Broken Crowns {Book 1}

Chapter One: Emma

Emma glanced at the clock once again as she put the box of pizza on the dinner table between her and her brother, Kyle. She could tell from the forlorn expression he wore that he knew their father would not be home for dinner yet again. There was only so many times Emma could lie to the kid and tell him their father cared before her words would become meaningless. Perhaps they already had.

Kyle's lip pooched out as he pouted and picked at his pizza. He was barely six years old, but he was smart enough to know Emma and their father were keeping things from him. Like the fact that their mother was almost certainly not coming back, or how their father worked long hours so he would not have to spend so much time at home. To be fair, Joshua was not a bad father, he was simply an absent father. Even when he was home, he was not there, not really. Emma often wondered what went on in the man's mind that kept him so far away.

"Eat your food," Emma said, taking a bite of her own pizza to set an example; it was tasteless.

Kyle crossed his arms and frowned, eyebrows drawing together in frustration. "You said he'd be here," he said.

Emma sighed and dropped her pizza back on its plate. "He will," she lied.

"When?"

"I don't know."

As the words left her mouth, Emma heard the front door open. Kyle's face immediately lit up and he darted from the small kitchen to meet their father at the door. Emma heard them interact cheerfully, and she found herself wishing she still had that childlike ability to find the good in everything. She was not a child, though, and her ability to find good in everything had left with their mother two years earlier.

Joshua walked into the kitchen, Kyle on his hip. He smiled lightly at Emma, and she smiled back. At least for the moment, they could pretend to be a happy family. After all, things were not so bad. They had a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, Kyle was in a good elementary school and Emma had gotten into one of her top colleges a few years earlier, just before their mother had disappeared. There were things to be thankful for, things that should outweigh the hole Lorenza Martin had left in their family.

"I told you he would be here," Emma said to Kyle, who was now happily enjoying his pizza in the comfort of their father's lap.

Joshua smiled apologetically. "Sorry I'm so late," he said. "The hospital has been short-staffed lately."

Emma shrugged. "I get it," she said, though that ever-present pang in her heart reminded her that it would happen again.

Emma continued eating, listening as Kyle told Joshua all about his day at school and his friends who had pushed him down on the playground. Joshua listened intently, as a father should, replying with the appropriate responses, and laughing at Kyle's adorable pout. Emma tried to loosen up, too, to enjoy this limited time with her father and her brother, there, together.

Until Joshua's phone rang, and the happy family moment was ruined.

Joshua passed Kyle off to Emma and went to answer his phone. Emma cleaned Kyle up and got him dressed in his pajamas. She put him to bed and was glad when he went easily. Seeing their father always made Kyle comply without argument.

By the time Emma returned to the living room, Joshua was off the phone and putting his shoes back on again. She should have known — she had known — but still, she could not control the flare of her temper. Of course, he was leaving as soon as he arrived. Why would this night be different from any other? Emma had had it up to here with their father never being around and using his job as an excuse to be a part-time parent.