Chapter 262 Chapter 262

Chapter 262 Chapter 262
Emma sat in the back of Grayson's car, staring at nothing. They had left Lauren's wedding soon after Daniel was shown the door. Grayson wouldn't let her drive, and Honey had insisted on coming with them. She knew she should feel guilty about what happened at the wedding, but the shock still outweighed the guilt. She was sure that would come.
Honey was beside her, holding her hand, not saying anything. Just being there. Which was good because Emma couldn't have formed words if she'd tried.
Daniel was alive.
The thought kept circling through her head, over and over, like a record on repeat. Daniel was alive. He'd been alive for three months while she'd fallen apart. While she'd grieved him. While she'd wanted to die because living without him was too hard. She had almost done it too. No one knew that, but she had. She was ashamed to even think about it now, but her grief had been that intense. That soul-destroying. She knew she sounded pathetic, but she had loved Daniel with everything inside her.
But he'd been alive this whole time.
"We're almost there," Grayson said from the driver's seat, his voice gentle. She knew he was worried. They all were.
"Mom and Dad. Can you let them know?" Emma's voice came out hoarse. She'd been screaming earlier. Screaming at Daniel. The memory of it felt distant, like it had happened to someone else. The screaming and the bucketload of tears she shed had left her hoarse and dehydrated.
"They're meeting us at your place." Grayson glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "I called them after taking out the trash." He was referring to Daniel. "Told them... told them what happened."
"What did you tell them? That my dead fiancé came back from the grave? Or that I'm having a mental breakdown?" Emma laughed, but it sounded wrong. But she hadn't sounded like herself since getting the news Daniel was dead.
"I told them Daniel's alive and that you need them," Grayson said simply. "That's all they needed to hear."
Emma nodded, not trusting herself to speak again. She needed her mom right now more than she had ever needed her. She'd lived a charmed life until three months ago. To find out all her self-pity had been for nothing. But now she had something real and not fake to deal with.
The rest of the drive passed in silence. Honey's thumb rubbed circles on the back of Emma's hand, a soothing, repetitive motion that was nice, and Honey really was lovely and a perfect match for Grayson.
She felt kind of out of sorts… she didn't know how to quite put it into words. She felt like she was floating somewhere above her body, watching everything happen to someone who looked like her but wasn't really her. Because this couldn't be real. This couldn't be happening.
Dead people didn't come back.
Except Daniel had. How many times had she dreamt that he would walk through the door like it was one big mistake? Or she'd go to text him only to remember he wasn't alive. But now he was.
Grayson pulled up outside Emma's building, the apartment she'd shared with Daniel before his deployment. The apartment she'd almost moved out of a dozen times in the last three months because being there hurt too much. Because everywhere she looked, she saw him. His coffee mug still in the cabinet. His jacket still hanging by the door. His side of the bed still empty.
She hadn't been able to do it. Hadn't been able to pack up his things, to admit he was really gone. Grayson and Honey had offered to help. Had offered to do it for her so she wouldn't have to. But Emma had refused.
Now she understood why. Some part of her had known. Had refused to let go completely.
Or maybe she really was just that pathetic. That unable to move on.
"Emma?" Honey's voice was soft. "We're here."
"Right." Emma unbuckled her seatbelt with hands that wouldn't stop shaking. "Okay." She only needed to get from the car to the apartment. She could do that, right? Without falling on her face.
Grayson was already out of the car, opening her door, offering his hand. Emma took it gratefully, let him pull her out, and her legs almost gave out again.
"I've got you." His arm went around her waist, supporting her weight. "Come on. I'll always be here for you, Emma."
They made it to the elevator. Made it up to her floor. Made it to her door, where Luke and Faith Taylor were already waiting, faces drawn with worry and confusion and that special brand of parental concern that made Emma want to cry all over again. She even felt the tears prickle her eyes.
"Emma." Faith's voice cracked on her name.
And that was it. That was all it took.
Emma broke.
Faith caught her, pulled her into her arms the way she had when Emma was small and had scraped her knee or had a nightmare. Except Emma wasn't small anymore, and this wasn't a scraped knee. This was her entire world turning upside down.
"I've got you, my baby girl," Faith murmured, one hand stroking Emma's hair. "I've got you. Let's get you inside."
Luke had already opened the door. He had a key for emergencies, and they all filed in. Emma's apartment. Her home. In her mind, the place still smelled like Daniel even though he'd been gone for months.
Or hadn't been gone. Had been alive somewhere while she'd been… not living.
Faith guided Emma to the couch, sat beside her, kept one arm around her shoulders. Grayson disappeared into the kitchen, probably making tea because that's what their mother always did in a crisis. Honey and Luke stood nearby, looking helpless.
"Tell me what happened," Faith said gently. "Grayson said Daniel's alive, but that can't be right. We went to his memorial. There was a casket."
"The casket was empty, remember? We found out tonight he faked his death." Emma's voice came out flat. Emotionless again. "For three months. He let everyone think he was dead while he… while he—" She couldn't finish.
"Why?" Luke's voice was hard. Angry. "Why would he do that?"
"To protect me, so he says." Emma laughed, but it sounded hysterical even to her own ears. "His commanding officer was running some kind of theft ring. Daniel found out. The guy threatened to kill me if Daniel didn't keep quiet. So, Daniel and another Marine faked his death so I'd be safe and he could gather evidence. That's the story he told us anyway."
The room went silent.
"He let you grieve him," Faith said slowly, "to keep you safe."
"He let me think he was dead for three months." Emma's hands were shaking again. "Let me stand in front of a casket and say goodbye. Let me— He knew… He knew." Her voice broke. "He knew what it would do to me, and he did it anyway."
"Oh, sweetheart." Faith pulled her closer. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. You shouldn't have to go through this."
"I don't know what to do." Emma pressed her face against her mother's shoulder. "I don't know how to—he's alive. He's alive, and I should be happy. I should be grateful. But all I feel is… is—"
"Angry," Faith finished softly. "Betrayed. Confused. Like someone ripped your heart out and then handed it back to you and expected you to be grateful."
"Yes." The word came out as a sob. "Exactly that." Her mother had always been the most insightful person she had ever known.
Grayson appeared with tea. Set a cup in front of Emma even though she wouldn't drink it.
"Where is he now?" Luke asked, his voice still hard.
"Nate got him a hotel room," Grayson said. "He wanted to stay and talk to Emma. She didn't want that. I told him if he came anywhere near her, I'd have him arrested."
"Good." Luke's jaw was tight. "He's got some nerve showing up after three months."
"He said he had no choice." Emma heard herself defending him and hated herself for it. "Said if his commanding officer knew he was alive, the guy would have killed me."
"Then he should have come to us," Luke said. "To Grayson. To someone who could have protected you without putting you through hell."
"That's what Wyatt said." Emma finally looked up, meeting her father's eyes. "Daniel said it needed to look real. That this guy had connections everywhere."
"So he let you think he was dead, so you'd act the right way." Faith's voice was gentle but firm. "Emma, I understand why he did it. I even understand the logic. But that doesn't make it right. That doesn't make what he put you through okay."
"I know." Emma's throat was tight. "But he's alive, Mom. He's alive, and I thought… for three months, I thought he was gone forever, and now he's not. And I don't know how to—I don't know what to—"