Free Eternal (Eternal series) by Chantelle Nay

about to let this go.  She was determined to find a way to see him.  He hadn’t said never, so there was still reason to hope.  That small piece of hope would fuel her creativity in getting him to yield in the end.
    “ It’s for the best Emma, you’ll understand someday .”  He was calm and reassuring, and Emma couldn't help but feel a little guilty.  She was going to make him go against what he believed was best for her.  She knew it was selfish, but she was only human.
    Emma knew what she wanted, whether it was best for her or not.
    
    Micah knew that he was getting in way too deep. 
    It had all started out quite innocently, but it had gotten out of hand somewhere along the way.  He had found ways to justify the amount of time he was spending with Emma, but now she wanted him to show himself to her. 
    That would not turn out well.  If she saw him, if he became that close to her, things would change.  Besides, he knew it was wrong, just like he'd known it was wrong to speak to her the first time, but he couldn't make himself stop. 
    He wanted so badly to be close to her, but he was starting to realize that it was for all the wrong reasons.
    
    Destry had searched the local telephone book but it had turned out to be useless.  There were three Baker’s listed and he didn’t know Emma’s parents’ names.  It wouldn’t have mattered anyway because only post office boxes were listed, not addresses.
    He’d considered just driving through the whole town looking for her car.  There weren’t that many houses, surely it wouldn’t be that hard to find her crappy old navy blue Chevy citation.  There couldn’t be very many of those around.
    Following her home from school would have been the easiest option.  But she seemed overly paranoid and probably would have noticed that she was being followed.  He didn’t want to totally freak her out.
    The last resort was to ask Chuck where she lived.  He really didn’t want to do that, but he was out of options.  That’s when the perfect opportunity presented itself.
    “ Hey Destry,” Chuck called out as he jogged to catch up with Destry in the parking lot after school.
    Destry turned and smiled.  He hoped Chuck hadn’t noticed him watching Emma as she got into her car.
    “I was wondering if you’ll cover my shift today at work,” Chuck said breathlessly.
    “ Why would I want to do that?” Destry countered.
    “ Because, I got some stuff to do.”
    “ Stuff?”
    “ Yeah, stuff.”
    “ It’s not illegal again is it?”
    “ It’s better if you don’t ask questions.  Let’s just say the less you know the better.  But I really need you to cover for me.  If you do this I’ll owe you big time!” Chuck was pleading.
    “ So if I do this for you, you’ll do something for me?  No questions asked?” Destry said with a sly smile.
    “ Yeah, sure, anything you want,” Chuck said happily.
    “ I want you to tell me where Emma Baker lives,” Destry said flatly.
    “ What?  Why would you…”
    “ Uh, uh, uh,” Destry cut him off.  “I said no questions asked.”
    “ Fine, I’ll tell you where she lives, but I don’t understand why you care.”
    “ Well that’s not for you to understand, just tell me and then get out of here before I change my mind.”
    Destry slowed as he passed the little house.  “So this is where the mysterious Emma lives.” He whispered to himself. He didn’t know why he was whispering, it’s not like there was anyone there to hear him.  It must have been because he felt sneaky driving by her house for no reason.  But this was something he had to do, even though he knew it was a bad idea.  He’d never have thought he would stoop this low.  He was an official stalker now. 
    After that, driving by her house became an obsession, even though it was out of the way and on the opposite side of town from where he lived.  At first it was enough just to drive by.  He told himself he was just checking to see