Rise and Shine (Shine On Series, Book 2) (6 page)

“What?” she asked, wondering what he could find funny in this situation.

“I’m just thinking… this is the second time in less than a year I’ve seen you in nothing but a man’s jacket. Better be careful or you’re gonna lose that good girl image.” He poked at her arm.

“Shut your mouth, Trick.” She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm as she moved past him.

“You gonna let her sass me like that, Silas?” Trick asked just loud enough for her to hear through the bathroom door.

“It’s nicer than what I would’ve said,” Silas laughed, buttoning his shirt. After he finished dressing he turned to Trick and asked, “Where’s the asshole?”

“Silas,” Trick shook his head. “Not tonight brother. We’ll have a good laugh and a good night’s sleep.” He recited the old Irish proverb.

“That’s not for you to decide,” he said, slipping on his jacket.

“Silas, he had his reasons, as crazy as they were. I think he meant well,” Trick said seriously.

“What?” Silas spit. He couldn’t believe his own brother was taking Gabe’s side.

“Look it’s too deep for right now, okay. Trust me,” Trick whispered.

“Too deep?” Silas repeated. If that asshole had run up here tonight because of some misguided crush on his girl… He couldn’t even think about what he would do to him.

“Not now, Brother,” Trick whispered.

Emmie hastily braided her hair to pull it away from her face. The worn cotton of her mother’s old dress felt good on her skin. She was sort of surprised Ava had packed it for her. She had expected some fancy dress; worn cotton was usually not Ava’s thing. Trick must have intervened in the choice. When she opened the door she was surprised to see the deep frown set in on both brother’s faces. She had only been gone a few minutes.

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if something else had happened but she didn’t have the chance. Silas grabbed the bag and threaded his hand in hers, pulling her out the door.

“Goodnight Trick,” she called from the doorway.

If he replied, she didn’t hear it. Emmie didn’t have a chance to wait around for his farewell. Silas was already four steps ahead of her. The heels of his boots beat out an angry rhythm on the hall’s hardwood floors. She was practically skipping to keep up. When they reached her door he grabbed her bag and fished out the key. He opened the door and stepped through without waiting for her to enter first. That was unlike him.

“What in the world is going on with you two?” Ava asked.

She was positioned for a fight with a hand on her hip. Ava was standing across from Gabe, who was planted on the couch with a washcloth on his eye. He pulled it down and looked up at Silas. Emmie sucked in a long breath as she saw the swollen angry-red flesh on Gabe’s cheek. It must have been from that first hit.

Silas moved right past her like she wasn’t even there. Gabe tossed the towel on the table and stood to meet him.

“Not tonight,” Gabe said, putting his arms in the air in a position of surrender.

“So now you’re turning my own brother against me too? What you did earlier wasn’t enough… you had to try and piss me off further,” Silas said.

Ava turned to Emmie. “Emmie what is going on? All I know is he came in here needing your clothes with this horrible red mark on his face. I think it is going to bruise. We are supposed to have our photo made tomorrow for the papers, for goodness sake.”

Emmie ignored her friend. She was much more interested in the conversation about to take place.

“Not tonight, Silas. I swear we are not getting into this tonight,” Gabe said.

“I guess you should have thought about that before you stormed in my room tonight and,” he rubbed his jaw cutting off the rest of the sentence then picked back up after a second’s hesitation, shouting, “you had the balls to send my brother back to tell me you were right to do what you did.”

Gabe ran his hands through his hair and paced the length of the room. Finally he turned around and through gritted teeth said, “This isn’t about you.”

Silas frowned. A look of complete arrogance took over his features. “The hell it’s not. You come in my room and tell me I’m not good enough to put my hands on her. Gabe that sounds like it’s got a lot to do with me.”

“Gabe, did you do that? Why would you do that?” Ava asked then she snapped her head around to Emmie. “Why would he do that? Is there something you need to tell me?”

Emmie took in her friend’s expression. Hurt. Confusion. Anger. It was all there. Oh dear. No. Ava thought…

“No. I have no idea why he did it. I mean he said it was because we had been drinking and I had no family to stick up for me,” Emmie said quickly. She did not like the way this conversation was turning.

Ava shook her head and took a step away from her friend. Silas looked from Emmie to Gabe and a deep frown settled in his brow.

“No,” Emmie shouted. “No. Tell them Gabe. It’s not like that. You came in there tonight just because of some misguided attempt to protect me. You were just trying to act like family because I don’t have anyone. That’s what you said. Tell them.” Her heart was pounding. Surely to goodness Gabe didn’t have feelings for her. He had just proposed to her best friend.

Gabe turned and opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Her words struck a chord with him.
Act like family.
He had to tell her about the picture… about the conversation he’d had with his father after dinner… why his mother had left the party. He needed to tell her all of it but he couldn’t find the words. Again he tried to start but he felt his throat start to burn. Oh hell. He was not going to lose control of his emotions… not here… not now. He stormed toward the door.

“I can’t do this right now.” That was all he said before the door slammed behind him.

Silas immediately took off after him. Emmie reached out her hand and grabbed his arm. He paused, his back still to her.

Emmie said, “No. Do not go after him in anger. He’s been your friend for years.”

He stood there for a moment slowly breathing in and out. She could see the rise and fall of his shoulders but other than that he was still. Too still. Unmoving. “Take your hands off me.”

The coldness of his tone tore through her heart. She moved around to face him, never moving her hand from his arm. “Silas, look at me.”

He didn’t move. He was like a snake ready to strike.

“Look at me,” she pleaded. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I don’t know what’s going on with him. We never had those kind of feelings for each other.”

“I will not ask you again. Take your hands off me. Now, Emma.” Silas never called her by her given name. She let go. He moved around her. The echo of the door closing left her feeling hollow.

“I didn’t want to believe it but I saw you together once,” Ava said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I never asked either of you because I thought it was just a coincidence.”

Emmie’s head pounded. “What?”

“Once back home. I saw him meet you at lunch at the shop. You walked around the square together. You were both smiling. You looked so happy. Emmie you don’t smile that much for everyone,” Ava said.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” She tried to remember when he had met her for lunch. But her brain was tired and confused with the events of the evening.

“You always told me not to trust him, that you didn’t trust him. Was that your way of trying to tell me the truth?” Ava asked.

Emmie wanted to put her hands over her mouth and scream. “No. I just meant that I didn’t like him. I didn’t think he was good enough for you because he ran out on you last spring. My God Ava, do you really think I would do that to you? You’re like my sister. How can you believe this? How can Silas believe this? I don’t know what’s going on with Gabe but it’s not me.”

And that was it. She’d hit her breaking point. She left the small living room and walked into the bedroom, curling into bed fully clothed. Tears flooded her eyes. She mopped them up with the worn cotton sleeves of her mother’s old dress. She breathed in the little piece of home and longed to leave this God-forsaken hotel room.

Chapter Eight

W
hen Emmie awoke the next morning light was shining through a gap in the hotel curtains. She squinted and took a moment to take in her surroundings. As her world came into focus, so did the events of the previous evening. She felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Rolling over she noticed Ava was still asleep. Emmie had to find a way to make this right. But first she needed coffee. Lots of coffee.

Not only was she tired, she felt like her head was going to explode. After a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up and re-braid her hair she set off with two objectives. Coffee and Gabe. They were the keys to working this thing out.

Emmie’s feet padded softly against the plush carpets that lined the lobby. With the help of a bellhop she found the hotel’s restaurant. She was surprised to find it loud and busy this early. A man in a nice suit looked up from his podium where he was charting tables and numbers.

“How may I help you ma’am?” he asked, smiling at her.

“I’d like some coffee please,” she said.

The man laughed and frowned shaking his head. “Ma’am you must be seated for coffee. Are you meeting someone?”

Emmie craned her neck around him and peered into the open dining room. She saw no one she knew to join.

“No, sir. It’s just me,” she said.

“Okay, table for one then. Follow me.” He seated her near one of the windows with a street view.

She was surprised that on a Saturday morning the city was already up and bustling with people. Her coffee came quickly. She turned away the option of breakfast. One, her stomach was unsettled and she wasn’t sure she could keep it down. Two, she was splurging on the coffee. She hadn’t brought that much cash. Ironically the coffee was in the same dainty little china cup that the whiskey had been in last night. But this was coffee, just good old black coffee. After the first few drinks she found her headache had began to subside.

Emmie supposed she should have chugged the coffee and gone to find Gabe. Get to the bottom of this. Talk to Ava and Silas. Find the explanation. But something stopped her. She had no idea what to say to Gabe when she saw him. In the light of dawn she could see maybe he was right. Last night may have been the wrong time. But what business was that of Gabe’s? And for the love of Pete why had he not told them his choices weren’t about his feelings for her. How could Silas and Ava think so little of her to believe the lie so easily?

When the waiter collected her empty cup she knew she couldn’t procrastinate any longer. If she waited too long she probably wouldn’t get the chance to talk to him alone. She handed the waiter some coins and hoped that was enough to cover the beverage.

“No, ma’am. It’s been taken care of,” the waiter said, refusing the coins.

“Who?” She looked around.

The waiter turned and pointed to a table a few windows down. Emmie was surprised to see Mrs. Del Grande, Gabe’s mother, giving her a little wave. She stood and walked down to the older woman. The woman didn’t stand to greet her, instead she pointed to the chair across from her. She sat down. An awkward silence passed, giving Emmie the opportunity to take in the older woman. Mrs. Del Grande’s hair was completely grey, an almost iridescent silvery white. Emmie wondered what color it used to be because not a trace of the color of her youth remained. But when she looked closer at the woman’s face she realized she might not have been as old as she appeared at first glance. Save the light crows feet around her eyes, she didn’t have a wrinkle on her face. Her skin was a beautiful golden tan. She was no doubt of Italian decent too. Which explained why Gabe’s looks were so strikingly dark.

“Thank you for buying my coffee, Mrs. Del Grande. You didn’t need to do that,” Emmie said in an effort to be polite. She wondered why the woman had called her over.

“It’s a small gesture.” The woman looked down at her hands. “I suppose I should have done more.”

“Excuse me?” Emmie asked.

“Your dress is lovely. I used to have one similar several yesterdays ago,” Mrs. Del Grande said, reaching out to touch the worn fabric.

Emmie flushed. Was that her way of telling her the dress was outdated? Mrs. Del Grande’s dress was most obviously new. The fabric had the sheen of a dress straight from the store window.

“It was my mother’s,” Emmie said, picking at the loose thread on her sleeve.

“I know,” Mrs. Del Grande said.

Emmie’s head whipped up, meeting the eyes of the woman sitting across from her. How would she know?

“You look just like her. Except your nose. Hers was longer, thinner. You’re more beautiful than she was.” Mrs. Del Grande said.

“Oh, well I don’t know about that…” Emmie said, subconsciously touching her nose.

“But still, the resemblance is uncanny. When you walked in last night…” The woman grabbed her chest and took a deep breath. “I thought she was back…” The woman trailed off, her voice cracking.

Emmie was astonished at this woman’s grief over her mother. She’d never even heard her ma mention her.

“I miss her everyday.” Emmie heard her own voice crack as the truth escaped her lips.