Emma didn’t deserve to be picked apart like that in the public eye. She was different.
Special.
And she’d completely misunderstood what was going on.
The worst part was that I knew exactly what she was thinking. That I was like that idiot in college that broke her heart. Running around behind her back and cheating on her or some shit. Yes, I made a huge mistake introducing Emma as ‘just the teacher’. But it was to protect her. She had no idea who Zoey had run up on. She had no idea who I’d been sitting with at that table.
“When Miss Emma coming back over?” Benjamin asked.
“Yeah. She promised she’d bake another cake with us,” Hunter said.
“Can we call her?” Zoey asked.
“I don’t think Miss Emma’s feeling well right now, kids.”
“But she seemed okay at school today,” Zoey said.
I tried to keep the kids at bay and occupied after school, but I knew they were missing Emma. I was missing Emma. And every once in a while, I tried calling her. Texting her. Leaving her a voicemail. I tried all hours of the day and night, hoping she would pick up out of sheer anger at that point. Anything to get her on the phone to explain who Layla really was.
But she wasn’t returning anything.
“Can we watch a movie?” Benjamin asked.
“Can we see if Miss Emma will come over?” Hunter asked.
“Please?” Zoey asked.
“Here, Benjamin. Take the remote and pick out a movie,” I said as I heard my phone ring. “I’ll try to get Emma on the phone.”
“Yeah!” Zoey exclaimed.
I couldn't scramble down the hallway fast enough. My cell phone was ringing, and it wasn’t the tone I had set for work. My hand fell onto it on the kitchen island and I picked it up without looking. It had to be Emma. It needed to be.
I didn’t know what I was going to do if it wasn’t.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Mr. Aaron. It’s me.”
“Mr. Ford?”
I held the phone out from my ear and groaned when the words ‘Family Lawyer’ showed up on my screen.
“How can I help you?” I asked.
“I have some news regarding your sister,” he said.
I leaned against the kitchen counter and furrowed my brow.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“There have been some developments.”
“What kind of… developments?”
“You’re
aware that Valentina was transferred from the hospital to a rehab program about a week ago.”