Intercepting Love (Second Chances #5)(60)
Sniffling, she wiped away her tears, but kept her gaze on the ground. “You see, my mother fell apart after Scott killed himself; it was like every single thing she lived for just vanished. I thought with having me by her side it would help, but I wasn’t Scott. I wasn’t her favorite. After she basically shunned me, I couldn’t help but hate you, too. My life has been nothing but hell for the past two years.”
“Yeah, well so has mine,” I snapped. “You’re not going to get any sympathy from me. It wasn’t exactly fun listening to you and your mother call me on the anniversary of his death and bitch me out for taking everything away from you. Did it ever occur to you that I loved him and lost just as much as you did? For the past two years I’ve felt nothing but guilt over what happened. I didn’t think I was worthy of anyone’s love until Cooper came into my life.”
“And I think that’s what set my mother off,” she confessed, lifting her tear-filled emerald gaze to mine. “There were times when she’d just disappear for a few days and then come back home. She would never tell me where she went, but I figured it out when I looked at her bank statements. Every so often she would travel here to Charlotte. My only guess was so she could spy on you.”
Gasping, my eyes went wide. “Spy on me? You can’t be serious?”
“Trust me, Kate, if I had any other clue I would tell you. My mother’s lost her mind. That’s why I tried to call you a couple of weeks ago to warn you. She doesn’t want you to be happy. Now that she’s seen you with Cooper and that other guy, she’s been doing anything and everything possible to destroy that. Did you not listen to the message I sent you?”
“No,” I huffed, “I didn’t. I thought you were calling because it was the day Scott died. I was expecting to hear another guilt trip come out of your mouth, so I threw my phone against the wall and shattered it. I honestly didn’t want to listen to your message.”
“I understand, but I tried to warn you that something was wrong. I knew my mother would get to the point where she’d snap, and it didn’t help when she found the brochures to these rehab facilities I wanted to put her in. She needs help, Kate. I haven’t been able to control her, and I don’t know how far she’s going to go this time.”
“Whatever she does,” I said, placing my hands on my hips, “she’s not going to get Cooper away from me. I refuse to let her bring me down any more than she already has. I’m done letting her grief rule my life.”
Sadly, Emily smiled and nodded her head. “I feel the same way.” Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a set of keys and handed them to me. “Here, these are for you. Scott left you his car, along with some other things that I also brought. I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get it to you. My mother refused to let anyone send you the things he’d left.”
Oh my God. After all of this time, I had nothing of Scott’s in my possession. I felt so disconnected to him because I was denied any of his belongings … not even a simple T-shirt he wore so I could remember his scent or the pictures we took together.
Mouth gaping open, I gasped and reached for the keys with tears streaming down my cheeks. “Thank you for doing this. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“You’re welcome, Kate. I owe you so much for what you’ve done for my brother, and what I put you through the past two years. In the trunk you’ll find the title for the vehicle and all of the paperwork. Scott had it all put in your name a long time ago. Don’t worry, though; I’ve kept it maintained and paid the taxes on it. I’m pretty sure I could be arrested for withholding it from you, but I’m hoping you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me. Also, there’s a box in there that has your name on it. I never opened it, so I don’t know what kind of surprises he had in store for you.”
My lip trembled as I slowly walked over to Scott’s car; it was his baby. It still looked shiny and new like the day he bought it. I was with him that day, and he drove us all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway so we could have a picnic. Then he drove all the way back so that I could spend the night studying. His spontaneity was one of the things I loved about him.
Smiling, Emily came up beside me and placed a gentle hand on the hood of the car. “I’m going to miss this thing, but I know Scott wanted you to have it.” She looked down at her phone and held it tight. “If you don’t have any more questions for me, I’m going to call a cab to come pick me up and take me back to the hotel. I’m actually leaving to go back home tomorrow. I can’t afford to take off anymore time from work.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “Cooper and I can drive you back to the hotel.”
I knew I didn’t owe her anything, but it took guts to confront me and say that she was sorry. As much as I wanted to be a bitch and not care, it wasn’t in my nature to do so. She was Scott’s sister and he loved her.
Emily shook her head and opened her phone. “No, but I appreciate it. Cooper didn’t seem too happy when I showed up last night.” After searching through her phone, she dialed one of our local cab companies and asked them to come pick her up. When she hung up, she smiled at me one last time before walking to the edge of my driveway and sitting down on the ground.
I didn’t want to leave her alone, so I sucked up my pride and joined her. We sat like that for fifteen minutes, waiting on the cab to come while talking about all of the times Scott made us laugh. It felt good to finally talk about him; it was like I could feel his presence all around me.