Layers Crossed (25 page)

I saw him
finally exhale. “Just let me know when it happens. Please?”

“Of
course.”

“All right.
Now where were we?” His mouth lifted into a grin and he leaned in,
forcing me to lie down on my back. Eric hovered above me, his
beautifully bright eyes resembling the stars.

“You were
about to tell me downstairs why you want me on your farm.”

“I don’t
remember that.” He kissed my lips.

“You’re
stalling.”

“With you
underneath me, all hot and wanton, it’s difficult to
concentrate.”

“I’m the
wanton one?”

“Aren’t
you?”

Of course I
was, but so was he, and he’d changed the subject again, raising his
arms to reach underneath his head, making those muscles underneath
his arms widen. I lay on his chest, looking up into the sky as the
stars twinkled above us. As I admired a cluster of stars, Eric
lifted his hand above us both. A necklace with a sparkling
horseshoe dangled on his finger. “For you, to remind you of me and
tonight and the farm.”

I held my
breath, watching the sparkles around the trinket sparkle in the dim
light.

“It’s
beautiful. Thank you, but you know I could never forget you.”

“That’s good,
Em, because I certainly wouldn’t forget you.”

There was an
awkward silence between us, as if each of us wanted to say more but
didn’t know how to do so.

“Do you ever
wonder what it’d be like to have Skyler around?” I asked.

“All the time.
Annabelle and I would both have had an older sister to look up to.
Maybe she could have heard him coming? I think she’s somewhere up
there, looking over us, though.” He nodded toward the sky.

“After the
kidnapping, how did they find you?”

Eric sighed
deeply. “I failed Annabelle. Once the girl let us out, we wandered
through the forest at night. My sister was frail and weak. We sat
down underneath a large pine when we heard Huntz following us.
Annabelle could no longer move. She insisted I go ahead and find
help. And I left here there, Emma. I fucking left my sister on her
own, nearly freezing and so close to the bastard. It was twelve
hours before I saw her again. Claire found her wandering on a road
beside the forest. I have a feeling that whatever had happened in
those twelve hours Annabelle has kept inside her all these years.
She told me she waited until Huntz passed, but I don’t believe her.
And it’s all my fault.”

Eric’s pain
flew through me. The guilt and regret of him leaving Annabelle on
her own clearly tore through my soul. Was there anything I could
say to ease his conscience?

“Maybe she’s
telling the truth. And if she isn’t... You didn’t have any choice.
You went to get help.”

“Except that I
couldn’t help, Em. I couldn’t even fucking remember where I’d left
her.”

“Eric, you
need to let this go. It’s not your fault. The stress and fear of
the kidnapping would have traumatized anyone. And you were only
fifteen!”

He shot up and
sat, leaning his head on his knees, shaking his head. “I shouldn’t
have left her.”

I uncoiled his
arms from around his knees and took his chin into my hand. “Look at
me, Eric.”

His gaze
lifted, and bright eyes shone with forced back tears.

“You’ve done
nothing wrong. This isn’t your fault.”

“What about
all those girls at the camp? We could have saved their innocence,
but held back. Em, can’t you see I failed everyone? Can’t you see
I’m going to fail you too?”

And it all
started making sense. Eric’s fear of failure had been developing
since childhood. First, it was Annabelle and his mother when they
were kidnapped. Then the camp where he witnessed the brutal murder
and rape of not only boys but also girls, and now he was afraid to
open up fully to me as I was the one working on his case. He
thought I’d get close to Huntz, who would inevitably hurt me, and
he was taking unnecessary blame for the future into his heart.

I took a deep
breath in. After the trauma Eric had gone through... If that had
happened to a kid in New York, a therapist would have talked to
him, would have helped him heal. Instead, all these years, Eric had
kept this pain inside him. He blamed himself for others’ sins and
had never been able to move on. The layers of guilt crossed and
mingled – it would take a long time for him to heal.

“Baby,
please.” I smoothed my hand over his cheek. “You’ve done nothing
wrong. You cannot predict what could have happened if your actions
were different. It could have been worse or better. The point is
that lives were saved, and more than likely
that
was all
your doing. You need to let go, baby.” I kissed his hand before
leaving it on my knee. “You need to let it all out.”

I crouched
beside him, pulling out his legs, and then straddled him right on
top of the roof. Smoothing back his dark hair, I drew my fingers
under those beautiful eyes, looking deep into them, trying to pull
out every secret he’d ever held onto. I needed him to let it all
go.

“It wasn’t
your fault,” I whispered. “And if you do fail me, know that my
brothers will haunt you and there will be no place on Earth you
could hide away.”

He chuckled
before pulling me to him and gently kissing my lips. “I don’t doubt
that, Em.”

The touch of
his mouth on my cooling skin remained for long after. In fact every
single one of his kisses had. On my cheeks, along my neck, and my
shoulders once he removed my shirt from my body, and on every
single scar I had on my legs from my accident. He called them my
beauty marks. I pressed myself to him and gave myself to him,
letting him forget and heal as he lost himself inside me, our
rocking bodies and tender kisses helping to erase a dreadful past,
at least for a moment.

C
HAPTER
23

Emma

I’d imagined
the venue to be an old hall or a church basement, but never in my
life did I expect it to be a beautiful barn on the Mayor’s
property, with a live band, decorations galore, and a feast set for
the entire town. Judging from the crowd, all two hundred and fifty
residents, including the kids, were here, so it was appropriate to
see five pigs roasting over a fire pit at the front, stacks of pots
boiling over with corn cobs, and wine and beer spilling from wooden
barrels.

Inside the
barn, bales of hay had been stacked in the corners, and a band was
tuning their equipment up on a makeshift stage. White lights were
strung from post to post, around each beam and joist and column,
sparkling as if it were some kind of holiday. On each side of the
barn, the doors were fully open, letting in the fresh country air.
Bouquets of flowers had been propped on each table and tucked in
every nook one could find. The smell of freshly baked goods,
roasted lamb, corn and over-foamed beer wafted everywhere. And
everyone was talking, eating, and cheering. I saw an older
grandfather showing off dance moves he’d practiced with his cane
while an older lady clapped along with a song from the eighties
playing from a stereo. I squeezed Eric’s hand the moment I walked
into the hall, in awe of the amount of work it must have taken to
prepare everything. I absolutely adored the festive feeling of
approaching summer.

“This is
beautiful.”

“It’s not New
York, but we make do with what we have.”

“Are you
kidding? I think New York needs a bit more country. Eric, I have a
feeling this will be a really fun night.”

He leaned in
to whisper, “I promise you it will end with me inside you and you
screaming my name.”

“Well, then
let’s go home now.” I pulled on his hand.

“OK,” he shot
back, pretending to agree.

“I’m kidding.
Oh, look, your parents came!” I pointed toward one of the
tables.

“You must have
worked some magic on them, Emma. This is the first time they’ve
been to a summer fest since the kidnapping.”

Wow! I hoped
this was only the first step forward with the plan I had to heal
the family. Since the moment I met the Waters’ I wanted nothing
more than for them to experience the kind of joy I’d always had
when spending time in New Jersey. I needed to restore their hope
and faith, and I wouldn’t back down until I had.

“Let’s say
hello.” I waved toward their table.

“How about you
say hello, and I’ll get you some food and drink and meet you at
their table.”

“Sounds good.”
I stood up on my toes and kissed him on his full lips. He opened
his mouth wider, which only made me want to dive deeper. Once his
hands were around my hips, pulling me into his body, I couldn’t
help but forget we’d barely passed the barn’s threshold and were
being gawked at by more than one girl. I finally pulled away,
saying, “I better let you get that food, otherwise I feel like my
eyeballs will soon be scratched out by half the ladies here.”

“You’re the
only lady I care about, Emma. And I’m sure you could hold your
ground against any of the women here. Plus, they’ve got nothing on
you.”

He smacked his
lips to mine once more and gently squeezed my behind before heading
for the tables of food. As I made my way toward his parents’ table,
I noticed Missy behind the dessert counter helping Mrs. Gladden
plate pieces of pie and lay them in a nice line. Wanting to say
hello, I changed my direction.

“Hi, Missy.
Hello, Mrs. Gladden.”

“Hi, Emma. I’m
glad you came.” Missy’s mood appeared to lift the moment she saw
me.

“Emma, I’m so
happy you’re here.” I went around the counter to embrace my
confidant.

“Thank you
both for inviting me. Are you going to be serving pie the entire
night?” I asked.

“Hopefully
not.” I saw Missy looking at one man in particular, who was
standing beside Eric and Derek. The resemblance between Derek and
him was undeniable, and I remembered Blake being mentioned
before.

“I see you
prefer younger men, Missy.” I reached my hand up for a high five,
but she shied away. “You should ask him to dance.”

Missy giggled.
“Oh, girls here don’t ask boys. It’s the other way around.”

“Maybe you
should start a new trend, then.”

She lowered
her head in embarrassment, saying, “I don’t know if I’d ever have
the nerve to do that.”

“Think about
it. Trust me, men like a woman who’s a little forward and goes for
what she wants. Besides, I need you to teach me that square dance
of yours, so I hope you don’t mind if I ask you to dance.”

She chuckled.
“All right. Apple pie?”

“Sure.” I
grabbed two plates and was once again on my way to Eric’s parents’
table. From the corner of my eye I saw Claire watching Eric fill
our plates.

“Hi,” I
greeted the Waters. “I’m so glad you came. It’d be weird just
knowing Eric here.”

“It looks like
you already know Missy quite well. And we heard you helped the
Sheriff out with his computer.”

“Missy was the
one who told me about the fest. And Sheriff Lowes needs to get a
new laptop to get his work done. It really wasn’t a big deal.” I
waved my hand sitting down at the table.

Mrs. Waters
continued staring at Missy. “Poor child. She really does need more
friends.”

“Why do you
say that?” I started digging into pie that reminded me of our first
date in New York.

They gave each
other a knowing look, as if contemplating whether to say
anything.

“She came to
our town as an orphan. Father Perry found her wandering by a forest
on the outskirts of town, and the church took her in. They
eventually donated the spare home they had for all the work she’s
done, but she’s always seemed so lonely and sad. I’m so happy to
see her coming to her own. It’s been too long since I’ve seen a
smile on her face. Look at those eyes, aren’t they beautiful?”

Missy’s face
had felt familiar and welcoming since the day I met her. And yes,
it was those eyes that had drawn me the first day I saw her at the
general store.

With a side
glance, I saw Eric talking to Derek and his brother again. And
that’s when Claire made her first move of the night, strolling
toward him, grasping him around his waist from the back, and
turning him toward her. She stood up high on her toes and pressed
her lips to his. My stomach turned. Everything inside me twisted
into tight knots. Eric finally set the plates to the side, grasped
her wrists and pulled away with force. Thankfully he was not happy
about her little surprise, and neither was I. I made a mental note
to have a chat with the bitch once I got a chance.

“She’s just
trying to make trouble, dear. Don’t pay any attention to her,”
Joanna said.

“You mean I’m
not the only one she rubs the wrong way?” I chuckled, a hint of
nerves trailing on my voice. There was no way I’d let her get away
with kissing my man.

“You’ve got
good instincts, Emma. I never understood why Eric dated her at all.
They had
nothing
in common.”

But neither
did Eric and I. After all, I came from the big city, and he was
born and raised in a small town. Could we really make this work?
There was just too much standing in our way. The distance, and our
way of life was too different. I’d made a decision to conquer the
first on my own, try to work from Ogden for a while and see how we
could manage, but could I really stand living so far away from my
family?

Eric once
again had our plates of food in his hands, carrying them from the
other side of the room.

“Hi Mom, Dad,”
he said to his parents, setting the food aside before kissing his
mom on her cheek and shaking his dad’s hand.

“May I have
this dance?”

“You haven’t
eaten…”

“A lady never
says no to a dance,” his mom whispered in my ear, nudging me
lightly.