Wherever You Go

Emma loved the summer. For her, summer meant more than just warm weather and late nights, crickets chirping into the breeze. It meant that the people she loved most would be coming home. For the majority of the year, Emma spent her days in Sicamous on her own working at the local hair salon. She would cross off every day on the calendar as it passed, wishing and waiting for those familiar faces to set foot back onto Canadian soil.

Emma left work early and decided to go for a walk. She tucked her hands into the pockets of her denim shorts and made her way to the pier. As her worn down gray Keds made contact with the wooden docks, she smiled to herself. Even the smallest sounds around town made her think of her childhood.

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She and her mother had moved from Vancouver to Sicamous in the summer when Emma had turned eleven after her parents got divorced. Leaving the big city for a town with a population of three thousand did not exactly thrill her. When they pulled into the driveway of the house that she would learn to call home, she was less than impressed.

"You'll love it here," her mother promised, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. Emma nodded, her eyes void of emotion. She exited the vehicle and decided to explore the neighbourhood. The only thing that seemed promising was the sound of kids playing down the street. From a distance, Emma couldn't tell how old they were, but as she drew nearer, most of them seemed to be her age.

It was a group of eight boys playing street hockey. Emma approached them cautiously, not wanting to interrupt their game. She edged up onto the curb so that she didn't get in their way.

No matter how inconspicuous she tried to be, it didn't take long for all eight boys to turn and face her. The boys who were playing in net removed their masks to take a better look.

A few of them whispered to each other while keeping their eyes focused on Emma. She nervously played with the hem of her shirt, not really one to be bold enough to speak out first.

One boy with scruffy brown hair and a rakish smile stepped forward. "Hi. You're new around here, aren't you?" Emma gave a nod. "Do you talk?"

She squeaked out, "Yes."

He laughed. "I'm Brandon. That's my best friend Cody," he said, pointing to a boy with tangled blond hair and blue eyes. "That's Daniel, Blake, Jason, Mike, Scott, and that's my older brother Shea."

Emma's eyes bounced from one boy to another as Brandon pointed at them with his index finger in the order he'd recited. Emma's gaze finally rested on Brandon's older brother Shea. He looked to be about thirteen, his dark eyes examining her closely. His lips remained in a flat, neutral line as he examined her from where he stood. She felt herself shrink.

"Do you want to play?" Cody offered. "I can sit out."

Emma shook her head. "I don't really know a lot about hockey."

Brandon howled. "Man, you've got a lot to learn!" He patted her on the back and started chatting away. Emma felt herself smile, though out of the corner of her eye, she could still feel Shea's hard stare. She tried to ignore it as best she could. Emma didn't know what Shea was thinking. But somehow, the prospect of them potentially becoming friends made her heart start to race.

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A few years passed and Emma had slowly grown to love her new home. When she turned fourteen, Brandon had invited her over to his house to celebrate. She walked five houses down the street and knocked on the front door.

Shea answered it and moved aside to let her in. Over the years, they'd talked a few times and became friends through Brandon. Whenever she was around him, Emma felt like a little kid. Even though there was only a two year difference between them, she couldn't help but think that Shea was so mature at the ripe old age of sixteen. Needless to say, it didn't take long for Emma to develop a crush on him.

"Happy birthday Em," he smiled down at her. She felt her cheeks heat up.

"Thank you, Shea."

"Brandon's in the living room with Cody," he said, pointing further into the house. "I think they're setting up a movie."

Emma nodded and started to make her way inside. She stopped herself and turned to Shea. "Are you going to join us?"

He looked like he was debating in his mind. Finally, he decided, "Sure."

They walked together in silence to the living room where Brandon was shuffling through a bunch of DVDs, trying to decide what to watch. Cody was sprawled out on the couch with a bowl of chips laid on his stomach, his hand periodically dipping into it and shoving a few in his mouth. When they both realized that Emma was standing by the doorway, Brandon and Cody sprang to their feet and ran over to hug the life out of her.

“Happy birthday, Em!” they declared. “You’re fourteen!”

Shea smirked. “Calm down, guys. Turning fourteen isn’t really a milestone or anything. It’s not like she can drive yet.”

Emma glanced up at Shea for half a second and looked back at Brandon and Cody. Brandon shot his brother an irate look. “You can’t drive yet either, Shea. You only turned sixteen two weeks ago.”

“Alright,” Cody clapped, not wanting this little argument to turn into something more heated. “Let’s sit down and watch the movie, shall we?”

Everyone fell into agreement and took their places on the couch or on the floor. Cody had decided to be noble and let Emma take his seat on the couch as he opted to sit on a pillow on the ground. Brandon took the single arm chair and laid across it so his legs dangled off one armrest and his head was placed on the other. Shea took a seat next to Emma on the left of the couch since it was the only one left.

The movie they decided to watch was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Everyone who knew Emma knew that she was a big fan of the books and was the most excited one in town when the movie was finally released.

The lights were out and the movie started. In the dark, Emma could feel Shea shifting. When she peeked to her left, she could have sworn that he had moved closer. She shook the thought from her mind and focused her eyes back on the screen. She must have been imagining things.

Emma knew she wasn’t just imagining things when she felt Shea’s arm drape over her shoulders. She tensed noticeably, unsure of what to do. Did he want her to move closer? Should she lean against him? She didn’t know what to think.

Shea could sense that Emma was uncomfortable. He scooted to the right, a little bit closer. Emma could feel her palms sweating. She kept darting her glance back at Shea, but his eyes were looking ahead at the movie. His lips were forever in that flat, neutral line. Her mind was swimming.

Then she felt him tap her on the leg with his free arm. She looked up at Shea, their eyes finally meeting. He tilted forward and placed a sweet kiss on the tip of her nose. Then he leaned towards her ear and whispered, “Happy birthday, Emma.” Then he resumed his previous posture, sitting upright and staring at the television screen.

Emma was almost sure that the pounding of her heart was audible to everyone else around her, but she relaxed when she realized that both Brandon and Cody were too transfixed on the Gryffindor VS. Slytherin quidditch game to notice what was going on.

Shea had always been a mystery to her, an enigma that couldn’t be solved. A stoic, mature adolescent who never spoke much but knew exactly what to say at the most crucial moments. Someone who lead by example. Shea hadn’t moved his arm from around Emma’s shoulders. And that alone made her bite back a smile.

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Another few years went by. Emma and Shea never spoke about what happened on her fourteenth birthday. She did manage to come out of her shell a little bit and talked to him more, and they became better friends. Emma couldn’t deny the fact that as Shea got older, he became more and more attractive. He had graduated from being a strong independent teenager into a well-chiseled man.

In the late spring before Emma’s sixteenth birthday and Shea’s eighteenth, Emma found herself home alone. Her mom went to go visit a sick relative back in Vancouver and she had to stay behind because she couldn’t afford to miss school. It was finally the weekend, but Emma was stranded at home because of the pouring rain outside her window.

She was curled up on the couch with a book as the digital clock from the cable box flashed 9:27pm. She was debating whether or not to turn in extra early since there was nothing better to do than sleep when a frantic pounding came on her front door.

Emma rose to her feet and sauntered over, unlocking it and opening it just a crack to see who it was. Once she saw the familiar face, she opened it completely.

“Shea? What are you doing here?”

Shea was standing on her front porch, completely soaked to the bone. “Brandon’s staying over at Cody’s and my parents are away,” he explained hurriedly. “I locked myself out.”

Emma nodded and moved aside to let him in. “Wait here, I’ll get you some towels and new clothes.”

As she padded down the hall to get some towels from the linen closet, she heard Shea’s footsteps not too far behind. She turned to face him and handed him a towel, which he graciously took and used to dry out the rain water from his hair. While he was still drying himself off, Emma wandered into her room to see if she had anything big enough for Shea to wear.

She bit her lip and pulled open the bottom drawer of her dresser, where she kept some of her father’s clothes. Even though the divorce had been a nasty one, Emma still loved and missed him. She tugged out a t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. As she got up to give the clothes to Shea, she nearly jumped out of her skin. He was standing in her room, gently closing the door behind him.

“Um,” she managed. “I got some of my dad’s old clothes. You can change into these and I’ll put the wet ones in the dryer.” Emma moved towards the door, but Shea blocked it with his large frame.

“It’s okay. You can stay. It’s your room, after all.”

Emma bit down on her lip so hard that she thought she could taste blood. She turned around as Shea started to shed his dampened clothing to give him privacy. Still, she couldn’t help but sneak a peek at his bare, toned chest. She could feel the heat rising in her skin and she desperately focused her eyes away from his body as she heard him drop his jeans.

“It’s okay, I’m dressed,” she heard him chuckle. She turned around and saw that her dad’s clothes fit him surprisingly well. They might have even been a bit loose.

“If you want, you can stay here and I’ll sleep on the couch,” she offered, not making eye contact with him. He laughed lightly as she moved towards the door again. As she got her hand on the doorknob, she felt Shea’s strong arms wrap around her from behind.

“Or you could stay here with me,” he breathed into her ear. She felt shivers roll up and down her spine as Shea’s lips lightly made contact with the side of her neck.

“Shea,” she gasped when she felt him nipping down on her skin. “What are you--”

“You know that I’m going away, right?” he mumbled against her hair. “I’m going to Nashville for the NHL Entry Draft. I didn’t want to leave without telling you...”

Emma swallowed down the lump in her throat. “Tell me what?”

Shea turned her around and traced her jawline with the tips of his fingers. He tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear and gave her a peck on the nose, then tilted Emma’s chin up to fully press his lips against hers. Electricity surged through her body as she started to kiss him back. It started in her toes and worked its way up to every muscle in her body. It felt like her lips were on fire.

They finally pulled apart and Shea rested his forehead against Emma’s. “I just wanted to tell you that if I have to go somewhere far away, you’ll be the one I miss the most.”

Emma rose to the tips of her toes and kissed him again, looping her arms around his neck. He held her tightly, gently pressing her back against the closed door of her bedroom. They stayed there for a while, the pent-up desire from both of them finally being released after nearly five years. Emma didn’t realize that they had been moving until she felt her back make contact with the soft sheets of her bed with Shea on top of her.

Emma’s mind was screaming. She broke away from him and looked him in the eyes. “I-I can’t,” she stammered. “I’m not ready.”

He smiled and placed a simple, reassuring kiss on her lips. “It’s okay. I would never do anything you weren’t ready for.” He rolled over so that he was beside her and pulled the blankets over them. The bed was only a double, so there wasn’t much room. Shea moved towards Emma and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. She snuggled into him, her tiny frame feeling like a doll in his strong grasp. The warmth from his body brought her comfort as she felt herself starting to drift off.

Outside her bedroom window, the rain continued to pour. But Emma and Shea were safe inside, tangled up in one another as they both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

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The day Shea had to leave for the NHL draft was hard for Emma. Since that night when Shea stayed over, the two of them were inseparable. She didn’t want him to go, but she knew that this was his dream. No matter how much she would miss him, she knew that she couldn’t be selfish. It was his time.

Emma and her mother went with him and his family to the Vancouver International Airport to see him off. Brandon and his parents would be going with him all the way to Nashville. After everyone had checked in, it was time to pass through the doors to go through customs, then towards the gate to their plane. Emma’s mother went off to make small talk with the Webers and Shea took this opportunity to talk to Emma alone.

“I’ll miss you,” he said, taking her hands in his.

“I’ll miss you most,” she teased, trying to smile though a tear escaped from her eye.

Shea frowned and wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. “I won’t be gone forever, Em. I’ll be back in the summers. I have you to come home to.”

Emma nodded and Shea leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. “Don’t forget about me when you’re rich and famous,” she joked as his parents urged him that they needed to go.

“I could never,” he promised. “Bye, Emma.”

“Goodbye, Shea.”

Emma and her mother waved to the Weber family as they disappeared further into the terminal. Emma let out a shaky breath as her mom wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered soothingly. “He’ll be back.”

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Shea always kept his promises. He came home every summer to be with Emma. Even though it was only for a few months, it reassured Emma that he was still there for her, no matter what. Whenever she was with him, she felt safe. Even seven years after Shea’s entry into the NHL, the feelings were still strong.

Emma sat on the docks at the pier, her Keds abandoned by her side as she let her feet dip into the cool water. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were over, with the Blackhawks taking the Cup back to Chicago. Shea and the Nashville Predators had faced Chicago in the first round of the playoffs and lost to them in six games. Shea had called her, disappointed. She consoled him over the phone, but at least now he was coming home.

“Hey,” a voice called from about ten feet away. “What do you think you’re doing, lazing around on the docks? I don’t get a welcome home?”

A huge smile spread across Emma’s face as she pulled her feet from the water and ran over to where Shea was standing. She jumped into his outstretched arms and he swung her around, her feet cutting through the air. He set her down on the ground and pecked her on the nose, the cute habit that he had adopted every time he saw her.

“I missed you,” he smiled, pulling her close and holding her to his body by the loops in her denim shorts.

“I missed you most,” she grinned, tugging him down by the collar of his shirt and connecting her lips with his. Every summer they exchanged those same words, but even as years passed, they never lost their meaning. Emma was head-over-heels in love with Shea, and she knew he felt the same way about her.

They sat together on the docks, their feet dangling in the water as the sun started to set on the horizon. Shea had an arm around Emma’s waist and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I love you, Emma,” Shea said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Emma looked up at him and smiled. “I love you too, Shea.”

“I want to be with you forever,” he said. “I want to have nights like these where the rest of the world disappears and there’s nothing left but the two of us. I want to know that wherever I go, you’ll be there with me. I want to be able to show the world that you’re mine and no one else’s.” Then Shea pulled out a small velvet box from his pocket and opened it. The light from the setting sun reflected off the simple, elegant square-cut diamond and made Emma’s breath hitch in her throat. “Emma, will you marry me?”

She smiled wide and drew him in for a kiss. When they pulled apart, she whispered against his lips, “What do you think?”

He chuckled and took the ring out and fit it onto Emma’s ring finger. It fit perfectly.

They sat together and watched as the moon slowly replaced the sun in the sky, stars dotting the dark blue canvas that stretched over everything in sight. Shea’s arms were wrapped around Emma’s middle as she leaned back against his chest, her hands covering his.

Sighing contently, she said, “I love the summer.”

Shea kissed the top of her head and held her a little bit closer. “So do I.”