Emma offered him a grateful smile and tried not to inhale when the smell of him enveloped her, cocooning her in his warmth. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”
Jack held his hand out, and she took it, marveling at how strong and warm it still felt. “Well, for starters, you can go homeand talk to them. I know you didn’t have much of a chance earlier, but I guess you need to decide what you want to do next.”
Emma clung to his hand as she fell into step beside him. “I guess so. Do you think we’re ever going to have that talk?”
Jack smiled and tucked her into his side. “We will. We’ve got time, Emma. I’m not worried. I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk. For now, you’ve got some things you need to figure out.”
Emma squeezed his hand and lapsed into silence.
Jack wouldn’t wait forever, nor did she have the right to ask him to.
But she needed to see this through to the end, whether she decided to leave or not.
Given how much time and effort she had poured into the whole thing, she had to help her father make sense of her grandfather’s findings.
It wasn’t the kind of miracle she’d prayed for, and she had no idea if anything helped when it came to the foreclosure notice, but she had to believe things would work out.
Emma hadn’t come this far only to be deterred now.
Jack was going to have to wait just a little while longer.
Chapter Twenty
She peeled off her coat and hung it up behind the door. Then, she kicked off her boots and sniffed, the smell of flour and sugar lingering in the air. Emma unwound her scarf and left it on the table behind the door, a strange niggling in the back of her head. When she went into the living room, her parents were on the couch, the TV muted in the background.
As soon as they saw her, Marie sat up straighter and cleared her throat. “Why don’t I go and make us some tea?”
Marie paused and patted Henry’s hands.
He laced his fingers through hers and brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. The two of them shared a sweet look, the kind she hadn’t seen in years, and it made her glance away with tears in her eyes. Once she peered back at them, they were still looking into each other’s eyes and smiling. Slowly, Marie walked away, never once breaking their gaze.
Until the door flapped shut behind her, plunging them into silence.
Henry sat up straighter and patted the space next to him. “You and I have a lot to talk about.”
Emma hesitated and then walked over to him. “We do.”
Henry switched off the TV, so the only sound other than their breathing was the crackling of the fireplace, casting long shadows across the walls. Emma lowered herself onto the couch and studied the flames as they leaped and danced, and she could’ve sworn she saw herself in them, a younger version of her, forever preserved in the house.
“I know I can’t change what I did to get you here,” Henry began, “and I won’t make you stay if you don’t want to.”
Emma linked her fingers together and turned to look at him, feeling as if she was seeing him for the first time. “What happened to laying the guilt on thick? And all that talk about Grandpa’s legacy and yours?”
Henry’s lips lifted into a half-smile. “Everything I said was true, but I don’t want you to feel tricked or trapped or manipulated. If you decide to stay in Rockport, and I really hope you do, then I want it to be because you want to. Not because you feel obliged.”
Emma twisted so she could look at him fully. “Dad, I…I have a career in Boston.”
Henry nodded. “I know.”
“And Jules still has a year of college left. I can’t just leave her there on her own. She’s used to having me around.”
“Jules is a lot stronger and more resilient than you give her credit for,” Henry replied, pausing to tuck a lock of hair behind her ears, the gesture so intimate and familiar that it sent a jolt through her. “Just like her mom. She’ll be fine if you decide to move back here.”
Emma raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said you weren’t going to pressure me.”
Henry held both of his hands up. “I wasn’t trying to. I’m just pointing out the obvious.”
“Jules isn’t the only reason. I have a career in Boston.”
