The Girl Next Door

Chapters 25-28

Emma turned north, heading out of town. She said quietly, "That's not my home, Catie."

"It could be!"

"No," Emma said, shaking her head firmly. "It's complicated. "

"You make it complicated. I want you there. Dad wants you there. It's not complicated."

Emma's grip on the steering wheel tightened until her skin turned white around her knuckle bones. She kept her gaze straight ahead. "Everything is too crazy right now, too fast. Phoebe's back -"

"Fuck Phoebe," Catie cursed bitterly. "She fucking ruins everything."

Emma frowned. "She's your -"

"If you tell me she's my mother, I'm going to jump out of this goddamn car right now. I know she's my mother. I also know she hasn't had the slightest interest in me for thirteen years, so I don't know why my life should come crumbling apart just because she suddenly shows up and wants of piece of me. She can fucking get in line, because I've got other shit to deal with right now!" Catie interrupted furiously.

Once again, Emma's cheeks flushed with guilt.

"Leave Phoebe out of it. Tell me why you left," Catie insisted.

Emma sighed and lifted one hand from the steering wheel to rake her fingers through her short curls. "Before I came up here this summer, I was engaged. Gary and I were supposed to get married last month. But the fire in Savannah -- that was his fault, kind of. "

Catie had the sense that Emma was choosing her words carefully, not telling her the whole story. However, since it was more of the story than Catie had ever heard before, she bit her tongue, and listened.

"I wasn't expecting to fall in love with your dad, or with you either, for that matter. I'm a - "

"You love us?" Catie interrupted, startled.

Emma swallowed so hard Catie heard her throat work, but she nodded. "I do. Of course I do."

Catie clapped her hands in excitement. "Well, okay then! We love you, too! Come home, and we'll figure it out!"

"It's not that easy, hon. As I was saying, I'm a mess. A few months ago, I was planning to marry someone else. I had a successful business, I was doing something I loved, making money at it, and then, all of a sudden, I lost everything. I was still working on wrapping my head around all of that when someone attacked me here, which means that either the guys who burned my house in Georgia followed me, or I have a whole new enemy. Either way, I'm scared and I don't want to bring my troubles to your doorstep."

Catie bit her lip worriedly, finally understanding that Emma's fear was bigger than she'd known. "That just shows why you should be with us. You're safer with us."

"But you're not. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you or your dad, or to your house, because of somebody looking for me."

"How do you think we're going to feel if anything happens to you?" Catie countered.

Emma grimaced. She didn't have an answer. Instead, she steered the conversation toward another excuse for leaving. "The day I left, your dad and I fought about his manuscript. He left in a huff, and then Phoebe showed up, and I -- I guess I kind of took it as a sign. I do love your dad, Catie, but we were moving too fast. I've got issues to sort through with my broken engagement and all my grief over everything I lost in Georgia, and your dad has issues to work out with Phoebe."

Catie opened her mouth to argue, but Emma spoke over her, continuing. "I'm not saying he's in love with her or that I'm stepping aside, but they have a history, and whether or not your dad wants to admit it, no one holds a grudge as long as he did without a whole lot of unresolved feelings to fuel it. He needs to work through that, and I need time to work through my baggage, too."