Page 84 of Pages of Amber
THIS WAS TAKING TOO LONG.
What was going on in there?
What were they talking about?
Was Amber okay?
He shook himself over the last question. Of course she wasn’t. What had happened to her? The question had been eating him alive for the last thirty-five minutes. His heart hadn’t stopped thudding. Noah was convinced he was a few minutes from cardiac arrest. It had been beating an obnoxious rhythm since Amber had collapsed on the porch, her skin icy to the touch as sobs ravaged her body. Amber hadn’t been able to get a single word out. His parents had rushed out to them before his mom had ushered them upstairs and taken Amber into his room to clean up. Noah had been pacing outside the door since.
“Nothing yet?”
Noah paused his steps. His eyes shot to his brother. The sigh that left him was almost a tangible thing. “Nothing.” Ronan was quiet but his lips turned down. “I shouldn’t have allowed her to take the cab. I should have driven her home myself. She would have been safe. She would be okay.”
Ronan was quick to jump in. “Hey. This wasn’t your fault, okay? We don’t know what happened. Amber promised to send a text when she got home, right?”
He managed a nod. It was the main condition on which he’d allowed her to get in the cab. That she would text him as soon as she reached home safe and plugged in her phone. He had started getting worried when no notification showed up. The sight of Amber, standing forlorn and torn up on his porch would haunt him forever.
“So what happened between then and now? It’s been less than two hours since she left, Ronan. I’m losing my mind thinking it was my fault.”
“It’s not.” His bedroom closed softly behind his Mom. They hadn’t heard her open the door.
“Mom, how is she? What did she say? What’s going on? Can I see her?” His brother’s hand fell on his shoulder in an effort to rein him in.
“Deep breaths, Noah,” his mom spoke, her voice soothing. “None of this is your fault. Amber doesn’t blame you so you shouldn’t. Okay?”
“She said that?”
His mom nodded. “She figured you would be too worried to be rational about this. She got home safe and she got here safe.”
His ribs ached on the breath he released. He could breathe a little easier, but this wasn’t over. A shaky hand pulled through his hair. “Did she tell you anything else?”
A thump on the stairs cut them short. His dad appeared, sleeves folded to the elbow and his hair in a similar disarray to Noah’s. He had been on his way up to his room when Amber rang the bell that derailed the buoyancy of the evening. In his hands was a tray and a mug. His dad’s voice was unsure when he said, “I brought tea. I don’t know if it will help, but we could try.”
Noah reached out for the tray. “Thanks, Dad. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.” His dad flashed a smile at his words and Noah’s shoulders relaxed despite the tension of the moment. It seemed he wasn’t the only Rhodes Amber had effortlessly charmed into her web.
He’d had a front seat to her interaction with his family. It hurt her to say what she had, but Amber had done it to defend him. Noah felt so proud of her and glad for her support. Without her, he wouldn’t have had the courage to talk to his parents. It warmed him even more to know his parents hadn’t rebuked them for speaking up. His mom had teared up, his dad had listened, his brother had apologized.
Noah looked around at them now. The family he was starting to see in a new light. One he hadn’t seen since he was a kid. They were starting to see him too. He wasn’t a little boy under their wing. He was a young man with his own dreams that he wanted to fulfill. It felt good to own up to that truth. All because of her. The girl who had lived rent free in his head and in his heart for years. The girl whose smile lit up every room. The girl who wrote stories, only to hide them. The girl who was now beyond his bedroom door, tears in her eyes and no one by her side.
His hands tightened against the tray, a ripple moving through the tea. “What do I do, Mom? How do I help her? What do I even say?”
“She had some scrapes on her feet from walking here. We got those cleaned up, but she didn’t say much. All she told me is there was a fight with her mom. A bad one, I guess, since she rushed here with nothing on her. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you what to say. I don’t know Amber. But you do.” His mom’s gaze held his own, the same gold irises that bled into brown. “She asked for you, Noah. She wants you with her. So, be with her.”
Be with her. Honestly, his mom didn’t need to say it twice. He had been drawn to Amber from the day they had met. He’d liked her despite their arguments, and fallen even deeper because of them. He had known with his whole heart that he wanted to be with Amber when they had been assigned to the project together. Now, there was no doubt in him that he was meant to be by her side.
His family moved away from the doorway when he stepped in. He shut the door quietly behind him, but Amberjumped at the sound. She must have been deep in thought. Standing at the window, her hair falling softly over her shoulders and her eyes red-rimmed and tired, Noah couldn’t help marveling that she was here at all.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” she whispered back.
“Dad made tea. He hopes you like it.” She was quiet for several seconds. “It’s ginger tea. His menudo might not be much to brag about, but the tea will be the best you’ve ever had.”
A laugh left her. It landed hard in his chest along with his relief. “That confident, huh?”
“Why don’t you try it yourself and prove me right?”
“Challenge accepted.”
