Let Me Burn (Angel Sands 1)

“Of course it did. After everything that happened, no wonder you were so shocked.” Brooke gave Ember a soft smile.

“I don’t get it,” Ally said, shaking her head. “Will told you he didn’t want children. That’s why he left, isn’t it? So why is he so happy about having a baby now?”

“It wasn’t a baby he didn’t want,” Ember said. “He just didn’t want to have a family with me.”

She closed her eyes, trying not to remember that day all those months ago when she’d taken a pregnancy test and it had come up positive. She’d been almost as shocked then as she was now. Yet then there had been a spark within her. Pure excitement that she and Will would finally become a family.

Looking back, Will had been strangely silent when she told him she was pregnant. He’d remained silent all that week. And then when she’

d gone to the doctor and he’d told her it was almost certainly a false positive, Will must have seen it as a near miss. Within two days, he’d left her, and she hadn’t seen him again.

All along she’d assumed they’d split because he hadn’t wanted children. What else was she supposed to think? But now… it hurt like hell to know everything she’d thought was wrong.

“You know what I think?” Ally said, tipping her head to the left as she looked at Ember. “I think you’re processing everything now that you should have done all those months ago. You lost a baby – okay, the idea of one – and then within the blink of an eye you lost Will as well. And only a few months later your father died. Maybe you didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with it all back then. So as soon as you heard Will’s announcement tonight it all came flooding back.”

Neither Ember nor Brooke said a word. They both turned to stare at Ally, their eyes wide, their lips parted. For a second the room was filled with silence – something completely unheard of when all three of them were together.

“Whoa,” Brooke eventually said, shaking her head. “Where the hell did you get that from? It’s perfect.”

Ally licked her lips and looked down at the floor. “I may have been watching re-runs of Doctor Phil late at night when I couldn’t sleep.” She shrugged. “Anyway, it makes sense, right? You told me yourself you’re over Will. You’re not upset that he’s moved on as much as you’re upset because all that bad stuff is back in your thoughts again, right when you hoped you’d seen the last of it.”

Ember licked her lips, considering Ally’s words. They rang true for her. She didn’t want to think about the pain she’d been through, or how weak she’d felt in the weeks after Will left. Remembering those days when she’d get back from work and stare vacantly at her TV, counting the hours until bedtime, only made her want to scream.

She’d worked so hard to pull herself out of the mire and become strong again. It made her angry to think she could fall right back in so easily.

Her phone rang, and she looked around to see where Lucas had put it. The ringtone was coming from the evening purse she’d bought to match her pretty dress, laying on the coffee table where Lucas had gently laid it down. She pulled it out and glanced at the display.

Mom.

It was way too late for her mom’s usually chatty kind of call. She felt half-inclined to send it to voicemail, but she’d worry her mom was having some kind of genuine emergency.

“Hello?”

“Ember, I just heard about Will. You were at the party, weren’t you? Are you okay?”

The town gossip was getting faster than ever. She blamed broadband.

“I’m fine.” Ember tried to keep her voice light. “It was wonderful news. I’m very happy for him.”

“I can’t believe he’s getting married and having a baby, I always thought it would be you.”

“Yeah, well I’m glad it’s not.” Thank goodness she never told her mom about her phantom pregnancy. That would have brought a whole new level of hand wringing to the situation. “Hopefully they’ll be very happy together.”

“I heard you were there with a man, too. Was it a friend from school?”

Okay, somebody needed to chop the grapevine down. Megassey’s sold axes. Ember was pretty sure they would do the job. Maybe she’d buy one tomorrow. “Mom, it’s late. Is there anything else you need or could this wait until tomorrow?”

Ally sniggered and Ember rolled her eyes at her.

“Well if you’re going to speak to me like that, I guess I’ll go to bed. I’m just worried about you.”

“You don’t need to worry about me.” Ember’s voice was soft. She felt bad about chewing her mom out. “Seriously, I’m fine. I was with a friend and he took care of me, I’ll fill you in on the rest tomorrow.” The highlight reel only, though. She’d learned that from experience.

“As long as you’re okay, then I’m happy. What’s your friend’s name?”

“Good night, Mom,” Ember said firmly.

She ended the call and laid her phone back down on the coffee table, the display facing up. It would have been so natural to pick it up again and speed dial Lucas. For the past weeks when they hadn’t been together, they’d been messaging or calling each other; it felt strange without him.