I sat at my window, watching and waiting. Why, I’ll never know. I’ve never held the trust one normally does when it comes to strangers, but I believed Onyx. His words that sounded like a promise, his lips on mine, his arms around me. I felt safe. For the first time in more years than I can remember, I wasn’t afraid of the world I live in.
A fleeting moment gave me hope when I should have remained in the dark.
A fleeting moment made me feel when I should have ignored it.
I barely know this man’s name, and already, I have become dependent on him from one small feeling. An insignificant one.
Now, a full day later, and I haven’t heard from him. I used to believe in fairytales. Princes and white knights. The day my father died, I thought I’d buried those dreams with him only to have a single man bring forth the clarity of which I used to long for.
Being kicked out of my stepmother’s home a year ago, almost to the day, was a blessing in disguise. I spent three weeks on the streets before an attorney’s private investigator found me and announced an inheritance from my father that no one knew of. The sum of money I received proved to be more than he left dear, old Robyn. She harbored a great deal of resentment and hate towards me when she found out.
After renting a condo for months, I finally found and fell in love with a small one-bedroom apartment in the city that I only moved into a few weeks ago. I also donated a portion of the money to the shelter who helped me wade my way through the streets, and still, I have more left in the trust.
Unfortunately, I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. Having been home-schooled, I never thought about college. I didn’t have friends. My guidance had been limited to what Robyn told me, and none of it was good. She had always been catty and rude when she spoke to me. Talking down to me like I was nothing while I grew up. Leaving her house had been the best thing to ever happen to me.
I grew to hate her and often wondered if my life would have been better off if she had died alongside my father or even abandoned me altogether. Guilt would immediately swamp me at those thoughts, and I’d bow down to whatever she wanted from me.
I’ve been a doormat for far too long, and I’m eager to climb out of my shell and discover my true self. Even if that finds me dependent upon a man of which I don’t yet know his full name.
I spend the morning reading tales of old, remembering the love Cinderella had for Prince Charming and he for her. The way Belle loved Prince Adam as first a beast and then a man. The consuming emotions they’d experienced are the ones I find I’m longing for.
I don’t know how or why, but my mysterious man has me sucked into a spell he might not have meant to weave. But from the first moment his arms wrapped around me, I recognized down to my soul that he would protect me. Become one of the most important people in my life.
Pounding on the door interrupts my romantic musings. Easing towards the door on soft steps, I peep through the hole to see a large man standing there.
Never raised a fool, I inquire, “Who is it?”
“Detective Marty Locke with the New York City police, ma’am?”
Nerves settle in the pit of my stomach. Has she found a way to take my new-found life from me? Robyn has been threatening legalities for months. The threat of arrest is one that terrifies me most. I’ve spent my whole life locked away and dictated to, and I can’t do that again. Not after getting a taste of freedom.
Opening the door, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for my next battle of wills. I search for the fight I know resides deep down inside, buried beneath the girl who simply craves to be loved and taken care of. I have to find her in order to be her.
“Grace Hawthorne?” The handsome man with a crooked nose and masculine jaw asks, a solemn expression on his face like he knows he’s about to upend my world.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“May I come in?” I step back, allowing him entrance as he clips his badge back onto his belt. The butt of his gun shows as his coat slips back into place. “My partner, Detective Inwood, will be up in just a moment.”
I nod and wait for the officer to speak, holding my breath as he looks around my home. Eyeing my silly unicorn knick-knacks critically. His judgment over such a frivolous item is only slightly masked by his contempt for my enjoyment.
Feeling uncomfortable in my own home has me irritable as I ask, “What are you here for?” with a bite in my tone.
His blank stare meets mine as a smirk crosses his face. “Robyn Hawthorne is your mother?”
“Stepmother,” I correct. She doesn’t deserve the title of mother.
“Stepmother,” he amends. “A call came in yesterday at her residence.” I hold my breath. I can’t let her back in my life. Whatever it is she wants, I can’t be that person. His dramatic pause slithers dread down my spine. “She’s dead.”
Thunder rumbles in my ears as the blood drains from my head and down to my feet. I’m light-headed and begin to sway when strong arms catch me. Arms full of care and consideration. Arms I’ve felt before. Ones I’ve longed for.
“It’s you.” I smile up at my savior as he picks me up while the room spins around me.
“It’s me.” He returns my smile as the first tear slips free of my eye.
Discomfort courses through me for the woman my father chose to love and I’ve been holding resentment towards for years.
“I’m a horrible daughter,” I cry into his chest, wishing I’d tried harder.
Been better.