“You and Carla both love Frazier Falls. There was nothing standing in the way of you guys being together. Even if the Stevenson Mill had been forced to close, Carla still wanted to live here. The two of you could have made it work no matter the outcome of your presentation.”
“I wouldn’t exactly say that,” Owen replied, grimacing slightly. “I know my flaws. I wouldn’t have been able to face her, knowing that I had failed. Knowing that I was the reason her family business had to close. I highly doubt we’d still be together if that had happened.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Somehow, I have trouble believing that. The way you guys look at each other.” I shook my head. “No way would you be able to stay away from each other.”
“You think you and Emily are different?”
I paused. “You never saw us together, so how can you say anything on the matter?”
“I don’t need to have seen the two of you together to know what’s going on. All I need to see is you without her.”
“She wants to live in Los Angeles. I want to live here. She hates Frazier Falls. What more is there to say? There’s no compromise there.”
Owen sighed. “Are you sure you’re both not confusing want with need?”
“What do you mean?”
“Does she really love Los Angeles or simply what it gives her?”
“I’ll never know.”
“You could have asked her. Why didn’t you?”
“I tried to talk to her. I tried to stop her, but she begged me to let her go.”
“You messed up.”
“Excuse me?” I almost laughed at the irony of saying those two indignant words. I sounded just like Emily.
Owen rolled his eyes. “I bet you went about it the wrong way.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because I know you. And you’re an idiot. All of us brothers are.”
“What, and now you have a fiancée, so you’re somehow less of one?”
Owen pulled up outside the office, cutting the engine before giving me a level stare. “I’m probably no less an idiot than I was before, but now I have someone to balance me out.”
I winced as the rain suddenly grew heavier, followed by a sharp gust of wind that rocked the truck.
“Maybe we could continue this lecture somewhere else, or, you know, stop having it altogether.”
Owen laughed. “Sounds like a plan, but think about what I’ve said. Now get out. I’ll see you at the house in a few.”
I glanced over at my own truck, then up at the sky. “I’m only staying for one beer.”
“One to start.”
“I’m afraid not.”
“I thought I was the one getting old.”
“Getting old and being sensible are two different things.”
“Debatable.”
I followed Owen out of the parking lot, then made my way through the torrential rain to his house. When we got there, Pax was already inside building a fire.
“Thanks for that,” Owen said.
We enjoyed the fire. I made everyone dinner and nursed my one beer while my brothers moved onto their fifth. By the time it hit nine, I was thoroughly exhausted and dreaming of bed. The wind roared outside while the rain pelted against the windows like bullets.
“Owen, did we move over to the backup generator in the past few hours?” Pax asked nonchalantly. “The lights haven’t flickered at all.”
“I actually swapped over to it as soon as we got in,” he explained. “Figured a blackout was inevitable, so I thought I’d play it safe.”
I frowned. “The power went out?”
“Nearly two hours ago, I think.” He searched through his phone for a weather update. “Yeah, after seven. Why?”
“No reason.” An uneasy feeling knotted in my stomach, and I didn’t know why. Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out to see Emily’s name flash across my screen.
I nearly didn’t answer. I didn’t know what I would say, but something told me I had to pick up.
“Odd hearing from—”
“Eli, please,” Emily cut through, not letting me speak. Her voice sounded panicked and desperate, which immediately set me on alert.
“What is it, Emily?” All thoughts about being angry, or dismissive, or insulting went out the window. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my brothers watch me with interest, having heard me utter Emily’s name.
“It’s my mom,” she answered. “She hasn’t—she won’t pick up the phone.”
“How long have you been trying to contact her?”
“Since six. She’s not answering the house phone or her cell. Eli, I don’t know what to do. Is the power out?”
“Yes, for a couple of hours. That’s probably why you can’t get her on the house phone.” I tossed my empty bottle into the trash can. “You want me to check on her?”
“Could you please?”
Her voice was scratchy and frantic and full of tears. All I wanted to do was hold her tightly against my chest. How was I ever angry at her?
“You bet,” I replied, grabbing my jacket and moving toward the front door without so much as a goodbye to my brothers. I threw myself into my truck and started up the engine, balancing my phone between my ear and my shoulder as I pulled out of Owen’s driveway. “Emily, it’ll be okay. Hang tight, and I’ll call you back as soon as I get to your mom’s place, okay?”
“Thank you.” The words were barely audible. “Thank you, Eli, thank you. I don’t—”
“Don’t say anything,” I interrupted. “There’ll be time for talk later. Look after yourself, and I’ll call soon.”
I hung up before Emily could say any more. The horrific storm outside forced me to keep my full attention on the road in front of me. It took an agonizingly long time to reach Judy’s house, but when I did, my heart went cold.
Judy’s car was in the driveway, but all her lights were off. The house was silent.
I’d barely pulled to a stop before I flung myself out of the driver’s seat, slamming open Judy’s door once I twisted the handle and found it unlocked.
In the darkness, I called her name. “Judy? Ms. Flanagan? Are you awake?”
I walked through the living room first and found her lying on the floor in front of the sofa. Clearly, she’d rolled off of it to the hardwood floor. I knelt down by her side, checking her pulse. Her skin was cold to the touch. My hands trembled, but underneath my fingertips, I could feel her life beating against my skin.
I shook Judy’s shoulders. “Judy, wake up. Judy?”
But she didn’t wake up. She continued to lay there, unconscious and unresponsive.
I grabbed the blanket off the sofa and bundled her in it, then carefully carried her out to my car. I cranked up the heat and raced to the hospital.
“Hold on, Judy,” I murmured aloud, as much for me as for her. “Hold on. You can do this.”
I didn’t want to think about what would happen if she couldn’t.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Emily