I glanced over at Derek and saw the What do we do about this? look on his face, and I answered with a shrug. One glance at Gabriel’s smile told me he was enjoying the drama of the situation. I was willing to bet that Max wouldn’t.
“What’s going on, Brooklyn?” she asked. “Your messages made it sound urgent.”
“Yeah, it is. But first, I hope everything’s okay with your dad.” I knew the Cleveland Clinic’s reputation for working medical miracles-sometimes.
“Thanks,” she said. “I do, too. I’m going back there next week, but I had to take care of some things at home.”
“Well, we can go into the living room, I guess.” No way to avoid the death cooties from Angelica’s body now, and I couldn’t keep Emily standing in the workroom. Now it was my turn to be nervous.
“Okay.” But she stopped and smiled at Gabriel and Derek. “Hello.”
“Hi there,” Gabriel said with a grin.
Derek nodded. “Hello.”
“Sorry. My manners went missing,” I said. “These are friends of mine. This is Derek Stone and that’s Gabriel.”
“Hi,” she said again, and went back to clutching her hands together. “Well. You look really good, Brooklyn.”
“Oh, thanks. So do you.” This was ridiculous. I had to give her some kind of hint about why I’d been calling. It wasn’t fair to just spring Max on her. She was young, but a shock like that could bring on a sudden heart attack. God, why hadn’t she called me first? “Look, Emily, I don’t how to-”
“Found more chips,” Max said as he walked back into the room, shaking the bag. He stopped abruptly and stared, gaping at the woman. “Emily?”
I heard a long gasp, then a moan. I was just in time to catch her on her way to the floor.
“Emily!” Max cried out, and ran over. I moved out of the way as he took her from me. He knelt down and laid her out on the floor, slipping his hand under her head and pressing his other hand to her cheek. “Oh, my God, Emily. Emily.”
Shoot! This was awful! I should have found a way to warn her. But was there really any way to prepare her for seeing her dead boyfriend all hale and hearty? Watching the expression on Max’s face, hearing the desperation in his voice, I had to blink to clear my tear-filled eyes. I’d been doing that a lot lately.
Derek closed the front door and, to be safe, knelt down to check her wrist for a pulse. “She’s fine. Just a bit of a shock, I’m guessing.”
“Just a bit,” I said dryly. He stood and grinned and wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Max,” I said softly. “You scared the hell out of her.”
“She scared the hell out of me, too,” he said, looking up and scowling mildly. “Probably took ten years off my life. Why didn’t you warn me?”
“How could I warn you? She just showed up here! I didn’t know she was coming. Besides, if I were going to warn anybody, it would’ve been her. You already knew you were alive.”
He shook his head and looked back at Emily, moved his hand over her shoulder and her hair, barely touching her in case he might hurt her. All the while he whispered over and over, “So beautiful. Still so beautiful.”
“She’s waking up,” I murmured. “Maybe you should get her off the floor.”
I watched Emily blink a few times, then focus on Max’s face. She groaned. “No. I’m dreaming.”
“Oh, sweetheart, no. You’re not dreaming.”
She silently began to cry.
“Please,” he said, burying his face in the crook of his elbow. “Please don’t cry.”
“Max, pick her up,” I whispered. But he seemed frozen in place, unable to take action. Derek squeezed my waist and I looked up at him. He tilted his head toward the living room, indicating we should leave them alone.
Is he kidding? I shook my head and he frowned at me. But come on. Seriously? Maybe it was nosy of me, but there was no way I was leaving the two of them alone. I wanted a front-row seat, wanted to savor every last second of their tearful reunion. I’m just a big sap that way.
As her tears began to dry, Emily hiccupped a few times, then swallowed awkwardly. Glancing around, she took a deep breath and let it out, then said, “Help me up, please?”
Max immediately slipped his arms under her and stood with her still in his clutches.
“You can put me down now,” she said.
“No, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’m never letting you go again.”
“Like you did before? Let me go, I mean.” Emily just stared at him, her expression unreadable.
“I didn’t want to.”
“But why, Max? You died. And now you’re here? What happened? Where did you go? Why did you leave me?” She sniffled and seemed to lose strength. Her eyes closed.
“Bring her into the living room, Max,” Derek suggested. “She can lie down on the couch.”
“And then you can try to explain what happened,” I said to Max.
He gave me a foreboding look, then whisked his fair Emily off to the living room.
Gabriel’s grin grew even wider. “Guess I’ll have that beer, after all.”
When Emily had revived, there were hugs and more tears and kisses. Her smile seemed permanently fixed to her face, and, frankly, I was sort of amazed at how well this reunion was going. If my boyfriend had disappeared on me, then popped up again seemingly from the grave three or six or eight years later, I’m pretty sure I would have been furious first and then maybe I’d think about being happy to see him again. Emily was clearly a much better person than I. Finally she sat up, asked for a glass of water, then went off to use the bathroom.
I went into the kitchen to get her water and carried it back to the living room. I set the glass on the coffee table and sat back down.
Max, meanwhile, had begun to pace the floor. “Is she all right? She’s been gone too long.”
“Chill out,” I said. “She’s been crying, so she’s washing her face and fixing her hair. Give her a minute.”
He started to pace again, then halted when Emily walked back into the room. Instantly, he was at her side, taking hold of her hand. “God, I’m thrilled to see you again. It’s like we were never apart.”
“But we were apart,” she said flatly, her smile finally gone. “For three years, Max. You were dead, remember?”
“It was for a good reason. I promise.”
“I’m sure it was. And so is this.” She wound her arm back and slugged him right in the gut.
Now, that reaction I understood completely.
“Ow. Damn it!” He grabbed his stomach and inched back from her. “If one more woman takes a swing at me, I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” She stepped closer and pressed up against him, jabbing him in his chest with her finger. “What will you do?”
“Never mind,” he muttered, glaring down at her. Even though he towered over her and outweighed her by a hundred pounds or so, she showed no fear.
“Never mind,” she repeated, nodding her head in double time. “That’s what I thought you’d say.”
I choked on a laugh. Max was three for three in the gut-punching sweepstakes. I happened to glance at Gabriel, who was grimacing as he unconsciously patted his own stomach. That’s when I lost it and laughed out loud.
“Stop that,” Max said, pointing an accusing finger at me. “You’re enjoying this too much.” Then he turned on Emily. “And you. You’ve never been a violent person. What was that for?”
“What was tha-? Are you kidding? You drove over a cliff and died! You left me alone for three years!” She pointed her own finger in his direction. “You’re right. I never was violent before, but I’m feeling it now. I thought you were dead. But you weren’t. You just left. I wasn’t worth a call? A note? You couldn’t text me?” She shook all over in anger. “You should be glad I only hit you in the stomach.”