest of our lives. I know.” A breeze whisked past us but lacked its usual comfort.

He lifted a hand to the back of my neck. No one should be allowed to have such unfairly disarming eyes.

“Em—” His cell rang from his pocket. He answered. “Riley Preston.” His gaze flicked away from mine toward the trees across the street. He let go of my fingers and strode in the opposite direction.

“Not gonna happen.” He stopped on the curb with his back facing me. “Nick already knows my position on this. I’m not going without her.”

He dug his fingers through his hair. “Look, I’ll call him in the morning, but . . .” He raised a fist in the air. “I’m sorry, Jess, but this conversation’s over.”

Did he just hang up on her?

It took him a minute to turn around. But when he did, a visible look of apology filled in for words.

Not that I needed an explanation. It made sense—at least to everyone but Riley—that he should start touring as soon as possible. It was also clear to everyone—apparently, even to Jess—that I was the one holding him back.

I started for him and the conversation we needed to have. Again.

He flung his hand up. “Don’t,” he said. “I’m not leaving you.”

“But, Riley—”

“But nothing. Touring can wait. You can’t.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Please tell me he didn’t still question that.

He made his way to me. “Neither am I.” His tone left little room for negotiation. “You come first, Em. Always.” He drew me back into the position we’d been in before Jess’s interruption. “Everything’s gonna work out.”

“Will it?” I wanted so much to believe him.

He backed up. “Why do you keep doubting?”

His question caught me in the gut. I didn’t have an answer. At least, not one I wanted to admit. I dragged the tip of my sneaker along the sidewalk divider.

He moved close again. “There’s nothing seen or unseen that’s going to keep us apart. You know how I know?” Tilting my chin, he waited until he had my complete focus. “When I was eighteen, I—”

Honk!

We both spun toward Jaycee’s Fiat soaring up to the curb. She rolled down the passenger window. “Girl, you ready?”

Are you kidding me?

Chuckling, Riley brought my hands to his lips. “Go on. We’ll talk later. Have a good time tonight.”

I lifted on my toes to kiss him goodbye and turned toward the car. In my seat, I mindlessly fastened my seatbelt.

Jaycee lowered her sunglasses down her nose. “What’s wrong?”

I swear, it was like the girl had some invisible barometer that could assess the emotional climate of any situation in one point two seconds. “You sure you didn’t sneak a counseling minor into your degree without telling me?”

She flaunted a grin bordering way too closely to Trevor’s. “I tried, but they didn’t believe me when I told them living with you for four years could pass as my hard-earned practicum.”

I swiped a napkin from the door’s side pocket, crumbled it into a ball, and flicked it at her.

She dodged it with her palm while making a U-turn in the middle of the street. “Clearly, you’re way overdue on some girl time,” she said between laughs.

Clearly. At least tonight would be entertaining. Nothing like a little distraction from life.

We’d made it through half of
Michael Jackson’s Greatest Hits
by the time we reached her townhome in the heart of Portland. She unlocked the front door. “Wait till you see what I bought last weekend. You’re gonna love—”

Her words, along with her entire body, skidded to a stop two feet inside. I smacked into her back.

“Trev!”

In the living room, he and A. J. each sat in a Lazy Boy. Trevor waved in our general direction without unlocking his attention from the television screen. “We were just keeping the seats warm for you.”

She toed her shoes off in entryway. “Sorry. We’re supposed to have the house to
ourselves
,” she said loud enough for the guys to hear.

Trevor, I could handle. But after seeing A. J. only a handful of times in passing since the wedding, his being there caused a weird sense of tension.

At least, for me. He looked completely undaunted. As usual.

Trev hopped up the second a commercial came on and whisked her in his arms from behind. “Don’t worry. We’re going to the pub on Fifth Street to watch the fight. You won’t see us until the morning. Promise.”

She caved as soon as his lips met her neckline, giggling in spite of herself.

A. J. and I stayed on the outskirts of the kitchen, both looking around the apartment as though performing some kind of building code inspection.

Jaycee finally maneuvered out of seduction territory. “And what about your paper?”

Trevor grabbed a jacket off the coat rack mounted on the wall and slung his arms through the sleeves. “Tomorrow,” he mumbled around the wallet pinched between his lips.

He stared at her scowl. “Oh, c’mon. You didn’t seriously expect me to do school work on a Friday night?”

Jaycee crossed her arms.

He turned to A. J., hands out. “Dude, help a friend out, here.”

A. J. held his palms in the air, claiming immunity. “Sorry, bro. I know better than to get in the middle of this one.”

Trevor shoved him out the door. “How you gonna leave me flying solo like that?”

The unease left with them. Jaycee headed for the kitchen, huffing something that sounded like “boys.” At the counter, she spun in her socks and bobbed her brows with enough excitement to eclipse Trevor’s shenanigans. “Ready for a girls’ night?”

No telling what she had planned. Without leaving me time to guess, she dragged out a dozen items from her cabinets until she’d covered half the countertop in a spread of goodies intended for a night of sweet oblivion. “I just got this old popcorn maker at a tag sale last weekend. Isn’t it great? Very retro.”

I fought back a laugh. She could’ve been a schoolgirl having her first slumber party.

“And what would a girls’ night be without Starbucks hot chocolate?” She twirled around again with an array of flavored coffee liquors lined across her arms.

“Who’d you swipe those from?”

“I have my connections.”

I broke open a container of sugar cookies. “You mean a husband who knows everyone on the planet?”

She turned on the teakettle. “Marriage does have its perks.”

Just like friendship.

This—this night, the spread, the laughs—was the perfect reflection of why I loved her so much. She couldn’t have known how much I needed a night with my best friend. Or maybe she did. Although much had changed, some things never would.

I woke up before Jaycee—courtesy of my internal alarm clock, which was forever set for seven a.m. After a quick shower, I crept down the hall. Aside from the soft hum of the pre-programmed coffeemaker, the house was soundless. I stopped at the edge of the living room.

Trevor had fallen asleep in one of the recliners with a game controller still in his hand and one too many drained energy drinks left on the coffee table. A. J. must’ve headed back to school last night.

Not wanting to wake anyone, I set my bag in the entryway, lugged Trevor’s leather jacket over my arms, and slipped through the front door to greet the morning. A couple of steps onto the cold concrete stoop sent me jumping back to the welcome mat.

A. J.’s Acura lined the curb. He was still here? Had I missed him inside?

A gust of damp air rolled up the street. I tucked one side of the oversized jacket into the other and faced the sunlight cresting over the house across the street.

Standing there, I couldn’t help daydreaming about the future—picturing what Riley and my house would look like, what it’d be like to wake up together every day.

I called his cell without another thought. It didn’t occur to me until after the fourth ring that he might’ve still been asleep.

“Did I wake you?” I said as soon as he answered.

“No, I’ve been up for a while.”

Something wasn’t right. His tone was off, unsteady.

“Em, we need to talk. Listen, I—”

A sharp, grating voice filtered through the line. I knew that sound. Knew that voice. But it didn’t make sense.

“Who’s that in the background?” I gripped the railing.

He exhaled. “I’m taking care of it.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Not that it mattered. His deliberate pause said enough.

“What is
she
doing here, Riley?”

Another tense exhale. “Nick sent her.”

I shed my jacket, all of a sudden burning up. “I’ll be right there.”

“Wait,” he said. “We’re not at my place.”

“What?” Where else would they’ve been?

His pause stretched long enough to give my abs an entire workout.

“We’re outside your apartment,” he said. “She didn’t come to see me, Em. She came to see you.”

chapter twenty-seven

Surrender

“I’ll be right there,” I repeated, weaker this time. I hung up. But instead of turning to go inside, I folded onto the porch steps with my arms wrapped around my legs and a marginal grasp on my phone.

What was Jess doing here? Did Nick have some new ultimatum up his sleeve?

“I didn’t expect to see you up this early,” A. J. said from the end of the driveway.

I lifted my eyes toward the sound but stayed still.

He jogged up, still sweating from what must’ve been a lengthy run. He stopped short in front of the porch, looked behind him and back, and studied my face. “Everything all right?”

His emotional barometer was almost as attuned as Jaycee’s.

I drew myself up by the railing. “I need to get back to campus.”

“O-kay,” he said in two drawn-out syllables. “I’ll give you a ride. Let me grab my stuff real quick.”

I followed him inside the house. He veered into the bathroom at the same time Jaycee emerged from her bedroom. Led by her nose, which appeared to be the only part of her awake, she stumbled straight for the coffeemaker.

“I was wondering where you were.” She stared at me for a second before shuffling over to her mug on the counter. “What’s wrong?”

Wow. I wasn’t a completely open book or anything, was I? At least she’d understand.

“Jess is on campus.”

Jaycee froze with her cup halfway to her mouth.

“She must’ve flown overnight. She came to see
me
, Jae. Not Riley. Me.” I paced across the linoleum with my heart rate skittering. No caffeine needed.

I twisted the bottom of my shirt into a coil. “I gotta go. There’s no telling what kind of manipulation tactics this girl’s gonna try.”

Jaycee swirled another dash of creamer in her coffee. “I thought you wanted him to pursue his career.”

I dropped my arms to my sides. “I did. I mean, I do. It’s just . . . I have to get there.” The fight in my voice was fading by the second. “I can’t explain why.”

She withdrew a traveler’s mug from the cabinet. “All right. Give me a sec.”

I didn’t care who drove me home as long as we didn’t waste any more time.

A. J. came down the hall, his hair rinsed and clothes changed. “Ready?”

“Jaycee’s taking me.”

He looked between the two of us, confusion morphing into concern. “Someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

A. J. was the last person I wanted to explain it to. I grabbed my bag and flew out the door.

“Long story,” Jaycee said as she whirled past him.

He stopped in the doorway and watched us pull away.

Jaycee didn’t say much on the drive. Probably still half-asleep. A single cup of coffee was barely a drop in the bucket for her. I didn’t mind avoiding one of her psychoanalysis sessions, but the silence might’ve been even worse. My mind didn’t need any more wide-open opportunities to run away with worry.

I managed to keep the deluge of
what if
questions at bay until we rolled up to the curb, and Jess came into view. I dug my fingers into the edge of the seat. She was lucky I didn’t have nails. “Who steps off a redeye flight looking like one of Charlie’s angels?”

Jaycee threw a hand over her mouth to block her laugh and tried to force a straight face. “Sorry.”

If it were any other circumstance, I would’ve laughed with her.

I stole a quick minute to level out my shoulders. A deep breath helped me out of the car.

A. J. approached from one side while Riley hustled from the other, both faces creased with concern. Figured A. J. had come. And of course, he’d beaten us. Why was I not surprised?

Riley closed in and looked from A. J. to Jaycee to me.

Jess sidestepped around him. “Emma, just the girl I’ve been waiting for.” Her grating voice didn’t hold a note of cordiality. She was here on business. Plain and simple.

I stared past her toward Riley.

She peered behind her shoulder. “Relax. I’m not here to steal your boyfriend.”

Becky and Ashlea strolled up from the bottom of the hill with stacks of library books in their hands. It only took a second for Ashlea to latch on to the sight of a gorgeous woman standing less than a few feet away from A. J. Without even knowing what was going on, her eyes pinched with noticeable jealousy. After all this time of not hanging out with us anymore, she obviously hadn’t let go of her feelings for him.

Jess fanned her straight blonde hair over her shoulder and stared at us as if we were a group of immature college students wasting her precious time. “I’m a businesswoman, Emma. I’m here because we need to sell records. And the only way we’re going to sell records is if your boyfriend goes on tour.”

She took another pointed stride toward me, her heels stabbing the innocent concrete. “So, I need you to tell him you’ll be just fine here without him.”

Her patronizing, baby-talk tone was two seconds away from getting her slapped.

I looked at Riley again. One frustration bled into another. “I’m trying,” I whispered.

She angled forward. “Try harder.”

A. J. butted in and glared at Jess with quickly obtained animosity. “Why don’t you back off?”

Riley stepped up. “I can handle this.” His voice turned low but assertive.

A devilish grin followed Jess’s back-and-forth glance between A. J. and Riley. “Well, well,” she practically sang. “I’ve underestimated you, Emma. You’re good.”

Riley wedged himself between us. “That’s enough.”

He stood tall and unmoving in front of her. Nobody else said a word. Jaycee grabbed A. J.’s forearm to keep him in place. Ashlea and Becky both cradled their books to their chests. And the tension kept me locked in the middle of it all.

The electric silence soared past ridiculous. Something inside me snapped and sent laughter leaking out. If we had a few cameras, we could’ve been filming a reality TV show. I could hear Austin’s narration now. He’d be mumbling something about drama and my being at the center.

I cracked. I couldn’t help it. There were at least a dozen excuses I could’ve blamed it on, stress being top of the list. I laughed so hard I almost cried.

Bent over, I tried to wave it off. “I’m sorry.” They probably thought I’d seriously lost it. Maybe I had. I struggled for composure as I trucked down the sidewalk.

Riley ran after me. “Em, hang on. Wait up a sec.”

I tossed my hands in the air. “I’m done, Riley. I surrender.”

He stopped, worry stretching into panic.

I burrowed my fingers into my hair. “I’m done wishing I had control over time. Done trying to figure this out and trying to force things to happen.” My hands dragged down to my sides. My delirium drained away until the helplessness underneath had nothing left to hide behind.

“I can’t convince you it’s better to go back to Nashville any more than you can convince me it’s better for you to stay. I’ll support whatever choice you make, whether it delays our future together or not.”

Sunlight clipped over the building behind Riley and caught a slow smile leading him toward me.

I held my ground. “I promised I was ready to spend my life with you—all of it. That doesn’t mean after we get married. That means right now. Through everything. Even if it includes being apart for a while.”

Riley drew me close. “
That’s
exactly why I’m staying.” He kissed me slowly, obviously not giving a second thought to who was watching.

“I
will
take care of this, Emma.”

Drawing a breath, I nodded with complete acceptance. “I know. I trust you.”

Trust.
All this time, I’d been desperate for him to trust me. But I hadn’t trusted him in return.

Sometimes, I swore I was the slowest learner in the history of mankind. I didn’t know what he was going to say to Jess or to Nick, but I finally realized it didn’t matter. I trusted Riley. More importantly, I trusted us.

I squeezed his hand. “I’m gonna walk for a little bit. Clear my head.”

Understanding touched his eyes. He kissed my fingers. “I’ll meet up with you in a while.” He jogged back to where we left Jess and the others, and I headed in the opposite direction.

Walking had always been therapeutic for me. Especially around the campus. Its familiar paths and secluded nooks were an inseparable part of my college experience—one I’d never forget and would always miss. Faithful as usual, the solitude welcomed me one more time.

The longer I walked, the deeper reassurance sank its roots. Life might never follow the road I had planned. But maybe freedom was less about actually reaching my destination and more about simply living the moments leading to it.

Regardless which route life took us on or how long it’d take us to get there, Riley and I would walk together. Always. Through the delays and roadblocks. Through commencement, sorting out his record deal, and confronting Mr. Preston’s decision about our wedding. Even through the one event I still had no idea how I’d survive.