Hearts on Fire (Book 5: Creek-Harbor)

Chapter 6// Elliot & Emma

(Elliot)

Looking around the family dinner booth/tables (because our family just keep expanding) My whole family laughing and just enjoying one another's company. Most of the time my siblings hate that my mother demands Friday-night dinners with her children and their partners, if we have one. But I don't hate it, because other than my job my family is the only other thing in my life that I care about.

And even though we drive each other crazy, butt into each's others business and fight like cats and dogs, we're still family and you fight for family. And these dinners they bring us closers every damn week, even if none of us are willing to admit that.

"Honey where's Gabby tonight?" I snapped out of my thoughts as I heard my mother's voice speak. Moving my eyes over to my oldest brother, as our mom asks about his wife. Harvey looks at mom for a moment, a small moment that I see something flicker through his eyes, which makes me frown a little worrying what it could be, I've never seen that look in his eyes before. Harvey has always been the wise one of us, the one who knows what's best in a situation the rest of us are lost in. He's always been the upfront one, the stable one of us all. But that look in his eyes, looks like sadness, hollow and a lost road for him. That he quickly covers up and looks back at mom with a fake smile.

"She's not feeling well mom, this pregnancy has been harder for her." Harvey answers, mom looks over to him with concern as the rest of us listen to their conversation.

Most of the time I don't push into my siblings business, I only step in if I have too. Like the time at Robyn's birthday party when Peyton and Xavier needed to talk but were both too stubborn to make the first move. I gave Peyton a little nudge. Or like when Thea ran away to our family's cabin after Dex told her he loved her, I was the only one who knew that Dex and our sister were in love, I suspected our sister Lexi knew too and of course then my brothers women also knew. But my brothers are a different story, so I drove to that cabin and told Thea the truth on what she needed to hear.

Other than that, I observe conversations and I pick up on things that are unsaid.

"Is she okay though?" It was Lexi who asked this time, Harvey nodded slightly.

"Yeah, she's tired, two kids, growing another one. It's why she stayed home tonight, and I brought Erica with me so she can have some alone time" He said.

Thea steps in this to speak or should I say asked "Where's Heidi?"

"She's having a sleepover with Cadence, Emma Cadence mom should be picking her up soon."

Lifting my head at the mention of Emma, something weird in my chest starts to form at the sound of her name. I haven't talked to her since that day in Peyton's café last week. When we're at work, we barely cross paths unless we're out on a call with the ambulance. I want and I should apologize for asking her child questions that weren't my business to ask.

But I don't know how to approach Emma, it's clear she doesn't like me that much. And I understand that, but the truth is I avoid her just as much as she avoids me, because she stirs up feelings in me that I don't understand, and I don't want too.

"Is that the same Emma from the café? That clearly has a problem with our brother over there?" Joel asks with a massive smirk on his lips as he looks over at me. shaking my head, resisting the urge to flip him my middle finger at the dinner table.

"Why does she have a problem with you?" someone asked me,

"What did you do to her??" That question came from Lexi with a laugh.

Shaking my head annoyed at all the damn questions, lifting my head and looked around at my family and sighed.

"Firstly I did nothing to her that I know off-;" I break off and looked directly at Lexi "And secondly she doesn't have a problem with me, we just don't get along that well at the firehouse" I said to nobody precisely.