Emily’s head jerks up, and she grins when she sees her brother and me.
“Grayson, Everly, what are you both doing here?” She studies our faces and her smile drops as she picks up that something is wrong. She stands to her feet and gulps when she realises my dad is also with us. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”
Grayson smiles at her softly as he walks over to her. He pulls her into his arms, wrapping his arms tightly around her, and she places hers around his waist.
“What is it?”
“There’s no easy way to tell you this,” he says as he kisses the top of her head. “He’s gone, Ems. Dad’s dead.”
Ems eyes widen in shock as she processes what he has just told her. She pulls herself from his arms and takes a step back, shaking her head over and over. “No. You can’t say that kind of thing.” Her eyes search her brothers. “You’re lying.”
Grayson steps forward and reaches for her, but she steps back again and folds her arms around herself.
“Ems,” I say, taking a tentative step towards her. “I’m sorry, girl, but its true. Your dad is no longer with us. He’s gone.”
Ems whimpers as she registers my words, and she drops to the floor and clutches her face in her hands. “He can’t be gone. I mean he’s healthy, he’s too young to die.”
Grayson drops to his knees in front of her and cups her face in his hands. “He was shot, Ems. Someone shot him and killed him.”
Ems breaks down sobbing and Grayson pulls her into his lap and rocks her as she breaks her little heart out. I reach my hand out to my side until I find my dad’s hand and he takes mine in his and holds it tight. I swipe my tears away with my other hand. I know this pain all too well. I know what it feels like to lose a parent, only I had time with my mum. We had time to say our goodbyes and process that she was going to die. The last time Ems had seen her father he’d been drunk and hurtful, and that would be the last memory she had of him.
On the journey back home, Grayson sits in the back with Ems and I sit up front with my dad. Dom texts to tell me they are home and that Owen is at our house and refuses to leave until he has seen Ems. I text him back and tell him I think it’s good that Owen is there. I think she will want him to be there when we arrive. No one talks all the way home. There’s an eerie silence in the car, only broken by the occasional whimper from Ems.
When we arrive home, Ems clings to her brother as he guides her out of the car and into my home. When we enter, Sophie, Dom and Owen are all sitting in the living area waiting for us. They all stand to their feet.
“Ems,” Owen breathes, looking heartbroken for his girl.
As soon as she sees’s him, she pulls herself from Grayson and runs to him sobbing. He sweeps her up in his arms and hugs her tightly, whispering words of comfort in her ear.
“I got you love. I’m here. I’m here for you.”
If Grayson has any doubts still that Owen isn’t serious about his sister, then they are extinguished right here in this moment. Owen loves her, that much is obvious.
“I’ll make everyone some tea,” Sophie suggests, and she guides Dom with her to give Owen and Ems some time alone. Grayson hesitates, looking like he does not want to leave her, so I wrap my fingers around his arm and snag his attention.
“Come on, she’s okay. Let her have five minutes with Owen.”
Grayson nods and linking his fingers with mine we join the others around the kitchen island. Dom strides over to Grayson and pulls him into a firm hug.
“I’m so sorry, G.”
Grayson hugs him back and I hear him mumble a thank you to his best friend. We would all be here for the both of them through this. They were not alone.
THE NEXT FEW WEEKS are a blur of activity and emotion. The autopsy confirms that a single bullet to the head killed Mr St. Clair. He would have died instantly and felt no pain, nothing.
The funeral is a cold and wet day. Ems clings to her brother, sobbing as their father’s coffin lowers into the ground. Grayson insisted on a new plot for his father. There was no way in hell he would agree to bury that man in the same plot as his mother. Ems had been hysterical when he’d told her they would be buried separately. She didn’t understand the dark past their mother had experienced at the hands of their father.
One of the board members of his dad’s company took on the role of executor of the will. My father’s solicitor had helped him sort it so that Social Services agreed Ems and Grayson would live with us on a family and friends foster placement until they could get guardianship for them both. By the time that is likely agreed, Grayson would be eighteen anyway and an adult. I am so grateful for what they have done for my boyfriend and his sister. Taking them in and taking responsibility for them so that they wouldn’t end up in care.
Sophie is already busy arranging for decorators to come in and paint the study so that it would feel like a proper bedroom for Ems. Ems will also not be returning to boarding school. It is the one thing everyone agreed on. She needs to be here with people around her to offer
