Rise and Shine (Shine On Series, Book 2) (30 page)

Emmie waited for Ava to say something else but she just hung up. The sinlence on the other end of the line was the loneliest sound she’d heard in awhile. She turned and backed against the wall, looking at the six men moving around the room. Some were from the city, like Silas’s family. She could tell by their clothes. But the butcher and his crew seemed to be from around here. What an odd collection of people. She went into the billiard room and found it empty. She searched the cabinet and found an old bottle of whiskey and poured a small bit into a cup, filling the rest of it with water. She walked to the living area, up the stairs, grabbed a quilt from Ava’s bedroom, and walked onto the sleeping porch with her glass.

Rocking back and forth she took a long swallow of the thick liquid. It warmed her gut. She coughed and wiped her mouth at the disgusting taste. Taking a smaller sip, she closed her eyes and rocked in an attempt to find peace.

An hour. Two. Five. She couldn’t say how much time passed. The sun had set before she saw another soul. Emmie heard two boots and four paws. “Emmie?” She heard Trick’s voice. “Spotty’s here.”

“Out here,” she called, standing to meet him. She had never been so relieved to see a dog in all her life.

Trick sat on the sleeping porch’s bed across from her chair. “I thought you’d want to see him.”

“You were right.”

Spotty curled on her feet. It had gotten cold out and she welcomed the warmth. “You need some quiet too?” she asked Trick.

“Something like that.” He pulled out a cigarette.

She looked over at him as he lit the end. “Since when do you smoke?”

“Every now and again, I do.”

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair again.

“You shouldn’t have run off with Bo today. It was bad timing. Silas was a madman when he was looking for you. I’ve never seen him so worried. You have no idea what we dealt with last night. I’m sure whatever he said or did hurt you, and it was probably a real asshole thing to do, but he loves you. I just think you should know that.”

“You’re telling me stuff I already know, but I appreciate it. Why can’t your brother talk as easy as you do?”

Trick shrugged. “If he did he wouldn’t be Si.” Then he stood and put out his smoke. “Just try and forgive him, eh?”

Without another word, he stood and headed back toward the stairs, leaving her alone, again.

Chapter Forty-three

W
inter nights are quiet. And beautiful and frigid. She pulled the blanket up near her face and took in one final breath. She needed to go inside, it was ridiculously cold to be outside. Spotty still lay diligently at her feet but he had hidden his face under his paws to try and keep warm.

“Alright. Come on boy.” She attempted to stand, but was slow moving. Her knees popped as she came to her full height. Her stomach growled as she stepped through the door and into the hall. She realized that she hadn’t had anything to eat since coffee that morning. Did coffee count as eating?

She made her way down the stairs. The dog danced and whined when he saw the door; clearly he needed to do his business. She let Spotty out in the backyard, not worried about him running off without her. Then Emmie made her way back to the kitchen. She opened the icebox, not surprised to see there was almost nothing, just a little milk. After scouring the pantry and cabinets she decided there was a houseful of people with no food. Wasn’t that just like a bunch of men?

Emmie sighed as she pulled out a jar of canned tomatoes, flour, milk, butter and salt. Tomato gravy and bread it was. Her mama used to make this for her. The smell of the tomatoes simmering on the stove was like medicine to her soul taking her back ten years. She could feel her mother’s spirit with her while she mixed in the milk and flour. Peaceful. Warm. Just what she’d needed. Grabbing a knife from the drawer she moved to the breadbox and pulled out a crusty loaf of bread. It wasn’t molded, so she’d assumed the housekeeper had made it recently. As she was cutting the loaf into thick slices she heard the kitchen door swing open.

She was sure it was Silas even though she only saw the back of him. He must have turned around and walked right back out when he saw her.

“Darn right you better be scared to see me.” She turned back around to her pan.

She heard his hand hit the swinging door as he paused. Emmie turned from slicing the bread for a second to see him standing in the doorway. He looked tired and disheveled. He was still dressed but his vest was off and his shirt was half undone.

“Scared?” His face had a genuine grin of surprise. “You think I should be scared of you?”

“Yep,” she said, pointing the serrated knife at him.

“For what?”

“Don’t be daft.” She rolled her eyes.

She finished cutting the last piece of bread and piled the chunks on a plate and moved to the skillet. As she picked up the ladle and filled it with the bubbling tomato gravy, she felt Silas’s warm breath on her neck and his arms snaked around her waist. The unexpected movements caused Emmie to jerk in surprise. The ladle filled with hot red liquid slammed back in the skillet splattering them both with boiling tomatoes. Of course she was in front of the pan and had taken the brunt of the hot mess.

“Are you okay?” He grabbed a towel and wet it. “Are you burned anywhere?”

She jerked the towel away from him and started blotting her dress in vain.

“Damn it, Silas,” she shouted, moving away from him.

He looked amused. “Such language?”

“Well, you could make a preacher cuss, you know that?”

“I have on a few occasions but never because I kissed them,” he said with a smile.

Emmie turned away from him and moved the skillet off the stove. He really was the most infuriating man she’d ever met in her life. The audacity of thinking he could just come in here and wrap his hands around her after what he’d done earlier. He’d kissed her. He’d touched her then just turned and shouted at her the next moment. Who’s to say he wasn’t getting ready to do the same thing again.

She spun on her heel and pointed her finger at him. “Don’t you try and kiss me again, Silas McDowell. And don’t you try and tease your way out of this. I am furious at you.”

“I should be mad at you. You’re the one that said you’d grab your pants.” He kept his voice level.

“What’s it with you and those stupid work pants? You’ve got something wrong with you. Trick and Gabe saw me in my nightgown the other night and you didn’t get all weird. That shows a lot more than those work pants. I think you’re just in a bad mood because you don’t have any idea what’s going on around here and you are taking it out on me. I’m done with it.” She said it so quickly she was out of breath when she finished the comment.

“They are brothers… it’s not the same. You wore those pants just to make me jealous with Bo.”

“Brothers?” she asked.

“Trick’s mine, Gabe’s yours.”

There it was, right there in her face again that her family life was screwed up. She hadn’t expected to have a new brother brought up in this argument. Emmie rubbed her hands over her forehead to try and find the point in this argument.

“Silas.” She paused, unable to think what she wanted to say. “I just don’t know about any of this. You are being ridiculous. Bo is my friend, I have no idea why you picked him as your competition but there was none.”

“Was?” He noticed the past tense. “So, you mean there is now?”

“Ugh…” she growled. He could never let anything slide. “No. I don’t know.” She spoke much louder than she meant to.

“Is Bo what you want? Because I’m sure he’d oblige… with or without your vulgar clothes.”

Vulgar clothes. Silas was a loon. She screamed and rolled her eyes in frustration. Without another thought she reached down and grabbed the first thing she could get in her hands. It happened to be tomato-soaked chunks of bread. She flung it at Silas. It landed on his white shirt and slid down to the floor. Emmie didn’t think he could look more surprised if she had smacked him in the face.

“You make me so angry. Never has anyone ever in my whole life made me angrier. And that is saying something. I worked for Mr. Thomas. I lived with Ronnie Talbot, but you, Silas… none of them hold a candle to you,” she shouted.

He opened his mouth to speak but looked down at the red gravy dripping down his shirt and then back at her with wide eyes, still genuinely surprised… and maybe a little amused.

“I was with Bo to try and help you. You Silas. Not him, YOU. I still think his family has answers you need.” She walked right up to him. “And before today… well, I went with Bo to make moonshine. Make. Moonshine. Not Love.” She threw her hands up in the air. “When in the hell are you going to get it through your thick head he was never your competition? You are the only person I want to give that part of myself to,” she shouted each word a little louder than the next.

Silas had never seen her so angry. Ever. He was thick-headed, he realized. He looked down at the red splatters on the front of his shirt and the pile of soggy bread on the floor. It dawned on him that he was screwing this up like he had everything else down here. She pushed open the kitchen door and paused for a second before exiting. He could see shades of embarrassment coloring the sides of her neck. Of course there was an audience gathered outside of the kitchen door: Gabe, Trick, and Vince. Each wearing expressions varying from surprise, amusement, and confusion.

“Give her some space, eh?” Silas shouted at them.

The crowd disassembled and he heard her stomping up the stairs. He looked around at the mess of tomatoes and made his way over to the sink to try and clean his shirt. Trick came in the room and grabbed a plate.

“What’s this shit?” he asked, dipping his finger in the skillet for a taste.

He shrugged, dipped some onto his plate and grabbed a slice of bread. He pulled down another plate and handed it to Silas. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

“Trick, are you serious? I’m covered in that shit.” He pointed to his shirt.

“Yeah, and judging by how mad she is you’re lucky it’s not blood. Sit. Let’s eat,” he said, fixing a plate for his older brother. Silas didn’t listen to Trick often but this time he did.

Chapter Forty-four

T
he night was long and restless for everyone in the DeCarmilla house. Emmie pushed back the blankets and soft down comforter on Ava’s bed. She looked around the room and smiled. Everything in here reminded her of her friend. Feathered headpieces, a vanity covered in makeup, trays of smelly perfume, and stacks of fashion magazines. She missed her. Emmie made up her mind. Once this mess was sorted out she would go to Chicago. A little lighthearted wedding planning was just what she needed.

She opened the window and let the sunlight shine in the room. It was early. Frost had settled on the grass last night, showing winter’s arrival. Emmie tried to place the date but couldn’t remember. It must be nearing the end of November. Emmie heard a pan drop downstairs followed by a string of swears, the boys were cooking.

Ava’s closet didn’t have much that would fit her. And her dress was covered in red tomato gravy. She found a royal blue flapper-styled frock that barely fit over her bits and pieces. Apparently the first thing on the agenda today would be to go home to pack some clothes. She had a feeling she would be here for a few days. Emmie sat at Ava’s vanity and smiled at the stacks of makeup that surrounded her. She had no idea what to do with most of it. She did up her face a little and brushed her hair until it shined. Just because she was mad at Silas didn’t mean she had to neglect herself. As she added some stain to her lips, she decided it must mean just the opposite. She rarely spent this much time on her appearance before breakfast. Good Lord. She was turning into Ava.

She pulled on her stockings and fastened them just above her knees, then strapped her worn heels on her feet and headed down the stairs. She peeked in the library as she walked past. Silas and Vince sat at the desk in deep conversation. As she turned, her attention was caught by the steady stream of smoke pouring through the crack at the top in the kitchen door. She ran to the door and swung it open to find Trick waving towels toward the open window.