Love Will Find a Way (11 page)

Emily spent Saturday morning helping Larry sort through the odds and ends he didn't want to take to Austin. Then the two of them carried several boxes to the attic. As she stared around the cluttered room, a sobering thought hit her. When she sold the house, she would have to do something with this collection of relics from the past.

"Mom,” Larry's voice impinged on her straying thoughts, “I asked a question."

Emily put her hand to the small of her back and stretched. “Sorry, what did you say?"

"Do you want me to stack these boxes in that corner?” He pointed to a space at the far end of the attic.

"No.” Emily shook her head. “Leave them where they are."

"Won't they be in the way?” He put the boxes down.

"Not for long.” Emily surveyed the cluttered attic with mild disdain. This mess had to go.

"I hope you aren't thinking of trying to straighten up this place after I'm gone.” Larry turned an empty crate on its end, and sat on it. “You shouldn't be lifting all these heavy boxes and trunks."

Emily's heart expanded with love. “Don't worry, if—no, when I clean the attic, I'll find someone to help me."

"Do you promise?” Larry was scrutinizing the attic and shaking his head. “This place is a mess."

"I promise. Let's get ready to go to Austin. Dad will be here soon."

They were ready and waiting when Robert arrived. It took some time to load Larry's things into Robert's car. Then Emily made iced tea and they sat around the kitchen table, sipping tea and reminiscing. It was almost as if they were a real family.

Emily opted to sit in the back seat for the long drive to Austin, insisting that Larry share the front seat and the last hours before he took up residence in another city, with his father.

The trip was pleasant enough, so was the long day they spent with Larry. As the time drew near to say good-bye, Emily braced herself for this last parting. By the time the last farewells were said and the final admonitions and reminders exchanged, she was as taut as a bowstring.

Robert was strangely silent during the drive to the motel. Emily wondered if he felt as nervous and uncertain as she did.

They were parking before a row of motel doors when Robert asked, “Are you all right?"

"I'm tired,” Emily admitted, “and feeling let down. It wasn't this hard to let Kevin go."

"Things were different then.” Robert opened his car door. “You should get straight to bed. This has been a trying day."

"And Kevin was different.” Emily spoke her thoughts, “Not nearly as vulnerable and naive as Larry is."

"Larry will manage.” Robert got out of the car, and came around to open her door. Emily thought that strange. He had never opened car doors for her, not even when they were dating.

Emily got out of the car. “I'll feel better tomorrow, after I've had a good night's sleep.” She opened her bag and retrieved her key. “Good night, Robert."

He took her arm. “I'll see you to your room."

"That's not necessary.” But she didn't try to pull away from him.

"I happen to think it is.” He guided her toward her door.

Emily was too tired to argue. “Do you think Larry is going to be all right?"

"I'm sure of it.” Robert took the card from her and inserted it in the slot. “I'm not so sure about you.” The door opened with a little click. He ushered her inside. “Sit down. I'll get your overnight bag."

When Robert returned, Emily was sitting on the bed with pillows propped behind her back. She had kicked off her shoes and let her hair down. “Put the bag on the dresser. I'll rest for a moment and then get to bed."

Robert stood in the middle of the room, staring at her. “You've lost weight."

She was surprised that he noticed. “Not too much, I hope."

"No. You look ... no. Not at all.” Uninvited, he sat in a chair. “Your hair is longer, too. Why did you decide to let it grow?"

She combed her fingers through her thick tresses. “A desire for change, I suppose."

"It looks very nice.” He let his eyes slide over her slim figure. “You look nice."

His unexpected compliment caught her off guard. Robert Franklin was not a man given to flowery speeches or pretty words. “I'm glad you approve.” For the briefest moment their eyes met and then Emily looked away. “I hope Larry doesn't get too homesick."

Robert's voice was gruff. “Larry will be making new friends and meeting challenging demands. He will soon adjust to his new routine."

"I'm going to miss him,” Emily said. “I'm so used to having him underfoot. Home won't be the same without him around."

Robert settled back in his chair. “I hate to think about you rattling around in that big old house all alone."

"I won't be for long.” Should she tell him she was going to sell the house?

Under his tan Robert turned a pasty white. “What does that mean?"

He would probably disapprove. So what? “It means I'm not going to be living alone in that big house much longer."

"Don't tell me the elusive Thaddius Thackery has popped the question."

It took awhile for his words to sink in. “Thad? Get married?” Emily had to laugh, “When donkeys fly."

"So you're going to live with him without benefit of matrimony?” Robert's brows met in a scurrilous frown. “I would have thought better of you."

Surprise tilted her voice. “I'm not going to live with Thad, period.” She swung her feet to the floor. “Not that it would be any of your business if I did."

"Do you know the kind of reputation Thad Thackery has? Damn it, Emily, you're not the only woman the man is seeing."

Sudden anger took her. “The last time we were alone in a motel room, you told me
you
were seeing another woman. Did you come in here tonight to tell me the same about Thad?” Before the words were out of her mouth, she repented of having said them. She put her hand to her forehead. “That was uncalled for."

His mouth thinned. “I asked for it."

"I was being petty and malicious.” How many times had she promised herself that this was the one thing she would not do? “Why don't we forget Thad and talk about something else?"

Robert offered an apology, of sorts. “I didn't mean to be offensive, but when you said you weren't going to be living alone, I assumed you would be living with Thad."

"I'm not going to be living with anyone, except Boo.” Emily took a deep breath. “I've listed the house. I'm going to sell it and buy a smaller place."

Robert leaned forward in his chair and gasped. “You're going to sell our home?"

"
Our
home, Robert?"

Robert cleared his throat. “Your home, I know how much you love that house. You always said it was perfect."

"It was when I had a family. I'm alone now.” When would he realize that she was capable of making her own decisions?

Cryptically he ventured, “Maybe you won't always be alone."

What could he possibly mean by a statement like that? “I'm going to sell the house,” she told him with a stubborn lift of her chin.

"Maybe you should think about it for a while first."

"I have thought about it.” Defiance brought a glint of determination to her eyes. “My mind is made up."

On a resigned sigh, Robert asked, “Why didn't you list the house with me?"

"Because I knew you would do what you're doing now, try to talk me out of selling."

"Which, obviously, I can't do,” he observed with a touch of bitterness. “Who has the listing?"

"Will you stop worrying? Thad says it's a very reputable company."

For a moment she thought he was going to yell at her. With a visible effort, he reigned in his anger. “You went to Thad Thackery who knows nothing about the real estate business when you could have come to me. Why?"

Would he ever stop feeling responsible for her? “For all the obvious reasons, the main one being, Thad's a friend, you're my ex-husband."

He shot back angrily, “You said we could be friends."

The sudden harshness of his voice startled her. “We can be. We are.” It would be useless to try to explain. “Friends should respect each others decisions. Obviously this is another one of the things we can't talk about. Good night, Robert."

He didn't stir. “Does Larry know you're selling the house?"

"Not yet. I didn't want to upset him further."

Robert's anger evaporated to be replaced with concern. “Larry was upset, about what?"

"Nothing important,” Emily assured him.

"But you aren't going to tell me what that nothing important is?” He glared at her, “Right?"

Maybe she owed him that much. “When I told Larry about our plans to come to Austin with him, he jumped to a lot of conclusions. He thought because we planned to stay overnight that we would be staying together."

Robert's brows pulled into a frown. “Did he think we had reconciled?"

"It was more a hope than a thought. I assured him that would never happen. He was upset at first. I explained that we no longer loved each other, but that we both loved him very much.” She shook her head. “Sometimes I wish Larry could be a little tougher and a little more pragmatic."

"A little more like Kevin?” Robert asked.

How well he read her thoughts. “Yes. A little more like Kevin."

"Speaking of Kevin, Larry said the two of you met Stacy Morrison.” Robert ran his fingers over the beginning stubble on his chin. “What do you think of her?"

"She's a very nice young woman,” Emily answered, happy to change the subject. “A little more mature than I thought at first."

"And her family,” Robert asked anxiously, “what are they like?"

"They're very nice, too.” Once again, Emily leaned back and relaxed against the pillows. “She has thirteen-year-old twin sisters who completely charmed Larry. The Reverend Morrison seemed almost formidable at first. I don't think he approves of Kevin."

Robert was hanging onto her every word. “Did he say that?"

"It was just an impression."

Robert asked, “Do you like The Reverend?"

"I don't know him. I suspect that much of what Dennis Morrison projects to the casual acquaintance is a façade acquired from years of meeting and dealing with people when they are at their worst both emotionally and spiritually.” The shadow of a smile pulled at Emily's lips. “What he lacks in warmth, he makes up for in appearance. He's incredibly handsome."

Robert put his hands on his knees and narrowed his eyes. “When did you start noticing handsome men?"

Reminiscence made her smile. “When I was about twelve and I began to notice you."

For the first time since he had come into her room, Robert smiled. “I never knew that."

"Well, you would have if you had stopped to look around you. It was the summer our parents rented a house at Padre Island. You were seventeen and too busy being the heart throb of every teenage girl on the beach to notice me."

"I did notice you, later."

"How much later,” Emily asked.

"The year you were sixteen and I came home from college for the summer. I couldn't believe that skinny freckled-faced kid had turned into a raving red-haired beauty."

He had never told her that before either. “I never knew."

Robert sighed. “Even then we didn't communicate very well."

They were communicating now. How sad that love had to die before understanding could take root. Color touched Emily's cheeks. “I hated all those buxom bikini-clad, teenage beauties you hung out with."

"As much as I hated Andrew Rawlins?” An ironic little grin stretched Robert's lips.

She had forgotten about Andrew. “I thought I was in love with Andrew. When he dumped me for Cynthia Connely, I cried for days.

Robert settled back in his chair. “When I asked you about Andrew, you told me you dumped him."

"That was because I was too proud to admit the truth.” Emily put her hand over her mouth to stifle a yawn. “Cynthia was willing to ‘put out’ as Andrew so crudely put it. I wasn't."

"I thought you had slept with Andrew,” Robert admitted with a rueful smile. “I was surprised when I discovered you were a virgin."

Remembering dyed the color in Emily's cheeks to crimson red. “I set out that night to seduce you."

"What?” Robert's mouth fell open.

"I wanted to prove that I was a woman.” She suspected that all she'd succeeded in proving was how inexperienced she really was.

"You did make an impression.” He chuckled deep in his throat. “That was one of the most fabulous nights of my life."

That was an exaggeration, she was sure. “Mine, too. I couldn't believe anything could be that incredibly good."

"We were magic together back then.” His voice caught. “Where did we lose that splendor?"

She wished she could pinpoint the exact time his love for her had died. “Maybe it began when we started taking each other for granted.” Was there anything more heart rending than perfect hindsight? “Over time you became indifferent, I became cold."

He lifted his head to stare at the ceiling. “At first, I blamed you because our marriage failed. The night I came to the house for my things, you laid that idea to rest forever. What you said forced me to take a long hard look at myself. I didn't like what I saw. Over the years I had grown careless and indifferent. After awhile everything became so routine—even our love making."

His admission shocked her. She met honesty with honesty. “It did, didn't it?"

Ruefully, he admitted, “Sometimes I thought my lovemaking was a bore and a bother to you."

"It was in a way.” That was a terrible admission to make. She searched for some way to take the edge off such a statement. “But that was because I ... because you had become so ... so...."

Robert finished the sentence for her, “Careless of your pleasure?"

"It seemed all you wanted was physical release. I resented that."

"You had every right to. I became thoughtless and negligent.” A muscle twitched along the grim line of his jaw.

"And I was wrong to retaliate by being so cold and distant.” Maybe, now that it was too late, they had pinpointed the problem. Indifference had spun itself around a web of days until his love had died.

The fluorescent ceiling light cast shadows across Robert's cheekbones and over the planes of his angular face. “Then that problem spilled over into every other facet of our relationship."