Is her own family actually warning me off her? I begin to choose my words very carefully while trying to keep my anger at bay. Her past. This is her family. God damn. He might not have said anything wrong yet. But I sure as hell don’t want to give Caleb a chance to get there. Luckily, Emma chimes in before I have a chance to act on my impulse to become a real dick.
"She likes you. A lot. Probably more than you even know. I know y’all haven’t been seeing each other long, but she’s smitten." She laughs. "I love it! She’s always so happy, and I’ve really missed that. I’ve missed seeing her just genuinely happy in life as a whole." Tears well in her eyes. "You just have to understand. You would be lucky to have her. Sarah is an amazing person. But it terrifies me that she isn’t talking to you. I’m only telling you this because, if you can’t handle all that is Sarah Kate Erickson, I need you to leave…like, yesterday." Emma implores.
"I’m not going anywhere," I respond firmly
"It’s easy to say that now. But you don’t have enough information to make that decision. I love my sister, but—"
"You are not listening," I start as my temper begins to slip. Sarah’s outside bawling her eyes out and I’m stuck inside listening to them spew warnings. "I’m not going anywhere."
"Then ask her about the necklace. Don’t let her brush it off as nothing. Everyone in Sarah’s life has known her for years. I think someone finally needs to hear her side of the story without the clouds of the past fracturing her truths. Someone needs to finally know that woman standing in the parking lot right now."
"See, right there. That’s a big part of the problem I’m having right now. That woman standing in the parking lot shouldn’t be out there at all. She should be sitting in here, laughing and eating chocolate cake. I think your heart is in the right place, but this shit is seriously fucked up. It’s her birthday. Why would you even give her that necklace tonight?"
"What? Are you kidding me?" Emma asks in awe.
"Hell no, I’m not kidding," I snap.
"All right. That’s enough. You need to calm the hell down and watch how you talk to my wife."
"Right. Of course. Well, I’m going to extend you the same courtesy. Watch how you talk about my woman. It doesn’t sit well with me that we are even having this conversation tonight. You should have talked to Sarah about what she feels comfortable telling me. I shouldn’t be privy to anything about her until she’s ready to tell me. Now I’m suspicious. Where does that leave the two of us? What’s if she’s not ready to talk yet, but I can’t stop asking questions?"
Hypocrite. Fucking. Hypocrite. But Christ, this is too much.
I didn’t seek out information about Sarah. And I feel guilty as shit that I know about her past—but not guilty enough to tell her.
"Just so you know, I’m smitten with her too. I’m not blind. I know she’s keeping some things to herself, and I appreciate you looking out for her, but I think it’s up to her when she wants to open up."
"She won’t ever tell you! She has you so high up on a pedestal, Mr. Perfect."
"I’m not perfect." I quickly correct.
"Maybe not, but she sees you that way. You don’t understand. You weren’t here when things went down."
"No, but I’m here now." I push to my feet and dig some money from my wallet. "Dinner’s on me. I’m sorry if I’ve come off as an asshole tonight, but I’m not going to just sit around while Sarah gets bashed."
"Who the fuck was bashing her?" Emma defensively jumps to her feet and shakes off Caleb’s arm as he tries to restrain her. She’s not yelling, but her reaction is definitely drawing attention.
"No one as long as I have anything to say about it," I answer matter-of-factly.
"I all but kicked her out the door for y’all’s first date." Emma steps around the table with Caleb sliding out behind her. "She’s my sister and she hasn’t exactly had the easiest road the last few years. And when she showed even the tiniest bit of interest in you, I pounced. I fully expected her to hate you—come home with some terrible story about what a cocky douche you were… And after this little outburst, I can’t say I was wrong in that assumption. However, Sarah is enamored by you. And if you left because of her past, I’m not sure how that would affect her. Jesus, all I’m saying is if you break up with her, do it because she’s a bore or lazy in bed—not because of her past. If you care about her at all, you will recognize that I’m only looking out for her."
"I don’t need you to remind me that none of us are perfect. Not Sarah. Not you. And certainly not me. Emma, I do recognize that you’re trying to help. But what you aren’t taking into account is that I’m doing the same damn thing. I just have a very different opinion on what help looks like. She’s your sister, but I care about her too."
"That’s really good to hear." She crosses her arms over her chest.