Songbird(23)

Greer kissed her nape, and his fingers curled over her shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

“He grabbed my throat—the attacker—he was so angry. He kept saying I’d ruined everything. He was…” She could feel his hand tightening around her neck. Feel the pressure as he squeezed. Remember the absolute knowledge that she was going to die. “He had to be some obsessed fan or someone like my father who felt my career was an abomination,” she finished in a barely audible voice. “My singing, my gift, killed Sean. I should have been happy to have just been with him and away from my father. We could have had a wonderful life, but I was so determined to prove my father wrong. My anger and my resentment killed the man I loved more than anything.”

Taggert sucked in a stuttering breath. His hand fell away from her face for a moment, and she refused to look up at him. She didn’t want to see judgment in his eyes.

“Is that why you won’t sing?” Greer asked.

Her hand flew to her neck. Her pulse jumped crazily against her fingertips.

“I can’t,” she said honestly.

“You will, Songbird,” Taggert said. “Right now you’re afraid, but when you feel safe again, you’ll sing.”

She shook her head, but he leaned down and kissed her, refuting her denial.

“It’s not your fault,” Greer said as Taggert pulled away. “You can’t second-guess your entire life. Sean was proud of you. He loved you. He wouldn’t have had it any other way. You know that, Emmy. If you look past your hurt and grief, you’d admit to yourself that he’d have no regrets.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” she said quietly. “But I do.”

“So do I,” Taggert said. “But I can’t torture myself forever over them. All I can do is try to make things right. With you. I want the chance, Emmy.”

She lay back, staring at the ceiling as she listened to Taggert’s and Greer’s rough breathing beside her.

“Are you sure?” she asked even as her chest swelled with hope. “Is this something you both want or is this a sympathy move for your dead brother’s wife?”

“That’s a shitty thing to say,” Greer said in a low voice.

She pushed herself up, crawled to the end of the bed and turned so she could see them both.

“I’m not trying to be shitty. I have a right to ask these questions. Have you and Taggert even considered what kind of life we’ll have? God knows I didn’t give it any thought before I came barging in here four years ago throwing my feelings around.”

She hated the hint of vulnerability that shadowed her voice. Hated even more that her hands shook.

Greer elbowed up and shifted his body so he was closer. The muscles in his shoulders rippled as he reached for her. She put her hands out to ward him off, but he caught her fingers and threaded them through his.

“What we’ve considered is that we’ll have a life with you. That’s all we care about. Will it be easy? Hell, I don’t know. I’ve never even tried to wrap my brain around a situation like this. Did I accept it overnight? No. I wish I had. Then maybe you and Sean would be here. It took me a long damn time, but I know what I want, Emmy. I want you.”

“Oh Greer,” she whispered. “Don’t blame yourself. What I wanted—what I suggested was so out of bounds. You can’t blame yourself for thinking I was crazy.”

“I’ll make you a deal.” Taggert’s eyes glittered with grim determination. “You don’t blame yourself and we won’t blame ourselves.”

“The point is, we can play the blame game for eternity,” Greer said. “But it won’t change a damn thing. Sean’s gone. We can’t bring him back no matter how much we want to.”

Pain slashed through her chest, and tears clouded her vision. He didn’t say it to be hurtful, but the resignation in his voice got to her in a way nothing else had. Sean was gone. He wasn’t coming back. Ever.

She rolled away, unable to face either of them. She clutched her arms and bowed her head, willing herself not to break again. There was nothing left. She didn’t have the strength for another emotional outburst.

Strong arms surrounded her, holding her, offering her love and support.

“Emmy.”

Said so tenderly her heart clenched, her name slid over her ears and straight into her soul. She turned her face up to see Greer looking at her with the pain of so many memories burning in his eyes.

“We loved him too. We miss him. But he’s not coming back. You’re alive. You have to live. You can’t go on like you have. Taggert and I love you. We want you to stay with us. We know it won’t be easy. We don’t even know what to expect. It’s new to us and we’ll have to work at it. Together. Give us the chance we didn’t give you four years ago. Let us love you.”

She raised haunted eyes and looked straight through Greer’s soul. He felt her pain. It was a tangible, terrible thing. Her grief spilled over into the room. Her guilt. If only he could take it away. He couldn’t. But he could love her. He could cherish her. Offer her all the things he should have given her four years ago.

He glanced over at Taggert and saw the same grim resolve reflected on his face. Emily was theirs. They might not have always acknowledged it, but it didn’t change the utter truth. She belonged to them. She’d always belonged to them.