I'm Yours (Bold As Love 2)

Around ten o’clock, a number I don’t recognize appears on my phone. I answer it with a, “Hello?”

A voice that I have missed for so long greets me. “Conrad? It’s Emily.” She asks where I’m staying and if she can come over. I tell her my hotel and room number. I honestly didn’t expect to hear from her, especially after I walked into Cold Stone and saw Jake showering her with kisses.

She looked so happy. For the thousandth time, I wonder if I should have came back at all. She’s happy and has moved on. The thought that I made a mistake and left her came back to me. I could have stayed and still be a father to Logan. So I was back to get the love of my life.

All these thoughts ran through my mind as I showered. I stepped out and dried off. There was a knock on the door. I wrapped the towel around my waist and looked through the peephole. Emily was standing on the other side looking anxious. I open the door and once again drank in the sight of her. Her soft brown hair was flying around from the wind. She had gotten an inch or two taller since I last seen her and she was more…filled out too.

Her brown eyes lustfully looked over my body. “Sorry, I just got out. Come on in and I’ll finish getting dressed,” I say.

A blush creeps onto her cheeks as her eyes meet mine. “Okay,” she says stepping inside.

“I’ll be just a minute,” I call over my shoulder as I return to the bathroom. I quickly get dressed, run a brush through my hair, and brush my teeth. I return to see her sitting at the round table by the window.

She looks up from her hands when I open the door. My heart bursts when I see her smile. I walk over and sit in the seat across from her. I lose myself in her eyes and resist the urge to take her in my arms and kiss her. Emily takes a deep breath and starts to talk.

“I’m so happy to see you again.”

I say, “I’m so glad to see you as well. I finally just couldn’t take it anymore and I came back. I was torn. I hoped you had moved on and were happy, but at the same time, I was hoping that you hadn’t fallen in love with someone else.”

“That’s the thing Conrad. I have fallen in love with Jake. I would like to spend some time with you, while you are here, but nothing is going to happen between us.”

“Would you like to have lunch then?”

“That sounds great.”

“Awesome! Let me just grab my keys and wallet, and we can go.” I walk over to the nightstand by the bed and pick up my things. I slip on my shoes and open the door for her. She walks out and over to my truck. Like old times, she waits for me to open her door. I would always make a fuss if she did it herself.

I close the door behind her and walk over to my side. I climb in and off we go. I take her to Clinton, which is about a forty-five minute drive away to Ruby Tuesdays. After the waitress takes our order, Emily asks about my son. “He’ll be two next month. Logan looks just like me too.”

“He’ll break a lot of hearts, then,” Emily cuts in with a smile before she realizing what she said. “Sorry,” she mumbles.

“It’s fine Emily. Logan is a handful too. He loves to get into things and see what he can get away with. He’ll climb into my lap and we can watch Spongebob or Elmo all day long.”

Emily laughs and says, “If he grows up to be like you, he’ll probably get into a lot of things. Your mom used to say that you were always causing trouble and for every gray hair was something you did.”

I smiled and chuckled. “I can only hope that he will behave better than I did. My mom always told me whenever I got into big trouble that I would regret it one day because the saying is that your kids will behave just like you or worst.” Our food arrives and while we eat, Emily questions me about college. I fill her in on my classes and what I’m majoring in.

I tell her more about when I see Logan and about Melanie. She listens intently and occasionally will ask another question. Emily fills me in about her classes and her relationship with her dad, Jake, and Drake, which is Jake’s little brother. She’s closer to her dad than she was before and I can see the love in her eyes when she talks about him.

I can also see the love in her eyes and voice when she talks about Jake and Drake. “He sounds like a great guy,” I say to her.

“He’s amazing. He’s really good to me and helped me with my mom.”

I steer the conversation away from Jake and talk about what colleges she is looking into. But no matter what we talk about, Emily always ends up talking about Jake. Back at the hotel, I thank her for lunch and kiss her on the cheek. She waves goodbye and I watch her drive away. I lay on my bed and turn on the TV, hoping it will distract me.

Emily no longer loved me.

Emily

After my lunch with Conrad, I try to call Jake but he doesn’t answer. I hang up without leaving a message as I remember he is with friends. I blast the music and decide that I want to get away for a bit. I drive and drive until I reach the bridge and take a left at the road before the light. I travel down until I see Tiffany’s hotel. On the right not too far from where the hotel was, is a public access with a parking lot. I park, lock the doors, and go to the beach, leaving my phone in the car.

I let the cool sand under my feet calm me. I walk a little ways and then sit down. I bring my knees to my chest and rest my arms on them. I place my chin on my arms and stare out at the ocean.

After an hour or so, I leaned back on my elbows and moved my feet up and down on the sand of the almost empty beach. I watch the sun set and the moon rise. I sat alone on the beach and stared out at the ocean for hours, thinking. The night sky took over and the stars twinkled at me over the ocean. Finally, I stood, wiped the sand from my hands and jeans and walked out to my car.

Checking the clock in my car revealed that it was after midnight. Wow, I didn’t realized I had been out there that long. I check my phone and find numerable missed calls from my father and three from Jake. I called my dad. “Thank goodness. Honey, where have you been? I came home and you weren’t here. I called Jake at eight when I still hadn’t heard from you and he didn’t know where you were,” relief filled his voice.

“Sorry, Daddy. I just needed to get away for awhile so I drove down to the beach to sit and think.”