A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies - Christina Lee Page 0,24
“Still missing the last year of his life.”
“God, that’s got to be tough.”
He was right. He’d seen the struggle in Rhys, who was normally pretty chill about everything. But when he couldn’t remember stuff, he balled his fists and clenched his teeth. It was true what the doctor had said about letting it unfold naturally. Pushing someone to remember would never be useful.
He’d sat the kids down and told them not to force any information on Rhys, looking intentionally at Audrey. At this point—and maybe forever—Rhys didn’t know their relationship had wandered into new territory. But it was always on Emerson’s mind. What would’ve happened had he not gotten in the accident? Would they have felt that same tension in the air once they saw each other again, or had he placed too much stock in it? Emerson would get over it and move on, eventually. He had to for his friend—and for his own sanity.
“Will his memory come back?” Neil asked after chewing his last bite.
“There’s no way to tell.”
Fuck, Emerson hoped so, but he couldn’t bank on it. He couldn’t force back the magic that had happened between them that night. It needed to materialize naturally, not because Emerson told Rhys it’d happened. He could just imagine how confused Rhys would be. He wouldn’t understand the tension, the buildup, the desire to explore what was between them. Rhys was currently stuck in a time gap. He thought Emerson was straight, and that was how it had to remain, at least for the time being. So for now, he needed to focus on helping Rhys recover.
“I’m sorry,” Neil said, and Emerson felt his warm hand on his knee. When their eyes met, Neil’s gaze darted away. He’d seen that look once before, when Neil had been bold enough to tell Emerson he was a handsome guy. Neil was too, but up to this point, Emerson had never even considered the possibility of exploring anything beyond what he’d come to feel for Rhys.
The idea made him flush and feel sick at the same time. But unless he gave Neil some sort of inkling, he didn’t think Neil would ever cross the line. He stood up suddenly and threw out his empty wrapper, offering to take Neil’s too.
“Thanks. Sorry I’ve been so distracted.” He was being too jumpy. Neil was a friend. Someone he could confide in. He didn’t have many friends anymore. Everyone he’d graduated with had gone on to college, some well into their careers by now.
Only Rhys had stuck around. He’d earned a two-year degree in exercise physiology from the community college but had stayed put at the shop. Happy with his job and all his extracurricular activities, and that was all that mattered. Soon enough he’d get back to his life and so would Emerson.
“No worries. See you later.”
After lunch, he got lost in prepping invoices and calling patients about payment plans, wondering how this had become his life. Maybe when the kids got older he would be able to return to school.
Neil had once encouraged him to take some classes, even if only for phlebotomy, but he never got around to it. He supposed he could put his nonexistent degree to work by helping nurse Rhys back to health.
When he got home, the kids were doing their homework at the kitchen counter. They had a good system going with Audrey taking the bus home with her brother, using her own key to let them inside, and by that time they had a little over an hour before Emerson got home from work.
He grabbed a water from the fridge, then walked to his parents’ room, which had been freshly painted a calming spruce green based on ideas Audrey had found for them on Pinterest. They bought a new sheet set, as well as towels for the bathroom, and if he didn’t think about it too hard, it seemed like a completely different space.
He walked toward the bed to straighten the cream comforter and sham just to give his fingers something to do. And, if he was being honest, to get himself used to being in this bedroom after ignoring it for so long.
He was the only one of the three of them who didn’t dare step foot inside unless it was necessary. Even when he knew Sam and Audrey were in there together, looking through trinkets they’d decided to keep in the top dresser drawer for sentiment’s sake. Or that one time after a particularly bad night,