CHAPTER TWO

Emma headed down the drive from the house, relieved that for once the situation about to erupt inside was nothing to do with her but also slightly worried about how it was going to develop. She was so lost in thought that she didn't realise someone else was in the drive until she'd collided with them, dropping her bag in the process.

"Here, let me help you,"Rebecca offered, bending to pick them up.

Emma was too startled to object, crouching down herself to retrieve some of the items. Rebecca handed her the rest and she returned them to her bag before they both straightened up. "What are you doing here?"Emma asked.

Rebecca didn't answer the question. Instead she glanced past Emma up the drive. "Is that your dad's car?"

"Yes,"Emma admitted. "Look there's something going on that's really important to Sutton and you going in there is just going to make things worse so can you stay away for a while?"

Rebecca adopted an innocent expression. "Well, I'd never want to make things worse for Sutton." Emma nodded and headed off down the road. As she did, Rebecca opened her hand to reveal Emma's house keys, purloined during the confusion. "I got what I came for anyway."

Sutton and Dan were sitting at one end of the table, Kristin and Ted at the other. The latter pair's brows were furrowed in confusion, not least at Dan's presence. "So why did you want us both here?"Ted asked.

"We need to tell you something,"Sutton answered.

Kristin looked at Dan. "Is Sutton in some sort of trouble?"

"No, she's not." Dan shot Sutton a questioning look and she nodded in agreement. Cautiously, he took her hand, above the table so both of her parents could see. "We've…been seeing each other."

He took in their reactions. Ted looked concerned, Kristin seemed to be doing her best to hide her anger. "How long?"she asked.

"Two weeks,"Sutton explained.

"With Ethan having his friends over more, we began spending time together,"Dan continued. "We… found we like each other. I know this probably isn't the situation you wanted…"

"I…wouldn't really be doing my job as a parent if I wasn't concerned about this,"Ted admitted. "There's ten years between you, at your age that's a lot."

"I understand that, Mr. Mercer, Mrs. Mercer,"Dan responded, feeling the formal address was probably best in the circumstances. "But I care about your daughter a lot and I think she's a very special young woman. I'm not intending to hurt her. But if you have your concerns, then I guess you have to do what you think is best."

Kristin glanced sideways at Ted for a moment. "Given the state of our own relationship, I don't suppose we're in any place to pass judgement,"she conceeded.

Both Dan and Sutton let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you,"Dan responded.

"Unless you do hurt her,"Kristin continued. "In that case, I may have to reconsider."

Rebecca had put on her best blue dress. She paused in the doorway of the restaurant, seeing with satisfaction that most of the men present turned to stare at her and then quickly had to hide the fact from their dining partners. She picked out Ted, already seated at the table she'd booked. He got up to greet her, gesturing for her to take the other seat. "You look nice,"he complimented her.

She flashed him a winning smile. "Why, thank you, Ted."

"This is just dinner as friends?"he checked as they took their seats.

"Of course. You could have brought Emma and Sutton along and made it a family outing." She smiled so he'd think she was joking.

Ted laughed obligingly. "Well, Emma's going to the movies with Ethan and Sutton's…seeing Dan."

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Dan? As in Ethan's older brother?" Ted nodded. "And you're all right with that?"

Ted spread his hands helplessly. "Not really a lot you can do to change Sutton's mind once it's made up. They told us this afternoon."

"Ah, so that's the family crisis Emma wanted me to stay out of. So Kristin's at home on her own?"

"I think so."

Rebecca closed her menu. "Order the prawn cocktail for me for starter, will you? I just need to use the restroom." She waited until she was round the corner from the table, looked back to make sure Ted wasn't paying her any attention, then took out a mobile and keyed in a number. "You're on."

Emma kept shooting Sutton looks as Sutton drove them along the desert road, an amused look on her face. It was when she did it for about the twentieth time, the same knowing smile on her face, that Sutton finally snapped. "Will you stop doing that?!"

"Sorry,"Emma replied with a smile. "I just can't get my head around it. You and Dan."

"Yes, me and Dan. Deal."

"Just…how did that happen?"

"The same usual normal way it always happens. Do not ask me for details."

Emma regarded her for a moment. "You look happy,"she remarked.

Sutton gave a non-committal shrug. "So?"

"It looks good on you."

Sutton couldn't resist giving a smile. "It feels good too,"she admitted.

Dan was setting the table in the trailer for a meal for two. His concentration was not helped by the fact that Ethan was grinning at him the whole time. "Have you got something to say?"he asked at last.

"You and Sutton Mercer,"Ethan replied. "You are dating Sutton Mercer. The biggest troublemaker in town. The girl that you kept warning me not to go within a country mile of because she was gonna be a bad influence and get me into trouble." He grinned even wider. "You realise if she buys you a drink you're gonna have to arrest her?"

"Any more comments like that and you're gonna find that there are worse places to be living than this trailer."

They were, perhaps fortunately, interrupted by the arrival of Emma and Sutton. Emma went over to Ethan and greeted him with a kiss. Throwing aside any feelings of self-consciousness, Sutton did the same to Dan before turning to her twin. "So, do you kids have anywhere to go?"

"I don't think you know how much it means to me to have you as my sister-in-law twice over,"Ethan remarked.

Emma was rooting through her bag, suddenly preoccupied. "I don't have my keys."

Sutton shrugged. "Well, that was dumb of you."

"I don't want to have to wake Kristin up when we get back…" She turned to Ethan. "Do you mind if we drop by the house on the way so I can pick them up?"

Ethan nodded. "Sure."

Kristin poured herself a glass of wine. She still hadn't quite got used to being alone in the evening. Usually Ted had been home or, if he wasn't, at least one of the girls had been around. Certainly, she had never spent a night alone in the house. But with Ted and Laurel no longer living there and both Emma and Sutton finding other places to spend the night, she feared that day was soon coming.

She heard the sound of a door elsewhere in the house and her expression became puzzled. Had someone come home early or called round unexpectedly? "Sutton? Emma? Is that you?"she called, heading in the direction of the noise.

That was when two men appeared, dressed in black and wearing balaclava masks. All she could see of them was their eyes and mouths. The eyes were entirely devoid of warmth.

"Who are you?"she asked, backing away. "What do you want?"

They said nothing. They just advanced on her.

Ethan stopped his bike at the end of the driveway, allowing Emma to dismount and hand him her helmet. "I won't be long,"she told him. "Wait here."

She hurried up the drive to the house, relieved to find the door unlocked. She hurried into the living area…and that was when she saw them. Kristin, backed up against the bar, one of the men holding her from behind, the other with his hands around her throat as she struggled uselessly.

"Leave her alone!"Emma shouted. She ran towards the melee, trying to remember some long ago self-defence lessons. She kicked the one who had his hands around Kristin's throat in the stomach, leaving him slightly winded and causing him to break his grip.

The other one threw Kristin aside and punched Emma in the face, then the stomach, then the face again, the viciousness of the assault knocking her to the ground. She felt up her hands in front of her in a desperate attempt at protection. "Don't hit me!"she screamed in terror. "I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant!" Her words had no effect on the man. His fists struck down at her again.

Ethan, having heard Emma's first shout, came thundering into the room. His entrance was enough to put the men to flight. One of them ran past him, elbowing him in the ribs as he did so and knocking him aside. The second one was only a step behind him, shoving Ethan when he was already off balance and causing him to tumble down the short flight of steps.

"Call an ambulance!"Kristin shouted and Ethan looked up. He saw her cradling Emma, who lay unmoving, blood seeping from a wound on her forehead.

"Call an ambulance!"Kristin shouted again, shaking Ethan out of his shocked paralysis. He keyed the number into his phone, silently praying that it wouldn't be too late.