Recipe for Romance (16 page)

“He didn’t know until then? No one told him?”

Emily shook her head. “He didn’t realize what he had done, that he was to blame. His parents covered it up. As a result, we didn’t get a dime of insurance money.”

“Oh, my God,” Julia groaned. “I didn’t even think of that part. Not that money could have brought Daddy back.”

“No.” Emily’s voice was clipped. Anger was setting in. “No, but it would have made Mom’s life a heck of a lot easier.”

Julia nodded. Her expression was pained as she stared to the far wall. The temperature had dropped with the setting sun and an evening breeze flew in the half-open windows. Emily shivered.

“Poor Scott,” Julia said, and Emily felt her jaw drop.

“What?”

“Poor Scott,” Julia said, searching her face. “He loved you so much, Emily. And then he found out what his parents did—”

“What
he
did,” Emily reminded her. Her chest was heaving with emotion. What the hell was Julia thinking?

“But he didn’t know. It was his father’s fault for allowing a kid on a construction site!” Julia leaned forward. “My God, Emily. What was he supposed to do? Run and tell you then and there? He was torn between you and his parents! And finding out what he had done—” She broke off, shaking her head. “It must have torn him apart! It must have driven him nearly
mad!
”

“You’re getting carried away with that ridiculous soap opera again, Julia!” Emily snapped. She silently vowed to stop watching
Passion’s Crest
for good.

“No,” Julia said. Her tone was firm enough to make Emily sit up a little straighter. “No, Emily, this is reality. Real life. Yours, mine. Scott’s. Think of what he’s carried with him all these years.”

“He should have told me,” Emily insisted.

“And what would you have said if he had? Huh?” Julia cocked her head. “If he had told you twelve years ago what he had done, how would you have reacted?”

Emily frowned. She shook her head, searching for an answer. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter what she would have said. “I don’t know,” she said.

“It took a lot of courage for him to tell you, Emily. He ran away because he loved you, because he didn’t want to hurt you. And he told you the truth now, after all these years, because he still loves you. And because he knows you deserved to hear it.”

A painful knot had wedged itself in her throat, but Emily willed herself not to cry. What did it matter if Scott loved her then or loved her now? It didn’t change anything. Not a damn thing. But for some reason, it did matter. It mattered an awful lot.

* * *

Scott stared at his sister in disbelief. “I don’t understand. Mom and Dad said that it was me—my fault.”

Lucy shook her head forcefully. “No. No, I was there. I remember, because I was worried you were going to slip climbing off that machine. It was parked right at the edge of that ditch, and it made me nervous.”

“Rightfully so,” Scott said grimly.

“You started walking around, picking up nails. You were always collecting little things like that.”

Scott rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. “But what happened then?”

“Right after you hopped off the machine, Richard Porter climbed back on. He moved the machine an inch, then cursed, like he’d forgotten something. It was the curse that caught my attention.” She frowned deeply, as if reliving the moment all over again. “And then he jumped down into the ditch, and the next thing I knew...”

“The excavator rolled,” Scott finished for her.

Lucy closed her eyes. “Yes,” she said softly.

Scott dragged a hand down his face. “So it really was Mr. Porter’s fault?”

“But Dad thought it was you?” She sighed. “It all happened so fast. You must have been the last one he saw on the machine before it happened. And he just assumed.” Urgency flared in Lucy’s eyes. “You have to speak with Emily.”

Scott’s pulse was racing. He pressed his lips together, fighting that war of emotions that waged within him. “It’s too late,” he huffed. She wouldn’t want to hear it. She had told him to leave town. To never come back. “What am I supposed to do, just go knock on her door?”

Lucy widened her gaze, driving home the obvious. “Yes. That’s exactly what you should do.”

“And tell her it was her father’s error all along? That’s going to go down nicely.” He pounded a fist against his thigh. He didn’t know which outcome was worse. “Lucy, maybe it really was my fault—”

She looked at him with pity. “No, Scott. I saw. I remember it clear as day. Who would be able to forget something so awful? You hopped off and Mr. Porter climbed on. He moved the machine. He was the last one operating it. It...it was just a tragic accident.”

Scott released a long sigh, dragging his eyes over to the photos that lined the mantle in silver frames. His eye caught one of their trips to Martha’s Vineyard when he was about eight. It was a black-and-white photo, glossy enough to have been torn from a magazine. Happy enough, too. His hair was lighter then and his teeth were crooked. Lucy stood beside him with a mouthful of braces, sporting a hairstyle that was popular back then but which probably made her cringe now. His parents stood behind them, tanned and young.

It was before the accident. Before their lives were shattered forever. After that day, his father became distant and removed, and his mother had a tired look about her. Nothing was ever the same again.

Scott shifted his gaze back to his sister. “She’ll still think I lied to her, Lucy. It doesn’t change anything.”

“Yes, it does,” Lucy urged. She reached over and set a hand on his wrist. Her eyes were pleading, but he didn’t want to believe her. He didn’t want to hope. “Go to her, Scott. For me.”

He managed a tight smile. “I’m always doing favors for you.”

“Good, because I have one more.” She paused. “Find forgiveness in your heart for Dad, Scott. He thought he was protecting you. He made a bad decision—a bunch of bad decisions, honestly—but it wasn’t black-and-white. He thought he was taking the path that would cause the least amount of damage. For you. For us. For all the other people that depended on their jobs with the company. It doesn’t make it right, but he was trying to survive a horrible situation. Please try to understand that.”

Scott gritted his teeth. “I’m not there yet, Lucy.”

“I’m just saying that I understand the lengths people will take to protect their loved ones,” Lucy said and they both knew she was referring to Bobby’s involvement in the destruction of the town library. “That’s all Dad was trying to do. In his heart, he thought he was protecting you.”

Scott nodded slowly. “I’ll stop by the hospital tonight. But first...I have to see Emily.”

He tried to dismiss the uncertainty that filled him as he hugged his sister goodbye and walked through the door, a much freer man than when he had entered. There was a chance that Emily wouldn’t care what he had to say. The truth was one thing. Trust was another.

He strode around the corner, toward the doorway to the apartments above the diner. The key felt heavy in his hand. This was his last chance. His last chance to win back the woman who had somehow found the way to his heart, and who would forever hold a place in it.

* * *

Emily had just taken another pie out of the oven when she heard the knock. She froze, bent over at the waist, oven mitt gripping the side of the scalding pie plate, her breath locked tight in her chest.

It was him. She knew it was him. The only other person it could be was Lucy, and Lucy would have called first.

But what more could he possibly want from her now? Hadn’t he said enough for one day?

Maybe if she was quiet enough he would think she wasn’t home and go away. Maybe he would turn and walk back down the stairs and climb into that flashy red sports car and speed out of town. Out of her life the way he had twelve years ago. She’d never see him again and eventually...well, eventually she would forget him.

So why did her heart feel so heavy at the thought?

Slowly, she stood, listening over the sound of her own shallow breaths. He was still there. Even through the door she could sense his presence. He knocked again. Louder this time. Why was he so determined? Why couldn’t he just let her go?

Emily set the pie on the stovetop with a thud and untied her apron strings. Inhaling deeply for courage, she walked to the door and opened it. Scott stared back at her. And damn if she didn’t want to just fall into his arms right then and there, go back to that magical place they had been in only the night before.
Stay with me forever,
he’d said.

She bit back on her teeth. He had known then. Known when he’d spoken those words. Known that he was lying to her.

“You’re still here.”

Scott blinked. “I’m heading out of town tonight, just as you asked.”

Emily hoped the disappointment wasn’t evident on her face. She tucked the emotion back into place. She was holding on to an illusion, a hope for what could have been. Not what was.

“But I need to talk to you before I go.” His tone was urgent and quick.

“I think you’ve said about enough for one day, Scott.”

“Emily, please. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”

Down the hall, Emily could make out the sound of Julia’s door opening, and she stepped out into the hall, closing the apartment door behind her. “I don’t know why I’m agreeing to this,” she said, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

“I know why you’re agreeing to it,” he said, and her eyes widened in surprise. “Because you love me, Emily. And I love you. I always have. I—” His voice broke off. “I always will.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She didn’t need to hear this. She didn’t want to hear this. It was hard enough already. Scott’s admittance had seared open wounds much deeper than his betrayal, of the loss of her first love. Over and over she played out the circumstances of her father’s death; the horrible, pitying look people would give her mother, Julia, her. “You certainly have a strange way of showing it,” she said tightly.

Scott huffed out a breath. He took a step closer to her. She took a step back.

“Please—”

“Don’t deny what we’ve shared these past few days. All these years later, there’s still something between us.”

Emily struggled to meet his eyes. “Maybe so, but it’s not enough.”

“Yes, it is. For me, at least. You’re the one, Emily. I let circumstances tear us apart once before, and I’ll be damned if I let it happen again.”

She looked at him sharply. “What do you mean?”

“Emily, twelve years ago I was scared. I was shocked. And I was...I was horrified, Emily. For a dozen years I have done nothing but think of you. The guilt has nearly destroyed me.”

She snorted. Raking her eyes down his fine physique, she quipped, “Could have fooled me.” But even as she spoke, she felt ashamed of herself, uncertain. Julia’s words came rushing back to her, and she thought of that eighteen-year-old boy who had made her a picnic in Central Park and who held her books every day after school. The boy whose blue eyes sparked with each grin, and the way that grin never faded when he was with her. And she thought of how it must have felt to have learned that he had hurt the person he loved so much.

Because he really had loved her. Once.

“I just had a long talk with Lucy,” Scott said. His eyes were locked on hers, their intensity so penetrating she wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. “Emily. Emily, it wasn’t me. I wasn’t responsible.”

She felt the blood drain from her face. “Excuse me?”

“Lucy was there that day, and no one knew she’d seen what happened, no one ever questioned her. It was— Emily, I’m sorry. She confirmed the story. The events that were officially reported were the true events.”

She blinked. “You mean the false report your father gave?”

“No.” Scott dragged out a breath. “My father was trying to protect me, yes. But Lucy saw the entire thing. And my father ordered her to drive me home, so no one knew I was there. Or her. She couldn’t give a statement. She couldn’t report what she’d witnessed.”

Understanding took hold as she held his gaze, saw the sadness in his eyes, the pain this was causing him.

“It was human error,” she said softly. “My father’s error.”

Scott took a step toward her. “I’m sorry, Emily. Lucy’s downstairs, if you want to talk to her.”

Emily pulled away. She frowned at the floor, trying to process this turn of events. “No. No, if Lucy said that is what she saw, then I believe her.” She met his eyes. “Lucy would never lie to me.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you. Then. Now. It was the one thing I wanted to avoid. I only ever wanted to protect you. If I thought it would have been better to take the blame myself, I would have left tonight.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I love you, Emily. I always have. I always will. I couldn’t leave town again without making sure that this time I took the risk and told you the truth.”

Emily bit on her lip, considered his words. When she looked up at him, she saw a shadow of the man she saw that first day he had strolled into the Sweetie Pie Bakery. Gone was the confident prodigal son who had swept into town. In his place was the man who had been burdened with this secret for twelve years. Even now, even when he had been vindicated, he was still turning to her to set him free.

“I’m not leaving tonight, Emily.” He took another step toward her, and this time she didn’t recoil. “I’m not going to lose you twice in one lifetime.”

Her heart skipped a beat. “You really mean that? You’re staying in Maple Woods?”

He nodded. “But I want you to go to that school. I want you to live the life you always wanted.”

She tipped her head as a slow smile crept over her mouth. “This is the life I always wanted, Scott. You and me. Just the way it should have always been.”

“But you had so many dreams. I thought I stole them from you once. I won’t be the one to take an opportunity from you now.”

Emily nodded slowly. “I won’t give up that dream. I do want to go to school, but there are closer options. Before I wanted to run away from Maple Woods and start over. Now, I’m right where I want to be.”