Vision In Love (Legends of The North Book 1) (14 page)

***

"You know, Jess, I don't need a chaperone," Matt said.

"Just humour me, okay? Besides, I said I'd buy you a pint, so what are you complaining about? Oh, Emma's there, should we get her to meet us at the pub? Matt?"

But Matt was too busy wondering who Emma was talking to. He didn't look familiar, but then he didn't know everyone who lived in the village. Leaning on the railings, he tried to work out if Emma was happy to see the guy or not. When he grabbed hold of Emma's arms, Matt tensed, his hands clutching the railing. Emma didn't try to fight the man off, though, and a feeling of unease started to swirl in his stomach. Matt watched as she seemed to shrug at the guy and felt like he was trapped in some weird alternate universe. Then he pulled her into his arms and the bottom fell out of Matt's world.
Who the hell is this guy?
Matt didn't know, but he
did
know he'd seen more than enough. Turning from the pair, he grabbed Jess's arm and started toward the pub.
 

Jess yanked her arm free. "Where are you going?"

"To the pub. You did say you were going to buy me a pint."

"Don't you want to talk to Emma?"

He glanced back towards the pair, but they were still hugging. "She seems a little busy right now."

"I'm not leaving."

"Fine. I'll see you in the pub then."

***

Jess stared at Matt's retreating back in disbelief. She couldn't believe he would just leave Emma with another guy. What if she didn't know him and he tried to hurt her? Jess turned back to see Emma push away from what she had to admit was a pretty attractive guy.
Mmm, maybe I could get an introduction if Emma does know him.
 

Emma left him standing by the river, dragging Barney along after her. The mystery man looked after Emma as he rubbed at the back of his neck.
Curiouser and curiouser. Should I go after Emma or meet Matt?
Matt would be fine in the pub; he'd find someone to talk to, and if not, he could just sit at the bar. Plus, if she found out what was going on from Emma, she could at least tell Matt who the mystery man was. She headed home after Emma, decision made.

Jess let herself into the cottage to be greeted by Barney. She gave him a chest rub as she shouted, "Emma? You home?" Nothing.
Guess that's a no to her being home.
 

Letting herself back out, she walked across to the pub. She headed for the bar but couldn't see Matt, so she wandered farther into the back. The sounds of conversations carried to her, the smell of chips wafting in from the kitchen. She wandered around the whole pub but couldn't find him. She thought about asking the barman, but if he wanted to sulk or whatever he was doing then, frankly, she wasn't interested.
 

Frustrated, she decided to leave him to it, figuring he'd show up when he got over himself. She walked out of the pub to head back home again when she saw Rob walking her way. She wondered what he was doing there, since Altenchester wasn't exactly on the way to anywhere. He gave her a wary smile.

“Hi, Rob, you meeting Matt?"

"Hi. Yeah, we're meeting up at John's place. Impromptu lads' night, apparently."

"Well, tell him thanks for standing me up at the pub when you see him."

"Mmm, sure. Probably not the best time to bring this up, but I just wanted to apologise for the other night."

She waved a hand at him. "Don't worry about it." She could feel the blush spreading across her cheeks. "Pretty sure from what I remember it should be me apologising to you. I, er, better let you go. See you later." Giving him a little wave, she headed out the door before he could say anything else. She'd much rather distract herself with Emma's dramas than think about her own right then.

Emma found herself walking in the direction of the shop. She knew it wouldn't help, but right then she didn't care; she just wanted the comfort of some chocolate. Preferably a
lot
of chocolate. As she pushed open the door, the bell jangled, and the gossip stopped long enough for the ladies to look in her direction then back.
 

"Well, I spoke to Mr. Talbot's wife and she said they've lost close to half their lambs, just disappeared! And then they found a pile of bones, which they assume were their lambs, but it's hard to tell, since the bones were sucked clean. Not a scrap of meat left on them."

"Oh, Pat, don't."

"What? It's nothing to do with me. I'm just telling you what I heard."

Emma moved closer as the ladies' voices dropped.

"I also heard it's not just animals that have been attacked. That Altenbury boy–you know, the one who thinks he's too good to be one of them–he was attacked, too. Mr. Talbot found him on his land, said the boy had cuts and blisters all over him. Something not right about it all, I tell you."

Emma walked down the aisle away from them, having heard enough. Since when did someone being hurt become the entertainment of the village?

With enough sweets and chocolate to give her diabetes, Emma walked back home. Letting herself in the house, she put the shopping bag on the kitchen table and dropped into one of the chairs with a sigh. Seeing Ben again had brought back memories she thought she'd managed to bury in her "best to forget" box. She refused to feel guilty over Sarah, though. Sarah had made her choices without thinking about her, so Sarah would have to live with the consequences of that decision. The slamming of the front door brought her back to the present.

"Jess?"

"Yeah, it's me. Where have you been? Oh." Jess's gaze dropped to the bag on the table, a bag of popcorn sticking out of the top it. "That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea."

Jess sat down next to her. "Does it have anything to do with tall, dark and handsome we saw you arguing with?"

"We?"

"Yeah, me and Matt were on our way to the pub when we saw you with him."

Emma grabbed a chocolate bar out of the bag and tore off the wrapper. "Oh, this just gets better and better. What did Matt say?"

"Mmm, not a lot, really. Who was he?"

Letting out a sigh, Emma said, "He's my ex."

Jess's eyebrows rose in response then drew together. "As in, your ex from Cardiff?"

Emma nodded. "The one and only."

"What's he doing up here? Oh, my God, you're not getting back together, are you?"

"No. Have you forgotten about Matt? Ben came to guilt-trip me into going back to Cardiff with him."

"You're not going, are you?"

Emma shook her head and offered Jess a square of chocolate.

"Good," Jess replied then put the whole square in her mouth.

"Yeah, see if you still think that after you hear this. I never told you, but the reason we split up was I found him in bed with my friend Sarah." Jess gasped at that revelation but didn't say anything. "She's the reason he came up here looking for me. Apparently, she felt so guilty about what they did, she ... she tried to kill herself, according to Ben. She wants to see me or he wants me to see her, I'm not sure which."

Jess covered Emma's hand with her own and squeezed. "Emma, you don't have to go. It's not your fault. You're not responsible for her actions. And your ex has no right to come here and see you after what they did to you. I told Matt he should stick around."

"So, he's upset then?"

"Maybe a little, I'm not sure. He's at John's. I ran into Rob at the pub. They're having a boys' night, so I'm sure he'll be fine by tomorrow. Maybe a little hung-over, but fine."

Emma smiled, but she wasn't sure she agreed with Jess. She wondered at what point he had left. Had he seen her crying? Seen her in Ben's arms?
 

She had some explaining to do.

John had been propping up the bar when Matt arrived at the pub. Matt hadn't had to do much persuading to convince him to take some beers back to his place instead. He'd called Rob to see if he wanted to join them, thinking they might as well make a night of it. But as he sat in the recliner, in John's house working on his second beer, he was only half listening to John and Rob argue. His thoughts kept drifting back to seeing Emma in some other man's arms.
Maybe I should text Jess and see if she found out who he was?
He dismissed the idea; if he was going to find out who the guy was, he wanted to hear it from Emma, in person. He thought that if he was going to get dumped, she could at least do it to his face.
 

Was
he getting dumped? Technically, they weren't together, but they had slept with each other. So then, why was he angry with her? He had no reason to be. They weren't together, so if she wanted to she could happily be in the arms of another man, just like he could hold another woman in his. But why did that idea just make him even angrier? He didn't want to hold another woman, so, ridiculous as it may seem, she shouldn't want to be held by another man.
 

Why did he have to see them together? If he and Jess had been five minutes later, he would never have seen Emma with another guy. Would be with Emma right then, not Rob and John, none the wiser. As he thought that, he slipped his thumbnail between his teeth and started to chew. Ignorance is bliss? Truth hurts? Better the devil you know? Who came up with those ideas? They weren't helpful in the slightest. For all he knew, they could have been together as long as Matt had known Emma and Matt was the one in the wrong. The not knowing was killing him, but if he went to find out the truth, well, any hope he had would be gone.

"What do you think, Matt? Matt?"

He jumped as a cold can landed in his lap.

"Earth to Matt," Rob called, waving his hand at him.

"Sorry, I was miles away."

"Yeah, like miles away in Emma's bed, he means," John said, winking in Rob's direction.

"You never told me you actually got lucky with her," Rob exclaimed.

Yeah, that wasn't embarrassing, just like his cheeks and ears weren't burning up right then. What was he supposed to say? "Well, me and Emma aren't actually together because if we were, I'm pretty sure she just cheated on me this afternoon." John and Rob might be his mates, but he wasn't about to confess to that. "I, er, I didn't. We're just friends. Jess and her live together, that's all."

"Yeah, right, just friends," John said with a twisted smile.
 

Rob just stared at him until Matt shifted uncomfortably. "I saw Jess at the pub. She told me to thank you for standing her up."

Matt smiled, thankful Rob had let the topic of Emma go. "Pretty sure she'd already stood me up first, but you know how dramatic she can be."

"Oh, do I ever."

Matt narrowed his eyes at Rob, wondering what that quip meant. But did he really want any more issues to deal with right then? Besides, Rob had known Jess for years. He and Rob had become friends when they were at uni together, despite how different they both were. He didn't think Rob had ever stuttered or felt self-conscious in his whole life. And he didn't seem to have any problems attracting women, just keeping them. Not that he thought Rob actually wanted one to keep.
 

John was quieter than Rob but more annoying. Physically, John was the opposite of Rob, too, and Matt wasn't sure if he knew what a razor was because he seemed to have permanent stubble along his jaw and chin. But they were his mates.
 

Matt opened the can in his lap, seeming like a good way to distract himself from his thoughts.

"So, did you guys see the match?" Matt asked.

John huffed out a breath. "That bloody ref needs glasses. Offside? Offside my arse."

Matt smiled. An uncomplicated night with the lads was just what he needed.

***

The next morning, Matt sat behind the computer at the museum. He had his arms folded on top of the desk and his head resting on his arms, eyes closed. The boys' night might have distracted him from thoughts of Emma in somebody else's arms, but they were back with a vengeance, along with a throbbing headache. He heard the doors to the museum open and slowly sat up. Emma stood smiling at him, and he couldn't help but think back to their first meeting there. It seemed like a lifetime before, yet it was less than three months. He didn't want to go back to her not being a part of his life again. Standing as she walked toward him, his cheeks flushed.

"Did you have a good time last night?"

"A little too good, according to my head this morning."

She stood just inches from him but made no move to touch him as she laughed at his words. "I wanted to let you know that I'm going down to Cardiff–“

"With him?" Matt asked, unable to wait for her to finish or stop the accusatory tone that crept into his voice.

"What? No. Ben left yesterday. He wanted me to know my ... friend is in hospital. I've decided to go and visit her."

"Is that why you were hugging him?"
Great, now I sound whiny and pathetic. Am I trying to drive her away?

Instead, Emma's smile widened. "I was upset. He hugged me. I was under the impression that
we
were together," she said, waving a finger between their chests.

"We are." He didn't know what else to say so he just dragged her into his arms, pressing her face against his chest. Resting his chin on top of her head, he inhaled deeply. The scent of her almond shampoo greeted him, and he relaxed for the first time since he'd seen her in another man's arms. He didn't want her to go to Cardiff, didn't want her within a hundred feet of Ben, but he had to trust her. Ben? Not a chance he trusted him, but he didn't want Emma to know that. She needed him to be supportive, not be a jerk. "How long are you going to be in Cardiff for?"

"I'll drive down today and come back tomorrow, I think. I don't want to stay more than one night."

"Are you okay driving? I could come with you, if you wanted me to."

She gave him a squeeze then stepped back, hooking her hair behind her ears. "I appreciate the offer, but I need to do this on my own. I don't really want to go, but I guess I need to talk to her, put a few things to rest. I kind of just took off and tried to leave my problems down there. It's time I sorted them out. That way, they won't keep popping up here, okay?"