Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Well, that’s the last of all the boxes,” Emma grunted as she pushed the box into the back of her jeep, “How are you looking for space?”
“I could still fit a bunch in, if you have anything else you want to take back with you,” Sarah’s tiny Toyota was brimming with clothes, suitcases, various pots, plants, and furniture items. Emma had decided she was taking her dad’s ancient TV back with her, even if it barely worked.
It was the next morning, and the crisp air of the breaking sunlight was cool enough that they could see their breath in little puffs in front of them. They had woken up at six in the morning, with the idea that they would start the trip back home by seven. It was over a twenty-hour trip back to Toronto, which meant they needed as many driving hours as they could.
Dressed in jeans, and a sweater, which was still the least she’d even worn in Harbordale, Emma took a deep breath. The fresh air filled her lungs, calming her sore body as she stretched. After a day of packing, she had planned on going to bed early.
After she had found the will, however, that plan had gone completely to shit. She’d sat in the kitchen for a full hour, simply staring at the paper. Finally, she’d managed to make herself go to bed but hadn’t been able to fall asleep until three in the morning. Her mind had been racing with thoughts that she wasn’t able to turn off.
Her body ached from the lack of sleep. She guessed that she’d gotten two hours at most.
Kat’s car pulled up in the driveway, the headlights blinding her as she turned towards her house.
“I’ll do one last sweep of the house,” Sarah said as Kat killed the ignition. “I’ll be back in five.”
“Sure,” Emma turned towards Kat as she popped out of the car. “You didn’t have to come!”
“As if I was going to let you leave without saying goodbye,” Kat rolled her eyes. Her blonde hair was tied up in a messy bun, and she still had her pajamas on. “I brought you coffee for the road.”
Taking the thermos, Emma squashed the swell of sadness that bubbled inside of her, “Thanks Kat. I really appreciate it.”
“Come here,” Kat closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug. “I know it’s been an insane winter, but I’m really glad I got to know you.”
Emma smiled and hugged Kat back, “Me too.”
“And please don’t be a stranger. You still have a home here – okay? Come and visit sometime.”
“For sure,” Emma ignored how empty she felt as she said the words, knowing that she had no intention of returning. There were too many memories, and too many feelings here. She didn’t want anything to do with them.
“Ok – I did the final sweep. It looks like we have everything,” Sarah came out of the house, with one final tray of plates and cutlery that Emma was taking, “Emma – do you want to take a final look or…?”
She waved her hand, “I’ve said my goodbyes to the place,” Emma turned her back to the house and the lighthouse. “I’m ready to go.”
“Before I forget,” Kat started, “Nick told me to tell you to swing by and get your last paycheck from the bar. He left it under the front door mat.”
“Gotcha,” well that was an unexpected detour she had to take now. “Sarah, why don’t you drive ahead – my car drives faster than yours anyway. I’ll catch up with you on the highway, I’m sure.”
“Sounds good.”
After an additional series of hugs and goodbyes, Emma finally got into her jeep and started the engine. Her chest felt heavy, and her heart sad, but there was nothing left for her here, and she needed to leave. Waving one final goodbye to Kat, Emma swallowed the bubble of emotion swelling in her throat and drove out of the driveway.
She glanced back at the house in her rear-view mirror as she drove down the road, catching a glimpse of the lighthouse in the back. Despite how desperate she’d been to leave this town when she’d first arrived, she’d become fond of it. And had allowed herself to become fond of a certain person as well. Whom she was not allowed to think about.
That would be too painful.
She drove down the eerily quiet streets of Harbordale. It was ironic to think that she had been so desperate to get her jeep back so she could leave this place, and now that she had the car, none of the joy she’d expected had come with it.
The sunrise had cast the streets in a pinkish hue, alighting the trees around it with a soft glow. The residents were still asleep, and so the normally busy, winding streets of the small town were empty. She drove by the mural that she hadn’t finished, passed the harbourfront where the ships docked with groceries, and finally reached the bar where Nick had hired her during her first week here.
She picked up the envelope that Nick had hid under the front door mat, something which would have never passed in a town bigger than Harbordale. With that, she hopped back into her car, and drove towards the highway.
And just like that, the ‘Harbordale’ chapter in her life was over. It felt so monumental, yet so insignificant at the same time. Her time in Harbordale had changed her, made her stronger, more resilient and braver than she’d ever been before. At the same time, here she was, closing the chapter with a quiet drive away from the town that had changed her so much. It felt like she was running away, in a weird sort of way, but what she knew with complete certainty was that she couldn’t stay here. Not while he was here too. That would completely destroy her.
His words still played in her mind, but she did her best to block them out.
Once the lighthouse situation was sorted, she truly will have left Harbordale behind. Then, she could start thinking about moving on and healing all the wounds she’d endured – some which had reached her heart.
The thought of the lighthouse brought back another swell of emotions. She’d stayed up the entire night wondering what to do. She’d finally found it, the god damn will that left the entire estate to her. Her father had given her complete ownership of everything that he had possessed. Jackson had literally been willing to murder her for the will, for the couple of million dollars it would bring him. A simple piece of paper, that she’d held in her hands last night.
The idea had come to her eventually, but once she’d thought about it, she knew it was the right one to make.
She hadn’t been able to sleep until she’d drafted the email. At three-thirty in the morning, she fished out her laptop from her luggage, and sent an email to the town mayor, cc’ing her bank and financial representative. In a short email, she attached a photo of the will, and had donated her rights to the lighthouse to the town of Harbordale.
For all the pain that the town had incurred because of it, and all the people that had died in the boating accident years ago, it felt like the right thing to do. She didn’t want to sell it and live off of money that had been responsible for sadness and pain. She hoped in one way, this would be a way to make up for her father’s mistakes and allow the town to heal.
She let out a deep sigh and used her right hand to take a sip from the thermos that Kat had given her. The coffee ran down her throat smoothly, comforting her body.
Turning onto the road where her jeep had broken down on her first night in Harbordale, she smiled at the memory of having to hobble over to Hunter’s place…
She shook her head. No, she wouldn’t go there. She had over twenty hours to drive, she couldn’t start thinking about him in hour one. It would make the remaining hours torture.
Turning on the radio, she flipped to a random channel to get her mind off of it. The highway was a few kilometers away, and then she would be on a one-way road to Toronto.
She didn’t hear it at first, because of the music she’d begun to blast in her car. However, after spotting the lights in the rear-view mirror as she made a turn, she lowered the volume to make sure she was hearing correctly.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…” she muttered under her breath. The police car’s sirens were on. The red, white and blue lights flashed brightly, indicating her to pull over.
She would’ve screamed, but instead, she laughed. Her life was a joke.
Emma pulled over, the dirt and gravel crunching under her tires. Pulling the gears into park, she turned her engine off and slumped back in her chair.
Of course.
Of course she would get a ticket before she started a new life in Toronto. It wouldn’t be her life if she expected differently.
She stared ahead as the police officer walked up to the car, and only looked when he rapped on her window.
Emma felt the breath leave her lungs, “Hunter?”
He motioned for her to roll down her windows, which she did immediately.
She wanted to kiss him, and hit him at the same time. “What are you doing?!”
“Step out of the car.”
“What -.”
His eyes looked sunken, as if he hadn’t slept, and his five-o-clock shadow was a full-on beard. “Ma’am, I need you to step out of the car.”
She stared at him, mouth ajar. “I don’t understand -.”
“Are you defying police orders?”
“Fine,” she scoffed, and unbuckled her belt. “Everyone in this town is a fucking maniac, I swear to God…” she stepped out of the car and stood in front of him on the side of the road. “What do you want?”
“You’re under arrest,” was all he said as he pulled out the handcuffs.
“Excuse me?”
“Turn around.”
“You aren’t handcuffing me.”
“Are you resisting arrest?”
“I’m not- what are you arresting me for?!” Emma yelped as he turned her around and snapped the handcuffs on her wrist, shackling her arms together. “Hunter -.”
“Officer Stone.”
She took a deep breath and tried to maintain a shred of patience, “Officer Stone, what am I being arrested for?”
“Let’s discuss in private, shall we?”
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