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CARTER
Emma got in the cab before I could stop her. The second I woke up and saw she wasn’t in the room, I knew she’d chosen to run. I raced down to the lobby but was too late; she didn’t hear me shout her name. I should’ve learned not to let my guard down, but I did. I thought after last night, she was mine again. But I was wrong.
After packing up my things, I checked out of the hotel and jumped in my Range Rover to head back to Los Angeles. Emma couldn’t be that far ahead of me. I pressed the phone button on my dashboard and tapped Aleah’s name. It only rang once before her chipper voice sounded through the speaker.
“I knew you’d call.”
“Where is she?”
Aleah sighed. “On her way back to L.A. She just left here a few minutes ago.”
I pressed my foot harder on the gas. “What did she say?”
The line went silent for a few seconds, and of course, I imagined the worst. “Emma’s scared, Carter,” she stated. “She kept babbling on about her life in New York and yours in California. It’s an excuse. I love Emma to death, but I think she’s afraid of getting hurt.”
“So am I,” I exclaimed. “It’s fucking terrifying to be in love with someone.” After I said it, I realized it was the first time I’d admitted that out loud.
Aleah gasped. “You love her? Damn, how much did I miss over the years?”
“A lot,” I admitted. “She was my first in many things.”
Emma was everything to me. When she left for New York, I hated the thought of being with anyone else, but I had to do something to forget about her. I would always regret not fighting to keep what we had. At the time, I didn’t know she wanted me to. We were both to blame.
Aleah’s whistle pierced my ear. “Wow. Everyone’s gonna flip when they find out about you two.”
My fingers clenched hard around the steering wheel. “I wouldn’t go that far. There'll be nothing to tell if Emma keeps running from me.”
“Well, if it’s any help, my guess is Emma’s probably taking the scenic route home. I know she likes Pebble Beach, so she’ll most likely stop there for a break.”
“Thanks, Aleah.”
“You’re welcome, brother. I hope you find her and talk things out.”
“I hope so too,” I uttered, knowing Emma was the most hardheaded and stubbornly woman I knew. It wasn’t going to be easy.
We hung up, and instead of taking I-580 to I-5 South toward Los Angeles, I hopped onto US-101, which would lead me straight to Highway 1 and Pebble Beach.
I had to find Emma.
* * *
It took about two hours to reach Pebble Beach which was tucked between Pacific Grove and Carmel-by-the-Sea on the Monterey Peninsula. When I pulled up to the parking lot, I recognized Ryley’s white Bentley off to the side, away from the other cars. I parked beside it, but Emma wasn’t inside.
I pressed Emma’s name on the dashboard screen, and the line rang and rang; it didn’t surprise me when she failed to answer. My Fightanium baseball cap was in the backseat, so I reached for it and slipped it on before getting out of the car. I had two choices: stay in the parking lot or walk down to the beach and hope that I found Emma. If I stayed, it would guarantee I’d see her. If I left and she came back and saw my vehicle, she’d hightail it out of there. Nevertheless, I was never one to take the easy way out. Plus, I didn’t want to wait.
After hitting lock on my key fob, I made my way to the path that led to the beach. The second I stepped onto the sand, I didn’t have to look far. She was straight ahead, standing with her bare feet in the water with the wind whipping through her dark hair. There were other people around, but I paid them no mind. All I could see was Emma.
I walked right up to her side, but she focused on the ocean. “I had a feeling Aleah would tell you where I was.”
There was so much I wanted to say. But instead, I stood there in silence, blood tearing through my veins. I glanced over at Emma, and like always, she took my breath away.
“My parents used to come here together when they were teenagers,” I said, hoping it would put her at ease and break the tension between us. “This is where their love story began.”
With a sad smile on her lips, she hugged her stomach. “It’s beautiful here, peaceful. I can see how that’s true.” She looked down at the sand and then back to the water. “It’s a good place to think.”
“Is that what you need?” I asked her. “Time to think?”
A tear escaped the corner of her eye as she looked up at me. “Maybe we both do. Last night was amazing, and it brought back feelings I hid away deep inside of me.” She uttered a calm laugh, but there was a sadness to it. “I’m scared, Carter. It kills me to admit it, but I am. I like to think I’m not afraid of anything, but with you, I’m terrified.”