Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(56)
It was a woman with really short blonde hair—probably in her mid-twenties—dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a yellow tank top. In her hand was a file, and on the label it read Scott Easton.
“Who are you?” I asked, narrowing my gaze at her.
She swallowed hard and cleared her throat, her voice desperate when she spoke, “Look, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but I didn’t know what else to do. I’m Emily Easton. I really need to talk to Kate, please.”
“Why? So you can make her life miserable the way you and your mother have done for the past two years? Fuck that. You need to leave … now. She doesn’t want to see you, and she made that perfectly clear to the police.”
Tears began to stream down her face and her lips trembled. “If I could change the way I acted I would do it in a heartbeat. My mother needs help and I’ve been trying to find her, but I don’t know where else to look. I need you to give this to Kate,” she cried, handing me the file. “If I had known the truth, I know things would’ve gone differently. Please tell her I’m sorry and that I regret every mean thing I said to her. She was the one who actually saved my brother in the long run.”
Turning around, she started off down the driveway, wiping her tears along the way. I had no idea if I should believe anything that came out of her mouth or believe what was in the file. For all I knew it was something to try and f*ck with Kate some more.
Flipping through my texts, I found the one from Mason with Sam’s number in it. Quickly, I called it, hoping Kate would still be up in her room.
“Sam Lennox,” he answered.
Quickly, I rushed to the opposite side of the house. “Sam, this is Cooper Davis. Emily Easton just showed up at Kate’s house and dropped off a file for her to look at. Do you have any idea what it could be? I would look myself, but I don’t feel right doing that. Kate will be pissed as hell at me if she finds out I called Mason to help her out.”
Sam chuckled. “Yeah, I figured that was the case so that’s why I didn’t mention anything about that the other day. Mason said you were a close friend of his wife’s, so I figured you were a good guy if he thought highly of you. Anyway, I was about to call Ms. Townsend and give her an update. I just finished validating the contents in that file to make sure everything’s legit. Please make sure she reads it. It’s not something she’s going to like, but it’ll shed some light on the whole situation.”
“Have there been any leads on Scott’s mother?” I asked.
“Not yet, but we’re working on it. When we get a lead it’s like she’s one step ahead. I’ll keep you posted though.”
As soon as I hung up, I could hear Kate’s footsteps coming down the stairs. “Cooper, where are you? The water’s getting cold up here.”
With the file in my hand, I met her at the bottom of the steps and watched as her smile slowly disappeared into a mask of confusion. “What is that?” she asked, sweeping a glance toward the file.
“It’s for you, love. Emily Easton dropped it off and wanted you to take a look at it. She said she was sorry for all that she’s done and that you really need to know what’s in the file.”
Kate scoffed, “And you believe her. It’s nothing but lies coming out of her mouth. I don’t want to read that garbage.”
Snatching the file out of my hands, she rushed off toward the kitchen. When I caught her, she was about to throw it in the garbage, but I held out my hand, stopping her. “Don’t throw it away, Kate. I called Sam while you were upstairs and he confirmed everything that’s in the file. Whatever’s in there is true.”
Blowing out a heavy sigh, Kate closed her eyes and pulled the file tighter against her body. “Do you know what’s in it?” she asked.
Rubbing her bare shoulders, I shook my head and bent down toward her ear. “No, love, I don’t. Why don’t we go upstairs and take our showers? Then we can both sit down and look at it together.”
She nodded her head and started up the stairs, holding the folder against her chest. I had no clue what was in it, but I knew whatever it was wasn’t going to be easy. I just knew I needed to be there for her like she was for me.
The tan folder sat on my bed for about an hour while I stared at it in complete silence. What if Emily gave Sam a totally different file than she gave me? Sam didn’t give Cooper specifics on what was in there, so we didn’t know the truth either way, and it was too late in the evening to call him and ask. Cooper kept quiet beside me, tracing his fingers along my arms and my legs in hopes that it would help calm me down. Nothing worked.
“I’m scared, Cooper,” I finally admitted. “I want to know what’s in here, but in a way I don’t.”
Cooper sat up on the bed and pulled me into his body, placing a leg on each side. “I know you’re scared, and believe me, I was scared when I stopped taking my pills because I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle it. But I had you with me to help me through it. Now, I’m here to help you through this. Open the file, love, and let’s find out what’s going on. Scott would want you to know the truth.”
His last comment was all it took. Scott would want me to know the truth, especially if he could see the way his family had treated me over the past two years. Sliding the file toward me, I hooked a finger underneath the cover and flipped it over. Taking a deep breath, I blew it out slowly and gazed down at the first piece of paper. It was Emily’s phone number and a simple phrase of ‘I’m sorry’ written on it.