Morgan sat in the car at the school gates and waited with the engine running. Down in the center of town, all of the snow had disappeared, and she could tell that spring was officially on its way. She tapped her fingertips on the steering wheel and sang along to the songs on the radio, even if the words she was wailing were completely wrong.

She checked the clock and listened for the bell.

Any moment, she thought as she turned off the ignition and climbed out of the car and onto the path that led up to the school doors.

There was still a bite in the air, but she barely even noticed it. She felt happy and content, and for the first time in a long time, as if things were working out positively for her. She had spoken to her mom earlier in the day and had arranged to go back to the house over the weekend and collect some of her canvasses to display up in the annex. She had spent too long staring at bare walls, and she was starting to yearn for some of her creations. She even hoped she could sneak her easel in and work on some of her own work once Emma had gone off to bed in the evening, or if she was ahead on her chores during the day.

The bell sounded out and the doors to school burst open. The clatter and chatter of children filled the air as they all piled out into the school yard and it wasn’t long before Morgan spotted Emma and her pink bobble hat bounding into view. She lifted her arm and waved to her, and Emma smiled and waved back before she started to make her way toward her.

She ran at full sprint and wrapped her arms around Morgan’s legs.

“Morgan!” she beamed as she looked up at her with adoring eyes.

“Hello, little one,” Morgan smiled as she patted her head. “And how was your day?”

“It was good,” Emma grinned. “Today, we painted rocket ships and stuck dry pasta onto paper plates to make faces. I have mine in my bag.”

“Wow,” Morgan smiled. “I can’t wait to see those, they sound very creative.”

Emma looked incredibly proud as they walked back to the car. Morgan helped to lift her into the back seat and fastened her seatbelt, before she closed the door and climbed into the driver’s side.

She looked at Emma in the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but feel a great swell of pride. This little girl truly was special, and she felt honored to be a part of her life.

“We’re going to head down to Main Street,” Morgan called over her shoulder. “I need to get a few things for dinner tonight.”

“Awesome,” Emma grinned as she tapped her feet on the back of the chair in front of her and hummed along to the song that was on the stereo.

Morgan pulled out of the parking lot and started to make her way toward the grocery store. She saw plenty of familiar faces as they went walking up and down Main Street, and when they approached and passed Sweeney’s General Store she found herself instinctively rolling her eyes and fighting the urge to growl in its general direction.

“That’s where I used to work,” she said to Emma as they passed by and she pointed at it.

“The red one?” Emma asked.

“Yup,” Morgan answered.

“Why did you leave?”

“I really didn’t like it,” Morgan said as she cast a little look at Emma over he shoulder. “And it worked out well because it meant that I could come and work for you guys.”

“It doesn’t feel like you work for us,” Emma said. “It feels like you live with us. It’s like you’re family.”

Morgan’s heart almost burst with affection and she couldn’t keep the smile from her face.

“Thank you, Emma,” she beamed. “That’s a truly lovely thing for you to say.”

“You do,” Emma said. “Even dad said so.”

The revelation caught Morgan off guard and she found herself speechless. She looked at Emma in the rearview mirror to see if she was smiling after telling an obvious joke, but then Morgan had to remind herself that she was only six.

Emma wasn’t going to joke about that kind of thing.

She wanted to probe further, but she spotted a parking space and quickly put on her indicator so she could maneuver into it once the car had finished pulling away.

She parallel parked and put some money in the meter, and then she helped Emma out of the back seat and they started to walk toward the store. Morgan looked down at Emma and opened her mouth to speak, but then she decided against it and shut herself up before she even began.

“What are you making for dinner?” Emma looked up at her with big, blue eyes. “Can I help you?”

“Sure, of course, you can,” Morgan smiled. “I was going to do spaghetti, how does that sound?”

“That sounds amazing!” Emma clapped her hands together excitedly.

“And we need to find some things for your lunchbox for you to take to school tomorrow. Surely, you must be getting sick of peanut butter sandwiches by now?”

Emma shrugged and then half nodded.

“I am, but I don’t like to say…” she trailed off and Morgan was sure she could see a little blush creep across her cheeks.

She put a hand on her shoulder and helped steer her into the grocery store where Emma insisted on carrying the basket and filling it with everything they needed. Morgan wandered with her and pointed to various items, and Emma would go over to the shelf and select it, before she would throw it into the basket and move on to the next aisle. It was an incredibly efficient way for them to shop, and they were done in no time.

“A job well done,” Morgan said as they approached the check-out and started to put everything onto the conveyor belt.

The woman who was serving them started to ring the items through and bag them up, and Morgan and Emma flipped through a cartoon magazine that was on the stand next to the register.

“Do you want it?” Morgan asked as she looked down at Emma and the thrilled look on her face.

“Yes, please,” Emma said sweetly.

Morgan put it on to be scanned through and Emma picked it back up once it had been counted. She opened it and leaned against the side of the check-out as she flicked through the pages and grinned wider than Morgan had ever seen.

“Dad doesn’t understand why I like these,” she smiled. “He says they’ll teach me bad habits.”

Morgan raised her eyebrows.

“Well, I’m going to get into trouble for buying you one then,” she laughed.

“No, you won’t,” Emma said nonchalantly. “He’s in love with you.”

Morgan felt as if she had been winded, and she quickly looked down at Emma and shook her head in confusion.

“What did you just say?” she asked with her mouth half hanging open.

Emma continued humming and reading her magazine, and she was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear what Morgan had asked her.

Morgan turned back to the counter and paid the woman on the register, and then she lifted up the grocery bags and began to walk toward the door. Emma trailed behind her and they stepped back out onto Main Street and began to walk back toward the car.

Up ahead, there were crowds of people milling around, and the whole street was a lot busier than it had been when they had arrived.

“Hold onto my coat,” Morgan said down to Emma, and she felt her little hand tug onto the pocket and then onto the belt loop. “Just so we don’t get separated,” Morgan said.

Emma walked with her and before long, they had finally made it to the car, where Morgan unlocked the doors and started to load the groceries into the trunk.

Emma stood next to her and danced around on the spot as she sang and held up her magazine, flipping through the pages and singing to all the characters inside, and chatting along to them as if they were real.

When Morgan closed the trunk, she almost jumped when she realized there was a man standing in front of her with an angry look on his face, and she instinctively reached down to take hold of Emma’s hand.

“Can I help you?” she smiled nicely, but the man’s expression didn’t change. He looked so full of rage that it was like he was about to burst.

“Can you help?” he spat venomously, his left eye twitching and his palms flexing in and out into fists.

Morgan looked down and took a step backward, pulling Emma with her.

“You know something,” the man said angrily as he took another step closer to them. “People around here don’t like it when folk show up and start meddling in our affairs.”

Morgan was trying to place him, and she was sure he was familiar, but at the same time, she didn’t know him.

“Excuse me?” she said, genuinely concerned. “I think you must have the wrong person… I don’t know what you’re referring to…”

“Oh, don’t you?” the man said with a menacing stare. “All sweet and innocent the pair of you, like you don’t know what he’s up to!”

Emma started to cry, and Morgan wrapped her arm around her shoulder to shield her. She pushed Emma behind her slightly so she couldn’t see him anymore and then Morgan scowled back at the man who was hurling abuse at them.

“I don’t know who you are, but back off… You’re upsetting her,” she told him sternly.

“Fuck you,” the man said harshly as he took another step closer. His face was twisted up in rage, and he looked as if he was going to push Morgan in the chest. He was so close to her she could smell the stale scent of sweat on him, and his breath reeked of onions.

“Sir,” she whispered, trying not to get panicked. But in reality, her heart was pounding, and she felt like she too was about to burst into tears.

“Hey!” the voice cut in from behind them, and Morgan turned her head to see Trent running toward them.

“Daddy!” Emma wailed as she ran toward him and he swept her up in his arms. He held her there and looked into her eyes, making sure that she was okay, before he placed her back down and strode over to the man that had been insulting them and was now on the verge of turning aggressive.

“What are you doing?” he said as he barged over to them. He touched Morgan reassuringly on the shoulder and looked down at her quickly. She gave a weak smile and stepped away to be beside Emma and she picked her up and held her close.

“Huh! I said what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Trent spat as he pushed the man full on in the chest with both hands.

The man staggered backward, and for a moment, it looked as if he was going to retaliate. He clenched his fists and he was staring at Trent with wild eyes, as if he was about to unleash hell, but there was something about Trent that was so intimidating and powerful, Morgan could already see that this man was outmatched. If he went for Trent, he was going to get his ass kicked.

She swallowed and turned so that Emma couldn’t see what was about to unfold.

“What were you saying to my kid?” Trent said as he took a step closer to their assailant. “What the hell do you think you’re doing going anywhere near them?”

He was getting angrier by the minute and he pushed the man again, who, this time, slammed back into a parked car and fell onto the hood.

He rose up and held up his hands in surrender, but he smiled at him with menace.

“I was sending a message, city boy,” he said with a snarl. “We don’t like people coming into this town and messing with our affairs.”

“City boy?” Trent spat. “Is that the best you’ve got?”

He laughed and rolled his eyes.

“Come on,” he shook his head. “I’m trying to help out here. I know how this is all going to go down. Everyone who owns property along Main Street is going to get screwed over if they don’t act soon.”

“That’s not what I’ve been told,” the man said with angry eyes. “The developers told me you’re trying to do one over on us… that you’re trying to stop us from taking their offers, so you can clean up for yourself.”

Trent took another step closer and leaned over him.

“I don’t need any more goddam money,” he said quietly, staring into the man’s eyes. “And I’m telling you two things right now… One, you should all really take my advice, unless you all want to end up with nothing… And two, if I ever see you, or any of your friends, go anywhere near her or my daughter again,” he turned back and looked at Morgan before he faced the man again and grabbed hold of him by the chin. “Then I’ll kill the lot of you.”

The man’s lip quivered, and Morgan’s heart was pounding so hard in her chest she was sure everyone around them must be able to hear it.

Trent pushed the man back again and he slammed into the bonnet of the car, before he turned to walk away.

“Come on, girls,” he said as he wrapped a protective arm around Morgan’s shoulder and steered her back toward the car.

“Trent?” she whispered, but he just shook his head.

He opened the back door and motioned for them to get in. Morgan didn’t argue, she climbed into the back seat with Emma and buckled her in, while Trent climbed into the driver’s side and started the engine with a deafening rev.

The crowds that had been watching them were still all standing there with their mouths hanging open, and as they drove away, she was sure she could see the glint in all of the women’s eyes as they watched Trent take charge.

Whoever that man was who had come gunning for them, they clearly had bad blood over something.

But Trent had owned him outright.

He had shut him down and he had dominated the situation so fast that it was almost as if it had never happened.

Morgan’s heart was still racing, and Emma sat in silence the whole way home. When they got back to their spot on the mountain and Trent stopped the car in front of the cabin, he shut off the engine and turned to look at them both with a sorry expression.

“I don’t know why he just did that,” Trent said calmly. “But I want you to know, I’m never going to let him hassle either of you again, do you understand?”

Morgan and Emma both nodded.

“Who is he?” Morgan couldn’t help but ask.

Trent sighed and shrugged.

“Some local idiot who thinks he knows how to play with the big boys,” he laughed. “I’ve tried to give him some advice, but it looks like he doesn’t like it. I don’t care if he loses his fortune now.”

Morgan’s heart rate was beginning to turn to normal and she reached across and took hold of Emma’s hand.

“I don’t know how he knew you two were connected to me,” he shrugged. “I still think we’re pretty new in town, but someone must have told him.”

Morgan could tell that it had shaken him up too.

“Let’s just forget it happened,” he said. “Okay?”

Emma nodded her head again, but Morgan wasn’t so sure if the memories would be so easy to erase.

Even though nothing had happened, it had still been an unexpected and frightening incident.

Thank God for Trent.

Thank God he had been there at just the right time.

He helped the girls out of the back of the car, and then he opened the trunk and lifted out the grocery bags.

As they all walked back to the front door, Morgan’s head was awash with confusion…

Suddenly, their connection felt very real.

He had come to her rescue and he had shown her what he was made of.

He had been a hero through and through…

And now, all she wanted was to get to know him even more.