Page 12 of The Clover Chapel (Jamison Valley 2)
“Emmeline,” I corrected. He was the only person who had ever called me anything but my full name, and as much as I had loved it all those years ago, hearing it now was painful.
He frowned. “Emmy. What are you doing here?”
“I live here. What are you doing here?”
“I live here. Have for years.”
I swallowed an exasperated laugh. What were the chances? Of all the small towns in America, I had moved to the same one where my long-lost husband lived. A husband my private investigator had spent nine years unsuccessfully searching for.
Years had gone by and all I’d ever gotten were reports stating Nick’s whereabouts were unknown. A paid professional couldn’t find him but, here I was, standing in his space because I happened to pick Prescott as my home.
Shit.
Nick stared down at me, unspeaking. I was so shocked to see his face I didn’t know where to start or what to say. Apparently, he was having the same problem. Twice he opened his mouth to say something but then clamped it shut before words came out.
“Emmy—” he finally started but my ringing phone cut him off.
Scrambling to find it in my bag, I pressed the phone to my ear. “Hi, darling,” I told Logan. “Can you hold on one second?” I pinched the phone between my ear and shoulder, opening the car door to climb inside.
“We need to talk,” Nick said, reaching out his hand.
I flinched right before his fingers could touch me. I glared and shook my head furiously. He frowned but didn’t push.
My conversation with Nick was over for the night. I needed to regroup and get my head together before we had a discussion. I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say.
Not tonight.
“Emmeline,” Logan called after I slammed the car door.
“Sorry. I’m here,” I said, backing out of
the gravel lot, seeing Nick sidestep my car.
“Where are you?” Logan asked.
“I was at a Halloween party.”
“Did you have a good time?” A hint of disdain colored his voice. He was probably mad at the idea of me going to parties and making friends here in Prescott. Friends meant I was building a life here. Something he did not want.
My gaze traveled to Nick in my rearview mirror. He stood in the middle of the drive, legs planted wide with his arms crossed over his chest.
“No. I didn’t have a good time.”
I stood by my dark bedroom window, staring out into the black night.
The Montana nights were remarkably different from those in New York. Though, the same was true about almost every aspect of my life here in Prescott.
In the city, it was never really dark. Somewhere a light from a building or street lamp illuminated the shadows. But here there were no lights. Nothing interrupted the blackness.
Some people may have found it a bit frightening, but I loved that I could see up into the starry sky. I’d never known there were so many stars. My first night in Prescott, I’d stood outside for an hour, gazing up into the Milky Way.
But tonight, all the stars in the universe couldn’t light the blackness.
Nothing could have prepared me for seeing Nick tonight. The emotion was crippling.
I vaguely recalled my short conversation with Logan as I had sped home from the farmhouse. I had given him a quick account of the Clearys’ party but hadn’t mentioned Nick. I wasn’t ready to discuss the subject with Logan yet. First, I needed to get my own head wrapped around the concept.
Logan knew I had been married but he didn’t know any of the details. He also didn’t know that I was still legally bound to another man. That fact was not going to go over well.
