Captured Heart (A Garrett's Point Novel) (15 page)

“Plus it will give you and Liv some quality time alone without my interference.” Jack wasn’t sold on the fact that was a good thing. He liked her interference.

Chapter Fourteen

Emma walked into the diner with thirty seconds to spare.
Whew! Right on time.

She felt drained; today’s events with Olivia had taken a toll on her energy repository. Kathryn, Sydney and Melanie were all already seated at the booth.

“Am I in an alternate universe where my usually always late friends are reversed. That’s the second week in a row, Kat. You’re freaking me out a little bit.” Emma teased.

“Oh, you score sex with the hot uncle and feel inclined to point me out.” Kathryn grumbled.

Emma knew she was poking at her, but she stilled blushed a thousand shades of pink.

She hadn’t said a word to any of them. How could they possibly know? “Kat! Why would you say such a thing, for Pete’s sake, especially in a diner full of people?” Well, it wasn’t that full, but still.

“Come on, Em. Even I can see your sex glow.” Sydney commented nonchalantly.

“Sex glow? What?” Emma was mortified. They’d had plenty of conversations about sex, but they were usually talking about Kathryn’s adventures or the lack thereof pertaining to the rest of them.

“Maybe this would be a good night to move to the back.” Melanie piped in, seeing where this conversation was headed. She imagined Emma didn’t want her personal business spread all over town, and with certain individuals eating dinner in the diner, it wouldn’t take long for the grapevine to flow.

“Good idea.” agreed Sydney. The three of them followed Mel behind the counter, through the kitchen doors to an office in the back that held a table that was just like the ones in the diner, specifically for them. Whenever they had serious things to discuss or needed to be out of earshot, this is where they would come. They liked eating in the diner, the atmosphere was bright and open. It was comfortable, but sometimes, a girl just needed some privacy.

“Leave it to Kat to possess sex radar.” Emma mumbled under her breath, but Kat heard her.

“Ah ha! You did have sex with hot uncle, what’s his name again?” Kat searched her memory. She was terrible at remembering people’s names. That’s why she carried a notepad everywhere with her. “Jack! That’s his name.”

“How old are you?” Emma asked sarcastically. She’d planned on telling them what had happened between her and Jack, but now that Kat had jumped on her about it, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to talk about it.

Sydney contemplated the situation, arching her eyebrows in surprise. Maybe it wasn’t such a surprise, given people act out in grief for comfort all the time. Maybe things just got out of hand. That had to be the case. Emma wasn’t the casual sex type of girl. If it wasn’t just grief, then something more was at play here. A few pointed questions should give some insight Sydney thought to herself.

“Is something going on between you and Jack, Emma?” Melanie very casually asked the question, but all waited with bated breaths to hear her answer.

“If you’re asking did we sleep together, then the answer would be yes. We did.” There. She’d said it. Let the interrogation begin.

“I knew there was something going on between the two of you. It was pretty obvious at the Bottoms Up the other night, and I don’t think it was the alcohol talking either.” Kat said triumphantly.

“Simmer down, Kat. Why don’t we let Emma explain what that
something
is.” Sydney intervened. She could tell Emma was uncomfortable. Out of all of them, Emma was the least experienced. She certainly didn’t sleep around. If she and Jack had been together, there was more to the story. Even grief, she didn’t believe, would shove her into an intimate relationship with someone unless she already had strong feelings for them.

“Look, sorry to disappoint you, but there’s not that much to tell.” Jumping in she shared with them how she and Jack ended up sleeping together. “I’m not going to lie. He’s made my skin tingle for years, but you know the story. He’s a career man. He’s Dana’s brother that lived out of town and only visited on holidays. He wasn’t relationship material.”

“Okay. I’ll buy that, but he’s still all those things. What changed, that put the two of you together? Was it comfort to your grieving hearts? Is that it?” Melanie asked. “Because it’s okay if it was. I just know it’s not like you to let your guard down like that. It’s not like other guys in town haven’t tried.” she finished.

Emma thought about that for a moment. Was it just grief? No, at least on her part it wasn’t, although where Jack was concerned it was a very real possibility that was exactly what it could be. She knew he still wasn’t in the market for all the things she was looking for in a relationship. So, why was she with him? Because she was in love with him.
Oh My God! I’m in love with him.
Her face paled. She wasn’t certain she wouldn’t be sick.

Sydney read her loud and clear. “You’re in love with him.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. She could read it all over Emma’s face.

“This is terrible. I can’t be in love with him. It’s not like that, at least not for him.” Emma said, strain marring her voice.

“What is it then?” Melanie asked?

“Look, Jack doesn’t do relationships. He dates. A lot. His career is his priority, and he certainly has no interest in a small town like Garrett’s Point or a small town girl like me.”

“So, you’re saying he slept with you for a piece of ass?” Kat threw out there. Leave it to Kat to call it like she saw it.

Sighing, Emma had to admit it. “Well, when you put it that way, I guess the answer is pretty much a yes.” Sitting up straighter in her chair, Emma continued, “I know Jack is attracted to me, that he likes me, and that we were able to comfort one another during a tragic event in our lives.”

Emma looked at each of her friends saying, “Don’t look so worried. We have a mutual agreement not to let sleeping together get in the way of our friendship and ultimate responsibility of caring for Olivia.”

“Em, sex always gets in the way. You know that.” Melanie couldn’t help but say.

“Seriously, guys, I’m alright with this. I fell into this with my eyes open, and I have no regrets. Jack is a wonderful guy. I just don’t foresee him ever being my guy, not permanently anyway. I’m going to take this short time together with him and savor it. If I’ve learned anything from Jeff’s and Dana’s passing is that I’ve been playing life from the sidelines at least where my love life is concerned. I need to live life to the fullest, because we aren’t promised tomorrow. “

They understood what she was saying. They’d all been shaken by the accident. Every one of them had reassessed their lives over the past week.

“What about the being in love with him part, Em? How are you going to handle that?” Sydney wanted to make sure she’d thought about this. She’d seen the way Jack had held her at the bar. That wasn’t the look of a man who didn’t care.

“Not to be cliché, but sometimes when you love something or someone, you have to let them go. You know I’m a firm believer that if it’s meant to be, it will be. He’ll go back to Richmond and his life, and I’ll become the primary caregiver for Olivia. Jack will come down on some weekends when he isn’t working. We both agree that Garett’s Point is where Olivia belongs.”

“Wow! How selfless of him.” sniped Kat. “The only thing that really changes for him is some legality on a piece of paper.”

“And the fact that his sister and her husband are dead, Kat.” Emma said flatly.

“I know that, Em, but it doesn’t seem fair that you are doing all the heavy lifting while he goes on about his life, business as usual.” Kat finished not meaning to be hurtful, but honest.

“What other choice was there really? I don’t want to see Olivia uprooted from the home and people she loves and who will support her. Jack really isn’t equipped to take her on alone. His career is everything to him. Make no mistake. He loves his niece. He would take her back to Richmond, but I was the one who offered to be the primary guardian. It’s the right thing to do, and it’s not something I feel like I have to do. It’s what I want to do. Can you understand that?” she asked her friends.

They marveled at the level of compassion Emma possessed. She was selfless in her desire to protect and care for Olivia. Wasn’t that what love was – being willing to put other’s needs before your own?

Wanting to lighten up the mood, Kat diverted the conversation. “I think we all get where you’re coming from. We just worry about you, Mary Poppins. Don’t want to see you get hurt, but let’s get down to the important business at hand.”

“I thought we were talking about the important stuff.” Emma responded.

“Come on. We hadn’t gotten there yet. The most important question to be answered tonight is, was he any good in bed? He might have a pretty face but be a poor performer in the bedroom. I should know. I’ve slept with some gorgeous men, but when it came right down to it, that was all they had – their looks.” Kat finished, shaking her head disappointedly remembering some of those encounters.

“I can put your fears to rest by telling you that Jack has no performance issues in the bedroom. Everything functions just fine. Every time.” Emma said, her cheeks pinking up again.

“Wait a minute. Every time. That would indicate multiple performances. Just how many times are we talking here? Inquiring minds want to know.” Kat had jumped on that like a hot tin roof.

“God, Kat, does it really matter. More than one. Less than 20. That’s all you’re going to get.” Emma stated firmly and said “Next topic. What’s going on with all of you? Syd, how are things at work?”

Emma hated having the focus of discussion on her, especially when she knew her friends could see right through her. She wasn’t ready to talk about the depth of her feelings for Jack. It wasn’t going to change anything. He was going to leave. That closed whatever door they had opened with their intimacy. It had too.

Syd was talking about some tax issue the town was having, but her bigger obstacle right now was hiring a new town attorney. With Jeff’s death, a void had been created there as well. “We’ve posted the position to the town website. You wouldn’t believe some of the resumes I’ve looked at. This isn’t going to be easy to replace Jeff. He was such a good fit with the town’s objectives and provided us great legal counsel.”

“What about you, Kat? Anything news-worthy happening in your corner?” Emma asked. She wanted to keep the conversation moving away from her.

“Not much. A lot of the same ‘ole stuff. We did have something strange happen last night that doesn’t happen very often around here.” She’d piqué all their curiosity.

“Well, don’t leave us hanging. What happened?” Emma questioned. Not a lot of big news occurred in Garrett’s Point, which was a good thing as far as Emma was concerned.

“There was a break-in at Harper’s Hardware. The back door was shimmied open.” Sydney and Melanie had heard the news already but didn’t know the details. Word traveled fast down Main Street, and considering the diner and Town Hall sat on the same block, the businesses had their own built-in grapevine.

“Really?” Emma was shocked. “What did they take from the hardware store? That’s a strange place to break and enter, isn’t it? Did they try and get into the safe?” She riddled Kat with questions.

“Obviously you didn’t read this afternoon’s paper, or you would know the answer to those questions.” Kathryn ribbed her. “To answer them again, Dan hasn’t figured out yet what they were after. The place was a little messed up, kind of rummaged through the garden area strangely enough. The office was untouched.”

“It does sound strange, especially since they didn’t try to get into the office area. I wonder what they were after? Maybe it was some silly kids. I would hope not, but sometimes they get these hair-brained ideas. It seems the bigger the adrenaline rush, the better these days. At least that's what the videos show on
You Tube
.” Possibilities ran rampant through Emma’s mind. “Did they find any fingerprints?”

“Simmer down, Inspector Gadget. Of course there were. Tons of them. It’s a hands-on store, people picking up tools and looking at parts. It will take the police a long time to filter through those prints. Heck, most of the town has been in there at one time or another.” Kat explained. “Still, it is a strange one. Grady’s been over there all night and day with his deputies.”

Emma had reached over and girl-socked Kat’s arm. She was always calling them her own brand of nicknames. Usually hers was Mary Poppins. She’d gotten used to it. She’d called Kat a few things of her own over the years, all in fun of course. Kathryn certainly kept them all on their toes.

Their food arrived, and they dug in. Emma hadn’t realized how hungry she had been. They inquired as to how Olivia was handling the loss of her parents up to this point. Emma shared with them the incident this morning and what they had done to try and help her deal with her emotions.