“I tried, when I was growing up without a mother. Especially after Lucas left, and there was no one left but Dad and me.”
“Was your father good to you, Emily?”
The careful way he phrased the question told Emily that Wade had heard something about Josiah, Jr.
“He never hit me,” she assured him. “He never touched me, actually. Not a hug. Not a word of praise or affection. Lucas gave me my hugs when I was little, and it was Lucas who helped me with my homework and fixed my broken toys and comforted me when I had
bad dreams.”
“How old were you when your brother left?”
“Almost thirteen. After that, I went to Aunt Bobbie when I needed affection.”
“But you stayed with your father all those years, taking care of him.”
She nodded, wondering how to make him understand. “He had no one else,” she finally said simply. “He’d alienated so many people. His brother Jonas died years ago, and he’d never gotten along well with Uncle Caleb. Uncle Caleb helped out when Dad became bedridden, but Dad didn’t like having him around much. He had nurses when I was at work, and I took care of him in the evenings. At the end, I thought...well, I thought maybe he would have liked to thank me,” she said. “But he couldn’t speak by then. Maybe I was just reading into his expression what I wanted to see there.”
“Or maybe not. It’s entirely possible that he felt deeply grateful for your loyalty, and just didn’t know how to let you know.”
“I’d like to think so.”
He stroked her hair, his fingers tangling in her tumbled curls, easing over the tender lumps at the back of her head. They sat that way, in comfortable silence, for several long minutes, until Emily finally stirred and sighed.
“It’s getting very late,” she said. “I should probably call Aunt Bobbie. Though I think I’d be perfectly fine alone tonight.”
Wade’s expression turned stubborn. “You heard the doctor. He said you should have someone with you. To be honest, I’d like to be the one to stay and take care of you, but since the whole town would be talking about it tomorrow if I did, I’m calling your aunt.”
She felt her face warm. “I haven’t even thanked you for all you’ve done for me this evening. Nor asked if there was a reason that you stopped by.”
He stroked a strand of hair away from her cheek, then cupped her face in his palm. “Do you remember what you said when I found you lying on the floor?”
She had a vague memory of lying there, of squinting into a sudden bright light and seeing Wade bending over her, his brown eyes dark with worry. “I...er...”
“You said you’d been thinking of me when you came inside.”
Her cheeks grew hotter. “I did?”
“Yes. And that was why I stopped by...because I’d been thinking of you, too. I seem to think about you all the time, as a matter of fact.”
Emily moistened her lips, her face only inches from Wade’s. “Do you?”
“Yes. All the time.”
He leaned his head over, brushed his lips across hers as tenderly as if he thought she might shatter. But Emily wasn’t feeling quite so fragile now. She reached up with both hands to hold his head to hers, deepening the kiss on her own.
Wade didn’t hesitate to follow her lead. By the time the kiss ended, Emily’s head was spinning, and it had nothing to do with her concussion.
“Tell me again why I’m leaving you tonight,” Wade muttered.
She couldn’t quite remember. “Because you have other things to do?”
“Nothing could be more important than this.” He kissed her again.
“Because...” She couldn’t seem to think of a reason, either, as he brushed his lips across hers once more.
“Because you need your rest,” he said with a reluctant grimace. “And because we don’t want to give the town gossips anything more to speculate about. What’s your aunt’s number? I’ll go call her.”
“Don’t frighten her,” Emily warned after reciting the number. “Make sure she understands I wasn’t badly injured.”