Crumbling Walls (Jack and Emily #1) (11 page)

▪▪▪

He woke up on his own at six. It had been a fairly rough night after they had lain down. She hadn’t woken back up, but she remained twitchy beside him, hands flexing and jaw grinding, occasionally whimpering before settling down for a few minutes.

If this was the best she’d slept in weeks, no wonder she was beyond exhausted. He lay watching her finally peaceful face for a few minutes before slipping out of bed and going to the bathroom. Then, after silently getting his shoes and coat on, he leaned over, “Hey Em, I’ve gotta go.”

Stirring at the sound of his voice, “Hmm?”

“I gotta get going. You gonna be alright?”

She finally opened her eyes as she nodded, “Do you think we can just forget that yesterday ever happened?”

Kissing her forehead, “I don’t really think that’s an option.”

“Well, I’m going to dwell in the land of denial for a while so if you’d like to join me, just knock.”

With a laugh, “At least I now know where the key is.”

Giving him his first real smile in days, “You can come in any time.”

Chapter 9

His first day of bussing tables and washing dishes was draining and, given the previous night he'd had, Emily took one look at him after he stopped by and sent him home to bed.

The next day went easier and he wasn’t as tired, so, stopping by her house, he invited her over for dinner and some movies.

As she stood in her doorway, “I don’t know that I can look your mom in the eye yet. I wish you hadn’t had to lie to her.”

“Em, what’s done is done. My guilt vanished when I walked in the door yesterday morning and she looked at me and, without even commenting on the black eye, said, and I’m not kidding, 'Oh, I forgot you were gone'.”

She laughed at this, “I guess I could come over for a little while.”

“Cool.” Stepping inside out of the blowing wind, “I have got to get me a car or I’m gonna freeze.”

“Well, come up and get warm for a few minutes while I find my coat and hat.”

Shivering a little, “And scarf and gloves and boots and ski masks ...”

“Just shut up and come upstairs.”

Following her, “You know, in the six months I’ve known you, this is the first time you’ve actually invited me in.”

She didn’t reply until they reached the top of the steps, “Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you like to come in and see my house?”

He gave her a slow grin, “I think I would love to.”

▪▪▪

They got back to Jack’s a little before six and could smell the wonderful aroma of stew before Jack even unlocked the door, “Mom, I’m home and I’ve bought another stomach with me.”

Coming into the hall, she smiled warmly at Emily, “Brought your appetite with you too, I hope?”

She nodded shyly and quietly slid out of her coat, hanging it on one of the many hooks next to the door. Jack touched her arm, “Be back down in a minute. Gotta change.”

After he thundered up the stairs, Elizabeth beckoned her into the kitchen, “Well, the boys are in the living room causing general mayhem, so you’re welcome to join them or maybe you’d like to hang out here with me?”

Listening to the din coming from the other room and eyeing the stack of dishes in the sink, “Do you need any help in here? I wash a mean dish.”

Gladly holding out the dish towel, “Mostly I think I’d just like a girl to talk to. I’ve been trapped in the house with six boys for three days straight. I need some outside information. Any outside information.”

Emily smiled, “Well, what would you like to know?”

“Let’s start with the standard, read any good books lately?”

▪▪▪

Jack made it back downstairs about ten minutes later, having decided to shower. Sliding into the kitchen on the socks he’d stolen from Tim’s drawer, he nearly knocked Emily, who was trying to figure out which cupboards held which dishes, over. Catching her before she hit the ground, he held her for a second longer than normal before letting go and pointing out the proper cabinet.

This was not at all lost on Elizabeth, who contained her grin quite admirably, but, as she would embarrassingly admit to her husband later that night, she was doing all kinds of happy dancing in her head.

But back to the kitchen. Jack set the table and wrangled the rest of the boys to gather up any and all condiments, napkins and drinks that were still needed. Once everyone was around the table, “Where’s Dad? Shouldn’t he be home by now?”

With a twinkle in her eye, she glanced over Sam's head, “He’s out doing some shopping.”

“Ahhh, well, do you want me to make him a plate for the oven or no?”

Shaking her head, “No. I’ll warm him up something when he gets here.”

Emily looked slightly confused, so Jack leaned over and whispered, “Mom can’t really go Christmas shopping with Sam because of Santa, so Dad must have had to finish up tonight.”

Understanding finally, she whispered back, “What about the other kids?”

“They already know about Santa, but are under strict orders not to ruin it.”

Her eyes glazed for a second, then returned to reality, “I think I would love to be Sam.”

Reaching over, he squeezed her hand under the table before beginning to serve out the steaming stew to the boys’ upheld bowls, “All right gentlemen, it's ladies first so you’re gonna have to hang on a minute.”

▪▪▪

After dinner and clean-up, which Jack did with the ordered assistance of Dave and Nate, a nervous-looking Sam came up to Emily, “Emily?”

Kneeling down in front of him, “Yeah?”

“Do you want to color with me?”

Jack, who was standing behind him, went to open his mouth, but Emily shook her head at him then took Sam by the hand, “I’d love to color with you.”

Sam’s face lit up and he led her importantly into the big back room, “I have lots of crayons.”

Emily glanced over her shoulder at Jack and grinned, “See ya.”

He just shook his head in her direction with a smile and turned around, running directly into his mom, “Oops. Sorry.”

“You’re just running into everyone today aren’t you?”

“Well, you know, I’ve never been one for gracefulness when falling is available.”

“Very true.” Glancing around the corner to where all the kids were, “Are you and Emily doing anything right now?”

He shook his head, “Sam’s got her coloring. Why?”

“Well, I was wondering if you’d help me upstairs with a few things. Sam refused to leave me alone today, so I couldn’t get anything done.”

“Yeah, just let me go tell Em and then I’ll come up.”

“Thanks, honey.”

Whispering his intentions to her, she glanced at Sam, who was watching her adoringly, “Me and Sam here’ll be just fine, won’t we?” Sam could only nod, completely happy that his favorite girl in the world was coloring Transformer pictures with him. Looking back to Jack, “I’ll find you if I need anything.”

▪▪▪

After telling the rest of the boys not to kill each other, he headed upstairs.

“So, what’re we doing?”

“I mostly need you to climb up into the attic for me and get the gifts out.”

Knowing his mom’s intense fear of enclosed spaces, “No problem. I’m not gonna see my stuff, am I?”

She smiled, “No, Santa is out buying your ‘stuff’ as we speak.”

“Geez, Mom, nothing like waiting until the last minute.”

“Hey, I can call your dad up and tell him to return everything?”

“So, where’s that access panel again?”

▪▪▪

Jack was back downstairs long before they were done coloring. He watched both from the archway, much as he had when Emily was drawing Tim, and he marveled at them both. Normally Sam’s version of ‘coloring’ was to color as fast as he could while still trying to stay in the lines. But now, he was methodically and thoughtfully coloring one of a stack of robot images in front of him, emulating Emily’s careful hand.

All he wanted to do was kiss her.

But since that wasn’t possible at the moment, he instead stood watching, holding position against the wall until Tim walked in behind him, having just gotten home from work. Looking over his little brother’s shoulder, he spoke low, “So, when are you finally gonna tell her?”

In an equally low voice, “I don’t know if she’ll let me.”

▪▪▪

Borrowing a car, he drove her home around ten that night and, given that he’d been repeating Tim’s question over and over in his head for the past two hours, he was rather distracted, not hearing Emily until the third time she asked, “Hey, you in there?”

Jerking his head, he woke up, “Yeah, sorry. What did you say again?”

“I just wanted to know if you were okay. You didn’t say much after you came back downstairs and you've been quiet the whole way here.”

Hoping he wouldn’t freak her out with his blunt asking, “Do you think I could hug you?”

“You’ve hugged me before.”

Knowing he was stammering, “I … I know but that was before everything. I just … I didn’t … I don't want to scare you or offend you or something.”

Reaching for his hand, she led him up to her door and, once they were safely inside, she turned, holding her arms out to him, “Hug please.”

As he hung his head, both from embarrassment and amusement, he slid his arms around her. He loved the feel of her head on his chest and, hugging her close, he wished he never had to leave.

Chapter 10

Elizabeth had invited Emily over for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. After talking to Jack, Emily had opted for Christmas Day. Mostly because she had the chance to work a full shift on Christmas Eve and, in her situation, such an opportunity was not to be turned down.

So she worked her tail off for nine hours, then went home and collapsed, sleeping soundly for the first time in months.

And that was her Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, at the Callaghan house, chaos reigned as everyone did last minute gift wrapping and dessert making and tree decorating and general baking. Jack, as usual, had the duty of cookie maker. Somehow, he made the best cookies. He had little flairs he’d added to the recipes, which he always swore were secret and highly classified ingredients and would never reveal.

The one hitch was that Tim had to work as well, closing up the store at six, which still gave him plenty of time to get home and do his own catching up on things. As he drove home, he passed the restaurant where Emily worked and, as usual, he glanced at it and, for a second, swore he saw her through the big glass windows. He was so sure of this he circled the block and came to a stop in front of the building. Sitting idle for a minute, he caught sight of her again and there was no mistaking it this time.