The Fifth Season (24 page)

She shrugged. “I stopped hiding a long time ago. I’m facing a few things I wish I didn’t have to.”

Stone stepped into the room and gently traced the gold eagle nesting against her throat. “Thank you for wearing this.”

She placed a hand over his, locking his fingers against her skin. “Are you doing this for me?”

“It’s complicated, and I can’t discuss the details.”

“Revenge never solves anything, Stone. Don’t do it.” He tensed, pulling his hand away from hers.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” he said.

She touched his shoulder, imploring him silently to listen to her. “Some things aren’t worth your life.”

He visibly relaxed. “You’re right.” Stone traced a finger down her cheek. “But you are.”

Emma felt the tears prick her eyes. No crying, she screamed silently. “I’m sorry I didn’t wear the necklace right away. I was angry.”

“About what?”

“It’s in the past.”

“No, I want to know.”

“It doesn’t matter.” She reached up and twined her arms around his neck. “All that I care about now is your safe return.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back before Seth has a chance to ruin all the good work I’ve done here.” He kissed her forehead. Emma tilted her head and found his mouth with her own. Hungry, her lips insisted, and Stone responded by plundering and setting fire to her soul.

***

They stood within the frame of the front door. He held her tightly against his chest, afraid to let go. If she stepped back, his heart would be firmly in her hand and then how would he ever leave?

“Are we okay?” he said. His voice cracked, and he stomped his sadness down.

“Yes, we’re okay.”

“You’re not planning on leaving while I’m gone?” Stone pulled back and searched her face. An emotion lingered there he didn’t understand, and it worried the heck out of him.

“No, I’ll be here.”

“Promise?”

“Yes,” she said with a soft sigh, touching his face gently.

“Good.” He stepped out the door and grabbed his bag. Before he reached his Jeep, he turned and looked at her one last time. He allowed his eyes to absorb her beauty, memorize it and lock it away within his heart.

“Tell Porkie I love her.”

Emma nodded and waved. The tears streaming down her face burned a path straight to his soul. He spun on his heels and ran the rest of the way to his vehicle, revving the engine, and slamming it into gear. Pulling out of River Run, he refused to look back.

***

Emma held one hand to her heart, the other pressed against her abdomen. She watched the Jeep fade into the distance, swallowed by the bend in the road.

“Oh baby, pray your daddy comes home. Pray he’ll be there to watch you grow and see his grandchildren. Pray he’ll rock beside me until the end of our days.”

Chapter Sixteen

Days passed in quiet solitude. Seth tried too hard, and Emma cried too much.

Hormones.

If she’d known pregnancy revolved around emotional insanity, she’d have opted to commit herself into a padded room for nine months.

Staring out the kitchen window, she watched the sun burn holes into the snow covered pasture. The dripping of melting icicles splashed against the window panes, and she allowed herself a few dreamy moments in contemplation of Stone’s return.

She missed him with an intensity never expected. Emma knew her life would forever revolve around him, whether he loved her or not.

She’d called the doctor earlier that morning.

After explaining her concern, the ob-gyn had reassured her that a small amount of bleeding could be entirely normal and not to worry.

It was now early afternoon, and the spotting hadn’t stopped.

Fearing the worst, Emma decided she’d better try and reach Seth or Alexa.

***

Emma lay on the living room couch. Her head hurt, her body ached. She was a mess.

Nate hovered over her, and she tried to sit up.

“Stay still. I want to know exactly what the doctor said.”

“Nate, you shouldn’t be here.”

“Yeah? Then why’d you call me from the hospital?”

“I didn’t know who else to phone. Seth’s out on the range and Alexa’s in New York. I’m better now, so you can leave.”

He sat on the arm of the sofa and shook his head. “Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?”

“Stone doesn’t even know.”

At that, the older man quirked a brow. “I’ll make you some soup then be on my way. But first, what did the doctor say?”

“She said I needed to stay off my feet and in bed. They’re afraid of placenta privia.”

“Uh huh. Now, convert that to English.”

“From what I gather, my placenta is attached to my uterus which is what triggered the bleeding.” Emma sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, exhausted after the hours spent in the emergency room. “They’ll know more in another month or so when the ultrasound will show exactly what’s going on.”

“I’m not going anywhere until Seth returns. You need to be in bed and not move.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m sorry I worried you.”

“Honey, you were bleeding and that’s not good. Even an old codger like me knows that. You’re pale and look like you’ve run the New York marathon. Let me take care of you.”

Emma sank back into the cushions of the couch knowing he was right. The past ten days had been a battle to breathe. She missed Stone with every inch of her body and soul and couldn’t wait for him to return.

Four more days.

Four more very long days.

This little complication with the pregnancy, would definitely make telling him easy. He wouldn’t miss the fact she couldn’t walk around not to mention greet him in the manner her body burned for.

The front door slammed.

“Emma?”

She’d expected to hear Seth’s voice. Instead, the deep baritone of the very man she longed for echoed through the house. Her heart slammed to her chest and before she could grab his attention things whirled out of control.

***

“What the hell are you doing here?” Stone couldn’t believe his father stood in the kitchen, stirring a pan of something that smelled suspiciously like chicken soup.

“Don’t go jumping to conclusions, son.”

“Don’t…son? I can’t process that.”

“Stone…”

He spun around at the sound of Emma’s voice. He couldn’t see her and then her head popped up over the couch. Was she hiding? Didn’t she even have the decency to tell him face to face that his father owned her heart and not him?

“Don’t…” he stepped back, betrayal slamming into every weary muscle of his body. The wound on his shoulder felt like a bug bite compared to the knife in his heart. How could he have been so foolish? Asense Kuffuor’s lifeless face laughed at him, and Stone thought bitterly that his enemy had won after all.

“No.” Emma sat up all the way. Her face looked rather pale, but he figured it was due to being caught. “I needed your father…”

“Obviously much more than you needed me.”

“Stone listen to me, I was in…”

“I’m not hearing another lie from your lips.” He stepped into the living room and glared at her. “That man in the kitchen,” he pointed behind him. “The one you hold so dearly to your heart, hated me…abused me and almost killed me.”

“No. I won’t believe that. It was a horrible time for him. What about forgiveness? You’re not God, you can’t judge and convict.”

“Forgive? Did you forgive the man who murdered your mother?”

“That’s different. Your father hasn’t killed anyone.”

Stone didn’t even bother to hold back. “Well, love of my life, that’s where you’re wrong. He killed my mother. Flat out shot her dead then turned the gun on his own son. Would’ve shot me too if the police hadn’t arrived.”

He watched as she turned shocked eyes to his father. “No,” was all she said.

“Oh, yes. But I shouldn’t need to tell you. You promised to stand by my side. I thought you’d chosen me, but I guess I was wrong.”

“You weren’t wrong.” Her emerald eyes pleaded for understanding, but he wrapped his heart with concrete and refused to give in.

“I’d go to the ends of the earth for you. Actually, I did. The only thing that kept me sane these past two weeks is the thought of you. I’d die if that’s what it took for you to know.”

“Know?”

“How much I love you. How much I want you to love me.”

“Stone…”

He held his hand up and shook his head. “I’m not doing this. You’ve made your choice. I wish you only the best.” Before he changed his mind, Stone turned and left the room. He passed Hugh Gallagher in the hall and nodded for him to go in.

Striding out of the house, he breathed deeply and jumped behind the wheel of his Jeep. Without another thought or moment to allow the pain in his chest to settle, he left River Run forever.

***

Emma sank back into the couch. The betrayal written across Stone’s face burned her eyes, tearing at her soul.

“Emma?”

She knew that voice.

A memory…worn and tattered, surfaced. Chest tight with emotion, she raised her head above the couch. Gasping, she covered her face as tears spilled uncontrollably. Her father, thin and aged, stood less than a foot away.

“Papa…” He closed the distance and gathered her in his embrace. All she could think, all she could feel didn’t come close to the splintering and shattering of her heart, the echo of the front door slamming destroying her world.

***

“I’m sorry,” Nate said as he tucked the sheets around her.

“It’s not your fault.” Emma felt numb. If she hadn’t been incapacitated, she’d run after Stone and pummel sense into him. Instead, she lay in bed her sheets swathing her in heartbreak and endless
what ifs
.

“Is my father settled?”

“Yes. He’ll be by after he’s had a nap and shower.”

She nodded. Would she ever be able to look at her father without blaming him for the loss of her love? What irony. If only she’d attempted to understand Stone’s feeling toward his own father, she might have avoided the same herself.

Damn him. Damn Stone for risking his life to return her father. She didn’t want her father, she wanted him. And that thought alone shot a few more holes through her heart.

“I want the truth.”

“About my wife?”

“About everything. Your wife, your son, the reason you were such a SOB. Lay it on the line, Nate, or get out of my home.”

“It was an accident.”

“Go on.” Emma leaned back, resting her eyes. She listened to Nate’s story, her heart bleeding for the boy that was Stone.

“Katie was a good woman, a loving wife and terrific mother. I wasn’t so great.” Emma ignored the tears that brightened Nate’s eyes. No, he hadn’t been great. “Years before Seamus Adams turned his sight on Hugh, he focused on me. He didn’t kill me. No, first he destroyed everything I held dear. Luring me into the depths of gambling darkness, plying me with booze, turning me into a nightmare.”

“You must have helped somehow.” She said softly. “You can’t blame your actions on one man.”

Nate nodded. “I loved the booze, as well you know. I’d pretty much reached the bottom when that Irish madman’s fist struck. Stone had been hiking around Jenny Lake one afternoon. He didn’t come home. Katie called the local rangers. That evening they found him at the bottom of a cliff, broken and bloodied. It wasn’t until Hugh showed up at our back door that I realized Adams was behind it.”

“Seamus came here?”

“Yeah, he saved Stone then disappeared, fearful for his own family. But he didn’t leave before jamming his boot up my butt and making me realize what a heel I’d been.”

“Heel? Is that what you’d call it?” Emma felt herself pulling away, shutting doors on Nate’s corner of her heart.

“How old was Stone?”

“Fifteen.”

“Go on…what happened next?”

“They came into my home. I was too drunk to understand what was happening. Katie, my dear Katie.” He paused, his voice cracking with emotion. “She fought for her life, but they shot her. I guess that was my punishment. Seamus never planned on physically killing me.”

“And Stone? Why does he believe you killed his mother?”

“He heard the gunshots and came racing down the stairs. I was inconsolable, out of my mind. I grabbed the gun the men had left and aimed at him. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill myself.”

“And?”

“I pulled the trigger.”

Emma couldn’t believe what she heard. Her stomach twisted, a deep pain welled in her chest.

Tears streamed down Nate’s face as his memories came tumbling out. “The barrel was empty. Stone never spoke to me after that. I guess I didn’t care. I drank and gambled and beat him every time he turned accusing eyes in my direction. Even though I didn’t pull the trigger that day, I killed my wife. He knew it and so did I.”

He looked at her and despair crossed his face. “Don’t say anything, Emma. I see it in your eyes. When Hugh called three years later wanting to collect on the debt I owed, I dried out. For Stone, it was too late. He’d already joined the military and left Jackson. But I thought if I could somehow help my old friend, repay him for saving my son when I couldn’t, then maybe some sense was to be had of my life.”

“That’s when you came to Ireland.”

“Yes. But I was too late. Your mother was gone and your father presumed dead. You were the only one left.”

“I see.” Emma bent her head and listened to her heart. Truly listened, and her path became clear. Running her fingers across the pendant that burned her skin, she understood Stone’s request. It’d taken awhile, but it was time for her to fly.

***

“Are you sure about this?” Alexa questioned for the tenth time that morning.

“Yes,” Emma answered, trying not to let the exasperation show.

“Okay. I found him.”

Her heart leapt and the smile that tugged at her mouth felt wonderful. It’d been two months since her world crumbled and now she’d begun to piece it back together. “You’re a doll,” Emma said, hugging Alexa.