Chapter 12
“Wow,” Matt said, rubbing his forehead, “that’s what she… wow…”
Jeff nodded, “That’s all she said. Then she told me to leave. She was really upset.”
“She said she loved me?” Matt asked in awe, as he looked at his brother.
“Well yeah,” Jeff said with a shrug, “but she’s scared…”
“But she said she still cares about me? And she loves me?” Matt asked interrupting.
“That’s what she said,” Jeff answered, looking at his brother’s face.
“I have to… I gotta go…” Matt said standing up quickly, knocking over to stool he was sitting at and picking up his keys off the kitchen counter.
“Where are you going?” Jeff called as he watched his brother walk quickly down the hallway.
“I need to talk to Emily,” Matt said without even turning around.
Jeff sighed as he watched his brother slam the front door shut. Why did he even bother to ask? He shook his head and walked to the front window, just in time to see the taillights of Matt’s car disappear as he turned the corner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**
“Emily!” Matt called pounding his hand on her front door, “Em? Are you in there? Open up!”
Matt sighed as he stopped hitting the door and ran his hands through his hair. He looked at the driveway, the car was gone. Why hadn’t he noticed that before? He hit the door one more time in frustration as he let out an angry groan. To his surprise, the door creaked open.
“Em?” he called as he opened the door a little wider and looked inside. It was dark and empty. He stepped inside cautiously as he called her name again.
He walked into the living room he was so used to being in. He smiled as he looked at the worn out couch in the corner that she refused to get rid of. “Worn to perfection,” she would say. Matt shook his head as he walked up to the side table and looked at the pictures. A few of her and her family, some of her and Shane. One in particular caught his eye.
He picked up the silver picture frame and gently traced it with his finger as he looked at the picture. It was from his high school graduation. He had his arm wrapped around Emily as they both smiled proudly, holding their high school diplomas and wearing their caps and gowns. He had never seen his father so proud that day either. Not only was his son graduating high school, but the woman he had grown to love as a daughter was also. Matt shook his head as he felt tears form in his eyes looking at the picture.
He slammed the picture down violently, sending glass shattering all over the floor as the picture of the 2 smiling teenagers floated to the floor. He cuffed his face in his hands in frustration and let out an angry sob. He couldn’t do it anymore.
“Why?” he yelled in the middle of the living room, “Why did you have to take him away from her like that?”
The silence was more painful then noise to Matt. He heard a car pass by the house, the sound of the wind blowing, but that was all. The silence seemed to mock his pain.
“Goddamn!” Matt screamed angrily, picking a pillow off the couch and throwing it at the wall, not able to control his anger and frustration any longer.
“Why Shane? Of all people, why Shane?” Matt yelled as the tears of frustration spilled down his cheeks, “They were in love for Christ’s sake! Why put her through this? Why take both of them away from me?”
Matt, unable to support himself any longer, fell to his knees. He shut his eyes and tried to control his sobs. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the carpet. The picture of him and Emily stared up at him. Matt picked it up angrily, and started to rip it in two, then stopped. He looked down at picture, a small tear now in the top and bit his lower lip. He slowly rose to his feet and placed the picture in his pocket.
“I’ve gotta talk to her,” Matt mumbled as he looked around the quiet living room, as if looking for an answer.
A small smile appeared on his lips as his eyes fell across the desk phone a few feet away. He walked up to the desk quickly, looking for an address book or anything. He found one and opened it, grinning as he found the number he was searching for. He quickly dialed the number, and prayed that they’d be there.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice asked after the 3rd ring.
“Mrs. Sharpe?” Matt asked addressing the woman, “It’s Matt Hardy.”
“Matt?” Emily’s mother asked, “I haven’t talked to you since the funeral. Is everything alright sweetie? How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, but I’d feel a lot better if I could talk to Emily,” Matt said, twisting the phone cord nervously around his fingers, “do you know where she is?”
“Well…” the older woman began, “I don’t know…”
“Please,” Matt begged, “I really need to talk to her. It’s really important.”
“She’s at the beach house,” the woman said with a sigh, “she said she needed to get away for awhile.”
Of course! Matt laughed at himself for not thinking about it sooner. That’s where Emily always went when she needed some peace. The beach house her parent’s owned. He looked quickly at his watch, 7 pm. He could make it there by 10…
“Matt? Are you there?” Mrs. Sharpe asked, interrupting Matt from his thoughts.
“Yeah, yes.” Matt said anxiously into the phone, “Thank you so much Mrs. Sharpe.”
“Any time sweetie,” the woman answered, “you be careful with that drive.”
“Of course,” Matt said, a huge smile now plastered on his face, “thanks again.”
Matt placed the phone down quickly and grabbed his car keys off the side table. He looked at the broken picture frame and shook his head.
“Sorry Em, I’ll replace that,” he said with a mumble and a laugh. He walked out of the house quickly, shutting the door quietly behind him. He was going to find Emily, talk to her, tell her what he needed to say. But he needed to make one more stop first.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 13
Chapter 11