Waiting For Love (Wild Creek Ranch Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Are you leaving Fordsville, Ember?" Adelaide asked her friend with surprise. 

"Yes, I'm done with this place, Adel. I can't stay here anymore, " said Ember with a sigh.

"But what about Rex? He proposed to you didn't he? I can see his ring on your finger, " asked Adelaide with concern.

"Rex proposed before he knew about my past. He told me that my past didn't matter to him but on the day of your wedding, he found out about my past and broke off with me," said Ember. Adelaide's mouth hung open at her confession. She had been so busy on her wedding day that she hadn't noticed anything except Ember drinking at her reception party.

She told her how she found herself on his bed the morning after the party and how rude he was to her. Adelaide's mouth hung open at her words. "He liked you so much. What happened to him suddenly?" She asked Ember. 

"He just found out that I had a baby with someone. His words hurt me so much that I didn't have the wish to tell him anything. He wanted me to go away and start a life with the father of my unborn child and make more children with him," she said in a dull tone. Adelaide shook her head. She wanted to blast Rex by now. 

"Sorry, Ember, I didn't know," she said, going to her friend and hugging her but strangely Ember didn't shed a single tear. She sat like a statue, with no emotions on her face as if  her soul was dead, her reason to live had been wrenched out of her body. Adelaide knew she was hurting yet couldn't do anything to help her friend. She swore to go and put some sense into Rex's head for doing this to her best friend. Her trust in him too broke for hurting her best friend. 

"Promise me you won't tell Rex anything about me, Adel. Let him be happy. If he doesn't want me, I don't want to pressurize him to accept me into his life. Promise me you won't tell him, Adel, " she asked in a small voice. 

"Okay, I promise you I won't tell him," sighed Adelaide. 

"Jamie came over to apologize. I forgave him, " said Ember explaining to her friend about that evening before the wedding day.

"I'm glad that you and Jamie got your closure, Ember. You both needed it," said Adelaide and Ember nodded. 

"Don't go Ember. You can avoid all interactions with Rex but why do you need to leave the town, your home and your family, your friend,  your work for him? I want you to see my baby when it's born," said Adelaide. 

"I can't stay Adel. This place has memories which I want to forget. I'll feel like ending my life if I stay here. I can't stay here and see Rex going around with another woman or marrying someone else," sighed Ember. "I'll come down and see your baby, don't worry," said Ember. "But I need to go or else I might do something. Rex has hurt me more than Jamie ever could. I loved him, I begged him to listen to my story first before asking me to marry him but he didn't listen. Like a fool, I believed him thinking that my past wouldn't make any difference to him, but it did eventually," said Ember. 

Adelaide left after an hour, sad and dejected. She didn't say anything to Rex but from that day onwards she stopped all interactions with him. Rex noticed the change in her and was worried more at what was going on.

Ember left after two days. Her granny and gramps hugged her and bade her farewell with tears in their eyes. They knew she wouldn't listen to them and stay. 

Rex heard that she left for Helena. He was sure that she left to live with that man, to start a new life with him. He was shattered by the news but dragged himself on knowing that he had no hold on her at all. He should let her live in peace with the father of her child. He would learn to live with his unrequited love.

Granny Stacey stopped going to Wildcreek Ranch after Ember left home. There was nothing left for her there. All her planning had failed. So, she and her husband were devastated and lived a lonely life waiting for Ember to return home.

Ember loved working at the Royal Children's Hospital which was a technologically advanced children's hospital with their own pediatric and neonatal emergency transportation fleet, operating one of the largest neonatal intensive care units in the city. She rented a small one bedroom apartment within walking distance from the hospital. It was clean and comfortable and it was her new home. She stuck pictures of Rex everywhere in her apartment, it was her little escape from reality. It was her dream world. She new she was doomed for life as there wouldn't be another man for her. So the pictures were enough to console her when she returned from work. 

It took her a week to settle down. She missed her granny and gramps but she couldn't live in Fordsville and watch Rex move on with his life. After Rhett's wedding surely his family would want him to settle down now. 

At the hospital, the staff were very friendly and helped her settle down. Nurse Drew, who headed the nursing department was a kind, motherly woman unlike Renner and it made her life a little easy. She was a recluse and didn't make any new friends. The whole day she drowned herself in work and by the time she returned home to her little apartment, all she had time for was to make a simple dinner, eat and sleep. She overworked herself to forget her grief. During the weekends too she worked not for the money but to avoid the memories from haunting her the whole day. 

Adelaide called once in a while to update her about her grandparents and about her own pregnancy. In her absence, Adelaide had regularly gone to visit her grandparents to comfort them. They cried whenever she visited them. They were concerned about her welfare and what would happen to her after they were no more. Adelaide coaxed her to visit them but Ember was adamant. She didn't want to set foot in Fordsville. She called her grandparents every weekend and that was all. 

Adelaide informed her about Sawyer and Renée's wedding but she never told her anything about Rex. Even Ember didn't ask her. He should be doing well. Maybe he found another woman to love and had already placed a ring on her finger too. As for her own ring, she wore it all the time like it was her only treasure. 

She walked to the hospital every morning and returned home every night, a lonely figure, lost in herself. Everyone at the hospital found her strange as she never interacted with anyone at all. During her lunch breaks she would just grab a quick bite and resume her work. She didn't answer any personal questions and slowly the other nurses left her alone. Adelaide sent her photographs of herself, her rounded belly as her pregnancy approached. She was expecting a baby girl and Rhett had thought of a name already, Andrea. Ember too loved the name and waited for Andrea's arrival into the world. 

Days passed into weeks and weeks passed into months. Eight months flew by and then one day she received a call from Adelaide.  Andrea was born. She sent pictures of her. She was cute as a button and Ember immediately fell in love with her. She was born a little underweight so the party that was scheduled to be thrown to celebrate her birth was postponed for another two months till Andrea gained a little weight and her mom recovered. 

Ember decided to visit Fordsville at last after two months to  bless Andrea. She couldn't stay away from that little angel any more. If she had her baby, she would have loved it just like she loved Andrea. It would be for just a day and she would return the next day. She trained herself everyday, forcing her mind to just be normal in front of Rex and his family. She wasn't weak and she could do it. If Rex had married or moved on she wouldn't over react. She was just going because of Andrea and she would return back to her world immediately afterwards. 

Finally two months passed by and Adelaide invited her to the get together at Wildcreek Ranch over the weekend. She took leave at work. They willingly gave her leave since she had never taken a day off since the day she had joined. It was Saturday morning and the party was in the evening. So packing an overnight bag, she drove to Fordsville with a heavy yet broken heart full of memories.