Dear Emmett

Chapter Ten - [Brooke's Trouble.]

My hands were shaking.

I realized this in the moments after Emmett walked away from me. I sat, immobilized in the driver’s seat of my truck. There were several things swirling through my mind at once. First, I had to remind my self he didn’t know about the pregnancy and he didn’t hate me.

Yet.

The second was the deep curiosity behind the effect Emmett had on me from the very moment that I met him. I hardly knew him. I closed my eyes, and images of that night on the beach filled my mind. On the blanket underneath the stars. 

I shook my head, relinquishing the memories from my mind…For now. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Madison walking out of the restaurant with a couple of bags in her hand. That was all the motivation I needed. 

Shifting into drive, I was out of there. 

“How’d the dinner go?”

Aunt Lauren asked me this the moment I stepped through the door a few minutes later. In just the time it had taken me to drive home, the clouds had begun grow darker and the wind had picked up. There was a storm coming, and a big one.

Kicking off my shoes, I contemplated my answer. How had the dinner gone. Not terrible, but not great.

“It was okay,” I said honestly, hanging my keys up as I shut the door behind me, taking one last look at the brewing storm. “It could have gone better, but it was alright.”

“So he knows?” Aunt Lauren asked, her eyes lighting up.

I laughed a little bit, shaking my head.

“No, he doesn’t know. I didn’t get a chance to tell him before Madison came in, and then his friend called him and he had to go help with some cow giving birth.”

“Madison?” My aunt asked, raising her eyebrows. “Madison Parker?”

I nodded.

“That girl is nothing but trouble, Charlotte. And I don’t mean the type of harmless trouble Emmett got in when he was younger. She’s got a nasty attitude. It’d do well to stay away from her.”

I sat down at the kitchen island, shaking my head.

“Don’t worry, she’s not my friend. She’s hated me since the moment I walked into this town. I don’t know why, but apparently I’ve got a target on my forehead. At least in her eyes.”

“Don’t pay any attention to her. She’s not good for anyone, not from the moment she stepped foot in this town.”

“You mean she’s not from here?” I asked.

“No, not even close. She was born and raised in New York City. She's only lived here about four years. She tried to act like a little down home country girl, but she’s the farthest thing from it. I know she got into trouble back home, too. Heavy into drugs.”

My eyes widened.

“But don’t say anything to anyone, do you understand? I’m not really supposed to blab.”

“Don’t worry, Aunt Lauren. Your - or her - secret is safe with me. I promise.”

I meant that, too. Madison was the kind of person to take something like that and use it against me. But just because she would sink down to that level, didn’t mean I had to. I could and would be better than her.

She might think she was winning, but I’d know who the real winner was.

“You’re a better person than her, Char. Beautiful on the inside.”