What If (Willowbrook Book 2) (4 page)

Her father.
She unlocked the door to her place, and rushed to the kitchen. She’d forgotten about the tulips she’d bought to put at his gravesite. He loved tulips. Had said they reminded him of the place where he’d proposed to Emma’s mom, up in Skagit Valley, Washington, in a field of tulips.

She grabbed the bunch and headed to his gravesite. On her knees, she spread the tulips across the granite marker. “For you, Dad. I miss you. Every day.” Emma started to get up, but something silver in the overgrown grass caught her attention.
A silver chain
. She held the chain in her hand then pocketed it. On the chain was a key.
A key for my heart, Drew
, she remembered whispering to him as she’d stuck her hand out, unfolded her clenched palm and had shown him the way to her heart. She reached inside her shirt and felt the coolness of the heart-shaped lock. Apparently, Drew didn’t want his piece of her heart.

Numb, she walked back to the house. Inside her place, she sat on the couch and turned on the television. She didn’t hear the words or see the images. Everything was silent. Everything a blur.

In the grand scheme of things, the finality of her breakup with Drew was small.
Sandy’s little boy has leukemia for goodness sakes.

Her mind made up, she texted Eve. Sure, she’d love to head the reclusive guy retrieval team. Keeping people safe was her business.

With broken wrists and having his man friends hold his junk while he peed . . . well, Drew definitely wasn’t safe living by himself.

Chapter Six

“Why do I have the gut feeling this idea of yours is really, really bad?” With her hands on her hips, Emma looked from Eve to the two-story house. She’d always thought the wrap-around porch and picture windows were downright homey. Too bad she currently didn’t like the home’s owner.

“You said you’d help.”

“Help put together a plan,” she reminded Eve. “I’d be central command while you, Asa, and the guys are my troops. Get it?”

Eve’s arched brows pulled together. “What’s the harm in ‘dropping by.’” Eve gestured with air quotes.

“I wanted to head and command from a distance. Not be in the same space with him, alone.”

Eve leaned close to her. “If it’s over, then there shouldn’t be any feelings for Drew, right?” Her voice had fallen to a whisper as though someone might be listening in on their conversation as they hid behind the trees surrounding Drew’s place.

Tipping her chin toward the woods behind the house, Eve scrunched her face into an expression Emma could only guess was determination. “Out here, it’s just you and him.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “You’re starting to sound like one of those narrators from a horror movie right before someone gets axed to bits.”

Eve pouted. Maybe with a guy, it’d have an effect, but not on her.

“The mardi gras party was a disaster.” She eyed the house. “And he’s moved on.”

The front pages of the tabloid magazines had Drew and Tess plastered on them. From the way the magazines flew off the local store’s shelves, the townspeople were very interested in Drew’s business. She didn’t blame them for being curious. After all, Drew hadn’t been around town in months. Well, since Emma had broken up with him. They must wonder about his sudden move to the Bay area and why he kept the old, but charming house in the woods.

When she’d seen the headlines and speculation about Drew and the “stunning” redhead, Emma was glad she wasn’t in Tess’ place. However, at night, alone in her bed, she envied Tess for having what she lacked—courage. It took guts to be scrutinized under a media microscope day in and day out.

The rumbling of a truck cut into the silence and yanked her out of her thoughts. They both turned toward the noise. Eve started to do a dance of sorts with the swing of her hips and a wave of her arms. “They’re here.” She jumped up and down.

Lucas and Drew
. Lucas’ Ford F150 truck drove up the dirt road and parked at the bottom of the slope to the house. Emma’s heart raced.
Breathe, Emma
. The driver’s door opened. From her vantage point on the slope, she watched Lucas get out of the truck. The passenger door opened. She began to break out in a cold sweat.

“I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Eve rubbed her back. “It’s okay, Em. Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”

No, she couldn’t see. Her vision went in and out. “Seriously, I gotta sit.”

Eve helped her to the steps of Drew’s place. Emma sat. As the guys walked toward them, she shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand.

“What is
she
doing here?” Drew barked.

Emma glared. “Nice to see you, too.”

Eve tsked. “Now, now kids. Play nice. My man and Asa’s man are tired of holding your junk for you, Drew. We figured four years with you gives Em every right to
that
privilege.”

“I don’t need help.” Terseness reverberated in his tone. “Eve, can I have a private word with you?”

“No go, Hazard. Lucas and I will be leaving now after he gets Em’s things from my Jeep.”

“
My
things?”

“What do you mean
Em’s things
?”

She and Drew had spoken in unison.

Hands to the air, Eve slowly backed up. “We—Asa, Rhys, Lucas, and I—decided you two have things to discuss. You’ve got the weekend to do it.”

“I don’t need my ex staying with me,” Drew growled.

“Too bad, Mr. Super Bowl Champ. Emma has nowhere to stay, and no ride. Asa and Rhys took Emma’s Prius for a trip into Ashton. They’ll be back Sunday night. And my honey there—” Eve nodded toward Lucas “—changed the locks on Emma’s doors before he came to get you. He’ll change it back Sunday night.”

Lucas must’ve tampered with the locks while she and Eve had been visiting with Sandy and Chance. On the way back to Emma’s place, Eve had surprised her with an “emergency” detour to Drew’s place. Go figure. More meddling from the meddlesome Eve. This time she’d wrangled in their friends, too.

In her peripheral vision, she watched Lucas set the luggage on the wooden steps to Drew’s front door.

“I bought you a few items,” Eve said with a nod at the luggage. “I figured the rest is still in the house.”

The rest.
Make-up, toiletries, extra panties and bras, her hairdryer—stuff she hadn’t gone back for after the breakup.

“Make sure the stubborn ass takes his pain meds and rests his wrists,” Lucas said to her as he went to stand by Eve’s side.

Without a word or an acknowledgement that she breathed the same air he did, Drew barged past her, stormed up the steps, and waited in front of the door.

Eve zipped over, and giving Emma a hug, whispered next to her ear, “Good luck. Text me later, okay?”

Ha, if Emma was still alive.

“And don’t worry. You’ll have your car and your house back in time for work on Monday.” She hugged Emma tighter before letting go and glaring at Drew’s back. “Tess bitch or not, Emma won’t take shit from you. So don’t you dare take advantage of her kindness. Otherwise, I’ll whoop your ass, you hear me, Hazard?”

If the situation weren’t so unbelievable, Emma would have laughed at the seriousness on Eve’s face and the scowl on Drew’s when he’d turned around before focusing on the door again. Hand in hand, Eve and Lucas walked down the slope and to his truck, leaving Emma with a stewing-mad Drew.

“Come open the damn door.”

She would’ve told him to shove off, but the pain and tiredness in his voice had her getting up and rushing to his side. Sweat trickled down his face, and dammit, his face looked a god-awful color.

“I think you need to lie down.”

“No shit.”

“Where are the house keys?”

“Inside the left pocket.”

“Pants or jacket?”
Please let it be his jacket
.

“Pants.”

Groaning, she stuck her hand into his left pant pocket and fished out his keys. She found the house key and slipped it into the keyhole. It didn’t unlock the door.

“The golden one.”

He’d had the lock changed.
Emma wouldn’t take it personally.

“Just poke it in already before I keel over.”

Clutching the key he mentioned, she put it into the lock and turned the doorknob. “When was the last time you took any pain medication?”

Having two broken wrists hurt, right? Wait a minute . . . “What were you doing while out with Lucas?” What had Drew been up to that had him close to passing out from pain? “Drew?”

“I’m not telling you anything. It’s none of your business anymore.”

He headed straight for their bedroom. No, Emma couldn’t think like that. There was no “theirs” anymore. Even with a child to connect them, they weren’t a couple.

She went after him.
Please don’t let him be passed out on the floor.

She found him on the bed fully clothed with his feet dangling off the edge. He still had his shoes on. Leaning against the doorframe, she watched him sleep.

Something had bothered her since she’d heard Drew was in town, isolating himself in his place. Where was his girlfriend, Tess? And why hadn’t he manned-up and returned his part of the necklace rather than leaving it at Emma’s father’s gravesite?

That damn necklace. Since she’d found it, she’d removed the key from the chain that had belonged to him and placed it on hers. Now the key and heart lock belonged to Emma. Had it always been like that? Was Drew’s heart never fully in their relationship?

Tears stinging her eyes at a possibility she’d rather not think about, she rushed out of the house and went to sit on the stairs, next to the luggage she’d forgotten about.

Mid-afternoon sunlight filtered in through the spaces where the trees didn’t meet. Beneath her, the wooden step was cool. Stretching her short legs in front of her, she pulled her cell phone out of her sweater’s pocket and dialed.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Chris.” She passed a trembling hand over her brow.

She shouldn’t be doing this, sneaking off to ride. But she needed a release like no one’s business. And her obstetrician had given her the okay to do limited riding after she’d made it past the first trimester.

“Can you pick me up at seven tomorrow morning, my place?” Drew was a late riser while she was a morning person. She’d walk to her place, meet Chris and be back at Drew’s by the time he got up at nine.

“Sure thing. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, dandy. Why?”

“You sound down in the dumps.”

“I just need a few grabs on the track. A rough ride to get my mind off things, you know?”

“Drew again, huh?”

“How’d you guess?”

“Come on, Em, the guy’s got a firm hold on you. So firm, even I can’t compete.”

She laughed. Chris had nailed it. How could she move forward with any guy when they couldn’t compare to sexy, funny, tender—but currently a jerk—Drew?

“So we ride tomorrow,” Chris reassured. “He might be the man on the field, but I’m the shit on the tracks.”

“Okay, big guy.” She smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She hung up and put her phone away. Grabbing the luggage, she stood. Her gaze drifted to the lock. He’d had the lock changed and hadn’t said a word of it to her. Why change one thing? Why not sell the house, already?

Chapter Seven

Drew woke up to the memory of frustrated words directed at him. As he was marched up the steps of the private jet that would take him to Oregon, his PR guy had given him a good ass-chewing.

“Your life’s in a tailspin of partying, drinking, and being just a plain shithead,” Jones had tactfully pointed out. “Get a reality check. Go somewhere quiet and think about your future, man. You got two broken wrists. Whatcha gonna throw when you got two
fucking
broken wrists?”

Yeah, Jones definitely didn’t mince words.

A movement in the corner pulled him out of his thoughts. Emma had shifted in the overstuffed chair, tucking her legs beneath her. It was the chair she’d picked out to make their bedroom “cozier.”

Though she must’ve realized Drew was awake, she hadn’t said a word to him. Instead, she had stared at him with those wise eyes of hers.

Dammit, he hadn’t wanted her to drop in on his world so soon again. Yet, one of the reasons he’d returned to Willowbrook was
her.
If his suspicions about Emma and their breakup were true, Drew had every right to be pissed at her for risking her life and the life of their unborn child when she’d taken off on his Ducati.

The clues had been subtle. She hadn’t drank the red wine, and she’d worn boots beneath her fancy dress. Emma wouldn’t have passed up wine for water or heels for boots. Not at a party.

Shit, if only he’d used a condom like she’d asked the night he’d snuck her into his hotel room. She’d said she might’ve thrown up some of her BC pills when she had been sick, that maybe the antibiotics messed with her sensitive stomach. As always, Emma played it safe. Too bad safe hadn’t been on his mind when she’d stripped off her clothes, revealing a lacy get-up. A month had been too long away from her.

“What time is it?” He zoned in on any topic, even something as mundane as the hour, just to get the image of her in a red, lace-trimmed bra and thong out of his mind.

“It’s after six.”

He’d slept all afternoon and into the evening. The intensity of his workouts wore him out. No wonder his wrists throbbed.

“I went through your cupboards,” she continued. “There’s hardly any food in there or in your fridge. Drew Hazard, how the hell are you still upright?” She stood with her hands on her hips.

He wouldn’t be mothered by her. Shoving his clenched hands into the mattress, he tried to sit up. A sharp pain cut into his wrists and shot to the tips of his fingers. Gritting his teeth, he fell back onto the pillows.

She rushed forward, intending to help. A low growl from him had her hesitating for a fraction of a second before she climbed onto the bed and straddled his hips. A look of determination crossed her face before a fierce glare replaced it. Mess with anyone Emma cared about and the hidden fighter in her came out full force.

“We might not be together anymore, but I won’t stand by and let you hurt.”