“Caley? It’s Emma. I’m packed and I’m ready to leave. I was hoping you might take me to the airport.”
“What time is your flight?”
“It’s later this afternoon. But I want to go. I don’t want to see Sam.”
“Just give me a minute,” Caley said. “I’ll meet you downstairs. We’ll have some breakfast.”
“All right,” Emma said.
Caley threw on her clothes, then raked her fingers through her tangled hair. “All right. I think I can stall her. But you’re going to have to do the shopping. Don’t get fishnets or a thong. Just get a pretty camisole and some sexy panties. There’s a bath store just a few doors down from that restaurant with the cinnamon buns. They’ll be open in an hour. I’ll call and tell them what you need. Then, I’ll bring Emma out to Havenwoods at noon.”
Jake grabbed her around the waist and gave her a long, lingering kiss. “Noon,” he said. “Once we get them settled, then you and I are going to spend the rest of the afternoon together.”
Caley drew a deep breath and moved toward the door. But Jake caught her fingers in his and she turned to look at him. “What?”
“I’m glad we didn’t do it that night on the beach,” he said.
“You are?”
“It wouldn’t have been like this,” he said.
“Nothing has ever been quite like this,” she admitted.
Jake drew his thumb across her lower lip, then kissed her again. “Sometimes I wonder, though. I wonder if we would have done it, maybe we would have been the two getting married instead of Sam and Emma. Maybe it would have been the start of something for us.” He chuckled softly. “Maybe we were supposed to be together and we just got it all wrong.”
“Or maybe we’d be the ones having doubts,” Caley said.
Jake smiled, then waited as she walked out. It was no longer possible to separate his life from Caley’s. Every thought of the future, whether it was a day away or years away, always came back to her.
6
“I THINK THEY’LL BE ALL RIGHT,” Emma said. “Mama seemed upset, but I don’t think she’d want me to get married just so she won’t have to waste all that lobster we ordered.”
Caley glanced both ways, then pulled the car out onto the road into North Lake. She’d agreed to drive Emma to the airport to catch her flight back to Boston under the condition that Emma go to the lake house first and explain what had happened to the family. Now that she’d completed that task, there would be one more little detour.
“Don’t you think you’re being a bit hasty about this, Emma? You were drunk last night and you and Sam haven’t even tried to work this out.”
“Sam is an idiot,” Emma said. “And I need to get back to Boston. I don’t know what ever made me think we were meant for each other. I’m young. I should be out there exploring my options, not tying myself down with a guy who socializes with strippers.”
“Sam had a little too much to drink. And I think it would be silly to throw your relationship away over one little indiscretion.” Caley paused. “He didn’t cheat, he was just being friendly. Instead of running away from your problems, you and Sam need to put some serious thought into what you both expect from marriage. But that takes discussion, not a drunken brawl at a roadhouse and you running off to Boston.”
“I don’t want to talk to him,” Emma said stubbornly.
“Do you still love him?”
Emma turned her head away and stared out the window. “I don’t know.”
They drove through town in silence and headed out on the East Shore Road, Caley watching for the sign for Havenwoods. It was only a few minutes before Emma realized that they weren’t traveling toward the interstate. “Where are we going?”
“I want to show you something,” Caley said. “Jake showed it to me a few days ago.” She turned into the drive and carefully navigated the curves down to the main house.
“What is this?”
“You’ll see,” Caley said.
She stopped the car in front of the house. Jake emerged from the house, stepping out onto the wide porch. A few moments later, Sam appeared in the doorway. Emma glanced over at Caley then looked out the window at her former fiancé. “What’s going on?”
“You and Sam need to talk. Jake and I thought it would be best if you had a place where you could be completely alone and undisturbed.”
“I have a plane to catch,” Emma insisted.
“That can wait.”
“What is this place? Some kind of haunted house?”
“It’s not as bad as it looks. It’s quiet and secluded. And kind of romantic.” Caley got out of the car, giving Emma no choice but to follow. When she joined Jake on the porch, he handed her the bag from the lingerie shop.
“I couldn’t resist the garter belt,” he murmured.
Emma joined them on the porch and Caley passed the bag to her. “You might need this,” she said.
Emma peered inside, then withdrew a sexy black camisole and panties, followed by the garter belt and black stockings. “I thought you said we were supposed to talk.”
“This is meant to help the conversation along.”
“Hello, Emma,” Sam said, stepping out of the doorway onto the porch. His gaze searched her face, but she refused to look at him.
“Hello, idiot,” she muttered.
“Rule number one,” Jake said. “No name-calling.” He started down the length of the porch, then motioned Sam and Emma to follow. When they reached the lake side of the house, they walked down the snow-packed path to the summer kitchen. “All right. You’ll stay here until you’ve worked things out. When you’ve both come to a rational decision about your future together, you can leave a lantern burning in the window and we’ll come and get you. There’s food and firewood inside. There’s a bathroom through the small door near the fireplace. I want you both to go inside, take off your jackets, your shoes and the rest of your clothes and put them on the porch. I’ll give them back to you when it’s time to leave.”
“What?” Sam said.
“I’m not giving you my clothes,” Emma said.
“Do we really need their clothes?” Caley asked.
“They can’t run away if we have their clothes,” Jake explained. “Unless they want to trudge through the snow in their bare feet, they won’t be going anywhere.”
“I’m not going to marry him,” Emma said. “You could lock me up and throw away the key and I still wouldn’t change my mind.”
“I wouldn’t marry her if she were the last person on earth,” Sam countered.
“Fine,” Jake said. “If that’s what you decide. But you’re going to come out of this with an understanding and a respect for each other. Our families have been friends for years and you’re not going to mess this up because you both want to carry a grudge. You’re the pair who started this and if you’re going to end it, then do it right. Either you leave here as two friends or as two people about to be married, I don’t care which.”
“Where are we supposed to sleep?” Sam asked.
“There’s a cot inside and warm blankets.”