His sister wasn’t giving up. “Why did he head down River Road with no helmet? Did you guys argue about something? Is that why you blame yourself?”
His sister was getting too close for comfort. It was time he left.
“I gotta go,” he said abruptly. He pushed the coffee aside and got to his feet.
“When did you become such a coward?” Georgie shook her head. “You used to be the most fearless guy I knew. You were like…” she licked her lips and shrugged. “You were like the sun or something. The center of everyone’s universe. There wasn’t a soul in all of Crystal Lake who didn’t think that. You were always there for everyone. The guy who fixed problems. The guy who stood on the right side of things. Rick knew it, and that’s why you were his best friend, because Rick had demons. He wasn’t the angel most folks thought he was, and you balanced him out.
“Thing is…” Emily got to her feet. “When someone like Rick dies, someone with so much potential and life ahead of him, it elevates his passing into something more. It becomes ‘what if,’ you know? What if he’d survived? What if he hadn’t taken out his bike that day? Folks tend to put guys like Rick, or anyone who dies young, for that matter, on a pedestal, because it makes living without them easier. And it’s wrong to do that. Wrong to those left behind, because it’s like they’re grieving for a person who’s completely worlds away from the one everyone else thinks they knew. I can’t imagine what that’s like for you or Emily.” She attempted a smile. “We all know he was no angel, and he sure as hell wasn’t perfect. And that’s okay. He was just as human as you or I. He was his own man in charge of his own path, which means you’re not responsible for his actions that day or what happened because of his decisions.”
Ethan glanced away, throat tight. He wasn’t angry at his sister’s words. Hell, he wasn’t even surprised she’d said them. But the simple truth was that she had no idea what had transpired that day. Or what had led up to his accident. And sure, it was easy to say it was all Rick’s doing, but Ethan had played a part in it too.
And that was something he’d never forgiven himself for.
He sighed and stared up at the ceiling. There was a patch of gray from water damage, and some of the paint was peeling.
“I can fix that for you.” He pointed to the spot.
“So you don’t want to talk about any of this?” Georgie moved until she was in front of him.
“I don’t want to talk about Rick.” He glanced from the ceiling back to his sister. She held his gaze for so long, his vision began to blur until he blinked it away. “Emily’s pregnant.”
What the hell? He’d had no intention of sharing that with anyone because he had no intention of admitting it was real. At least, not until he was able to wrap his head around it.
“Oh.”
He saw surprise followed by a healthy dose of confusion.
“Emily Davenport?” she asked, forehead furrowed into a frown.
He nodded.
“I didn’t know she was dating anyone.”
“She’s not.”
His sister’s eyebrow shot up questioningly. “Did she and Rick freeze…like, did they—”
“It’s mine.”
Georgie’s eyes widened. Comically so. “Oh,” she repeated, standing a bit straighter. “Oh.” She chewed on her bottom lip, that quizzical eyebrow still in play, her gaze relentless. “So you guys are together?”
“No.” His reply was curt.
“But does she know?”
He cocked his head to the side, confused.
“Jesus, Ethan.” His sister moved toward him. She gave him a big hug and rested her chin on his shoulder, then whispered in his ear, “Considering she’s having your baby and all, don’t you think it’s time you told her?”
“Told her what?”
“The truth.” She pulled back and looked him straight in the eye. “That you’ve been in love with her since the ninth grade.”
Chapter Four
Emily was having a good day.
First off, she’d gotten more than six hours of uninterrupted sleep, which for her was a huge win. Other than a twinge of nausea when she rolled out of bed, there was nothing. No dry heaves or worse. She didn’t have to run to the bathroom to flop down in front of the toilet, or hop in the shower to wash vomit out of her hair. She even made it through two pieces of toast heaped with peanut butter and apricot jam without so much as a flutter.
She was in such a good mood at that point that when her mother FaceTimed from Florida, she actually answered. And when Emily announced that she was pregnant, her mother didn’t bat an eye—another checkmark in the win column. In fact, her mom thought it was the perfect time to have a child, what with all the sadness Emily had endured over the last few years with Rick in the hospital—and then his passing. She told Emily she believed this new life was a blessing. Heck, she didn’t even push hard when in response to the question of the paternity, Emily had blundered her way through a half-cocked answer that was basically word vomit on steroids. After she tripped her way through more than a few sentences, Emily finally sighed.
“I’d rather not discuss who the father is right now.”
There’d been a pause, and she’d braced herself for an inquisition.
“That’s fine, sweetie. You’ll let us know when you’re ready.”
Emily had then asked her mother not to say a word to anyone on account of the fact she’d not shared the news yet.
“Not even to the father?” her mother had asked.
“He knows.”
That particular conversation had occurred exactly four hours before Emily took Bilbo for a walk uptown. She’d stopped by the bakery for a chocolate chip muffin, then on to Jones Candy and dollar store to stock up on Swedish Berries and sour chews. Next, she’d popped into the salon to make a hair appointment for the following week because her hair needed trimming badly. As she was leaving, Darlene Phibbs pushed into the salon and stopped Emily cold with a sweeping glance that started from the top of Emily’s head, paused briefly at the midsection, then continued down to the bottom of her toes.
Great. Mom’s big mouth strikes in record time.
Darlene just happened to be the number-one gossip in all of Crystal Lake, other than her mother, but worse, she was also the most judgmental. Emily’s stomach turned over at the predatory look on the woman’s face, and for one scary moment, she thought she’d vomit all over Darlene’s bright pink rain boots.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” Darlene had said, her eyes shrewd as she once again raked them over Emily’s body. Emily knew what she was wondering, and, pissed at her mother, she took a moment to gather her thoughts. No way was she going to be weak and show fear. She pasted the biggest, fakest smile onto her face and nodded, There was no point in denying anything now.
“I am, thanks.”
“That’s lovely,” Darlene replied. “A new life is always something to celebrate.” Her voice dropped a bit and that gleam in her eye sharpened. “I suppose the Davenports will grow to be happy for you.”