Part 26 (1/2)

”It's what she wanted.” He'd stood in the waiting room of the emergency department for over an hour before he'd finally made himself leave. Emerson had been so angry, and sticking around to argue with her would've only upset her further and kept her from the rest she'd so obviously needed. Plus, she'd made her feelings clear.

You can't fix this.

”And you're sure that's what she wanted?” Eli asked, and whoa, the question caught Hunter off guard.

”Yeah,” he said, although his treasonous brain reminded him of the tiny little glimmer of hope that had flashed through her eyes before she'd told him in no uncertain terms to get out. ”Anyway, I just need to keep my nose to the grindstone and work. Rocking the boat is what got me into this mess in the first place. The last thing I need to do is stir up any more s.h.i.+t by going to fight about it again.”

”You are such a f.u.c.king idiot.”

Hunter's head jacked around. ”Beg pardon?”

He cut the edges of the words just enough to translate his irritation, but h.e.l.l if Eli didn't back down by so much as a millimeter.

”I said you're a f.u.c.king idiot. You think rocking the boat is what got you into this? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Hunt, but you got yourself into this.”

”Eli,” he growled, taking a step forward. Just because he'd always gone out of his way to keep the peace in their family didn't mean he was above a brotherly brawl to blow off some steam.

A fact that Eli seemed to have antic.i.p.ated, because he took a step back and lifted his hands. ”Oh, don't go getting all p.i.s.sy. Falling for Emerson twice is probably the best thing you ever did. Or it will be once you fix it. But you're not really going to let go without a fight, are you?”

”She's angry,” Hunter said, although it was an epic understatement.

”Okay. So you betrayed a confidence. You thought you were doing the right thing, didn't you?”

”Yes.” As dumb as it had been, he really had believed telling her father she was there would help rather than hurt.

”And you love her, right?” Eli asked.

Hunter didn't hesitate. ”Yes.”

”Well, then, do those of us who have to look at your moping face a favor, would you please, and go get that woman back. For Chrissake, Hunt. Go rock the boat a little.”

Hunter opened his mouth to tell Eli he was insane. Emerson was going to slam the door in his face, maybe even call Lane Atlee to come haul his a.s.s to the pokey for showing up on her doorstep like a lunatic.

But you know what, he was a lunatic. He was stark, raving crazy for her, and his brother was right.

Hunter needed to do whatever it took to make her see the truth. Even if that meant taking the biggest risk of all.

”I've gotta go,” he blurted, but Eli was already waving him off.

”Uh-huh. You can thank me later, Romeo.”

Hunter nodded, already running toward his truck. He'd either thank Eli or he'd be calling him for bail money. Either way, this time Hunter wasn't backing down.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

Emerson sat curled up on her sofa with a blanket around her shoulders and a stack of romance novels at her side. Her mother had made triple sure her fridge was stocked, her stomach was full (okay, as full as was feasible, because as both her father and Dr. Ortiz had pointed out, recovery from dehydration wasn't a sprint) and her new prescriptions were filled. Funny, Emerson hadn't minded the help as much as she thought she might.

But even though her belly was full and her body was well rested, her heart still hurt like a son of a b.i.t.c.h.

Haven't you ever wondered what if . . .

Shaking her head, she swiped a book from the top of the stack. What's done was done, and she needed to move on, heartsore or not. But before she could crack the cover and dive into some literary therapy, a knock sounded off on her door.

”Probably Daisy,” she murmured. Leave it to her friend to want to check on her after their earlier phone call. Emerson padded carefully to the door, her breath lodging in her windpipe at the sight of the person on the other side of the peephole.

What if . . . what if . . .

”Hunter?” she gasped, after tugging the door wide on its hinges. He looked half crazed, his blue eyes blazing with intensity and his hair sticking up in so many directions, she'd swear he'd driven here at Mach 2 with all the windows rolled down, and great G.o.d in heaven, he was still gorgeous. ”What are you doing here?”

For a second, he blinked, as if he were somehow shocked she'd answered the door. But then he took a step forward, his stare growing even bolder as he said, ”Em. I know you're mad, and you have every right to be. In fact, you have every right to knee me in the nuts, although I really hope you don't. But the truth is, I deserve it, and I came here to apologize. I f.u.c.ked up yesterday-G.o.d, I f.u.c.ked up something fierce, and even though I didn't mean to betray your trust, I know I did.”

Her heart launched against her ribs. ”Hunter,” she started, but he shook his head and barreled on.

”Wait. Please, before you kick me out of here, please let me finish. I also came to tell you you're right. I can't fix you. I can't fix you because you don't need to be fixed. You're not broken. You might have MS, but you're still perfect. You're determined and smart and every single word for beautiful that I can think of. I should have told you this already, but I love you exactly the way you are.”

Emerson's chest constricted, her lips parting in pure shock. ”Hunter,” she said again.

But again, he shook his head. ”I only have one more thing to say, but it's the most important thing of all. I do love you, Em.” His eyes flashed with emotion, pure and raw and deep. ”I love you so much. I've always loved you. I was just too afraid to rock the boat and tell you, but then I rocked too hard and betrayed your trust, and . . . I wanted to help, but I didn't. Anyway, I just wanted to come out here and tell you that. I'm so sorry I hurt you.”