A California Christmas (Silver Springs #7) - Brenda Novak Page 0,103
happened to her?” Seth asked after she was gone.
With a sigh, Dallas shoved a hand through his hair. “Her ex-boyfriend put the fear of God into her.”
“What does that mean?” Ryan asked.
“It got physical—at the Blue Suede Shoe,” he admitted.
Taylor sat up. “She okay?”
“She’s a little freaked out. Anyone would be. But I think she’ll be fine in the morning.”
“It’s a good thing you went over there,” Seth said. “Who was it?”
“I don’t know his name, but I sure as hell hope to find out.”
When his brothers glanced at each other, Dallas could easily guess what they were thinking, but it was Taylor who put it into words. “Is something going on between you two?”
“No, nothing,” he said, but that only caused them to glance at each other again.
Saturday, December 19
Emery’s throat hurt. She’d been so agitated and upset last night she hadn’t considered the physical ramifications of that frightening encounter with “Terrell.” She’d gotten off easy, considering what he could’ve done. But eight hours later, she could scarcely swallow.
She got up to go to the bathroom and was dismayed to see the discoloration on her neck. She could almost see where he’d put his hands—the bastard. Just remembering caused her to feel the same helplessness she had in those few seconds. She’d never forget the look on his face, the callous sound of his voice. Her throat would probably take only a few days to heal, but the emotional effects would take much longer.
Where had Ethan found this guy?
She’d never met him when they were together... Was his name even Terrell? She doubted it.
She could hear Aiyana and the many Turner men—as well as Cora and Savanna—talking and moving around the house. They were calling out to remind each other not to forget this or that, to ask whose turn it was to use the iron or to see if someone could sew on a button. She felt she should go down and help—but climbed back into bed instead. Although she had the day off so she could attend the wedding, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to go.
After warring with herself for another thirty minutes, she finally gathered the Herculean strength it required to sit up and reach for her phone. Part of her desperately wanted to call her mother—the child in her who was hurt and craved comfort. But she knew how selfish it would be to worry her mother when Connie was already going through so much herself. She couldn’t do that. She merely planned to see if she’d heard from the police.
No. Nothing.
She had, however, missed a call from her father.
Groaning when she saw his number, she debated whether she had the emotional reserves to call him back. Then she noticed that he’d left her a voice mail and, after listening to it, decided she definitely wasn’t prepared to talk to him. He was asking for her help in persuading her mother to accept his latest offer, but she had no idea if it was a fair offer, and she wouldn’t allow him to use her as a weapon against Connie. Although she was trying to remain neutral in the divorce—relationships could be so complex that she knew it would be unfair to judge—it was hard not to blame her father. After all, he was the one who’d already taken up with someone else.
It didn’t help that Deseret wasn’t anyone she liked...
“You’re on your own with this one, Dad,” she muttered. Why should she rush to his defense? He’d left her to manage Ethan and the loss of her job all on her own. He was actually making her life more difficult because he was being so stingy with Connie.
A knock sounded at the door. Pulling the covers up to hide the bruising on her neck, she called, “Come in.”
Aiyana poked her head inside. “You awake, dear?”
“I am.”
She crossed over to the bed. She was dressed in a robe, but her hair and makeup were already done for the wedding. She looked beautiful with her olive skin, her kind brown eyes and long thick hair, which had been curled. “The boys told me what happened to you last night,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
Emery swallowed hard, trying not to succumb to the self-pity Aiyana’s sympathy evoked. She couldn’t allow herself to get emotional again. She had to buck up, couldn’t cry all the time. “I shouldn’t have trusted him. But he played it so well. I honestly thought he was safe.”