Derek

Three long months later…

I’ve been on duty all night after pulling a double. It’s time for me to go home, but I can’t stop myself from seeing the object of my fascination. I’ve been in love with her since she first strolled into town. My interest has gotten out of hand. I’ve essentially become a stalker. As a man of the law, it’s not something I should ever admit to and I most definitely should give up this obsession, but I can’t.

I’m standing outside the bakery when I get the fucking shock of my life. A woman I missed and yet hoped to never see again is standing there, staring at me with contempt. Of all people, she shouldn’t be looking at me like that. Her life is of her own making and my life is the way it is because of her. She stole my hopes and dreams and made me a man before I was ready.

“What are you doing here?” I ask Emily. I haven’t seen her in sixteen years. Amelia’s mother gave me custody all those years ago when she abandoned her daughter. I can’t fight the anger growing in me. If Amelia sees her, the cat will be out of the bag. And that’s not something I’m prepared for. Amelia’s coming back to work today and is my excuse for coming here.

She smirks at me and I hate that I hate her. “I found out my daughter is married to a rich man,” she explains as if that justifies her barging into her life. I have to get rid of her before she gets her hands on sweet Amelia. She wants to use Amelia and that’s it.

“Go away, Emily. She’s not your daughter. You gave up that right a long time ago,” I remind her. She narrows her eyes at me, but I’m not backing down. “Leave before I arrest you.”

“Arrest me for what?” she scoffs, brushing her stringy brunette hair back from her face.

“Being a public nuisance,” I warn her. She’s not in direct violation, but I know she’s capable of making a damn scene.

“Oh, because you’re the sheriff, you think that you can charge people with fake crimes,” she argues, inching closer to me like she’s going to cause some drama.

“It’s not a fake crime, I know you’re here to start some shit, and by the look of you, you’re on some shit.”

“I’m not going anywhere until I see my daughter,” she howls. And I blanch because one of the few people I don’t want to be here is standing behind her.

She catches my gaze, gives me a look, then spins around and locks onto Tracy’s face. “Sheriff,” Tracy says, walking to the bakery door.

“Good morning, Ms. Hope.” Tracy’s looking pissed and a bit curious.

Emily leers at Tracy then back at me. “Oh…I see what’s going on. She’s your dirty little secret. She’s the same age as my daughter.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no interest in her.”

Tracy’s lips twist and she just rolls her eyes. “I’m not interested in an old man. You can have your ex-husband back.”

“Ex-husband? We were never married.” A look came over her perceptive face. This broad is doped up and yet she’s brilliant. Why didn’t she do the right thing and just say fucking no? I can’t believe that I still want to help her. “Oh, what the hell? They think Amelia’s really your daughter. Maybe you should have told the truth, Derek,” she finishes with menace in her voice. I know she’s about to say something damning.

“You’re a bitch, Emily. I’m not going to tell you again. Go away and stay away from Amelia.”

“I don’t have to. She’s my daughter and you stole her from me,” she exclaims. I’m ready to kill her when I hear an audible gasp behind me. It’s my sweet girl. I turn around to see Blake holding Amelia to his chest as she breaks down in tears.

“So you must be the wealthy son-in-law,” she coos, essentially ignoring Amelia and stepping practically in between the two. If Blake didn’t have Amelia flush against him she would have.

“Lady, I don’t know who you are, but you need to leave us alone because it’s clear as fuck you’re after one thing.” He walks around with Amelia in his arms and into the bakery. “Sheriff, in here now. You, get away from my family shop,” he tells her. I follow Tracy in, then lock the door behind.

“There’s a lot to explain. I’m sorry. I never meant,” I stammer, trying to find the right words, thrusting my hands in my hair then running them down the back of my neck. I hoped that I would never have to have this conversation. I knew I should, but it’s hard to tell someone that all they believed is a lie.

“Never meant to what? Lie to me? Kidnap me?” Amelia snaps on me, tears streaming down her face. I can’t be mad at her because I deserve her ire. If I could take it back and start over I would have told her when she was ten.

“I’m going to give you all a moment,” Tracy says. I don’t want her to go, but I’m not going to beg her to stay. Carly starts walking out of the kitchen, but Tracy pushes her back in, saying “Family issues.” Carly is the owner of Sweetheart’s Treats bakery, and Blake is her brother who just married my daughter. I respect them all, so it’s doubly hard to admit how much I’ve failed my little girl.

“Well?” Blake says to me.

“There’s so much to say. But I’m going to tell you what she said wasn’t the truth at least not all of it. I didn’t steal you. I had her surrender custody of you when you were a little girl. Around five. It was right before we moved here. I should have told you when you got older, but it’s not something I like to talk about.”

She uses Blake as her support. He holds her by the tops of her arms. I respect him even more. “So why did you force her to give me up? Why? Did she cheat on you and it was payback or something?” I suppose that’s a woman’s perspective. Most mothers wouldn’t abandon their children unless they were forced to do it.

“No, please just listen. That woman out there is not my ex-wife, girlfriend, or anything of the sort. She’s…my older sister.” Amelia gasps and so does two voices behind me. It seems that they couldn’t stop being nosy. It’s okay because I want Tracy to know me and explaining this more than once is not something I want to deal with. “Come on, girls. Come over here, so you can hear the story better.” I wave them over, then rub my hand over my face.

Amelia looks out toward the window, but Emily is gone like she’s always been. I know she’s on drugs, the shit’s written on her strung-out face. I reach out and grab Amelia’s hand, squeezing it in comfort for whatever it’s worth. “I’m so sorry about all of this. My parents died at the beginning of my senior year. I turned seventeen and was legally old enough to care for myself. My sister ran out three years before with her boyfriend at eighteen, cutting us out of her life. She wanted nothing to do with rules or obligations at all. My parents cut her out of their will as a consequence, I received everything including the house. About a month before my graduation, she showed up with you and the police. She’d been living in the streets of Houston hooked on drugs. The guy who she left with had got her doped up. He’s supposedly your birth father, but he had never been on the birth certificate and the reason she came to me. If I didn’t take you both in, they would arrest her and take you into state custody. I had a choice to make. It wasn’t easy because I had plans for college, but from the first moment, you smiled at me, I knew that I couldn’t let you suffer like that. You had suffered enough. I never regretted having you in my life.”

She lets go of Blake and rushes into my arms. I wrap her up and hold her tight. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I didn’t tell you sooner. I worried that your father would come looking for you, so I lied to people about it. After leaving my sister pregnant and drugged up, I knew he didn’t deserve to take you from me. I finally got her to give you up for the last of my parent’s inheritance. I may be your uncle, but to me, you’ve always been my daughter.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she mutters, pressing her head to my chest. I love her so much.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry about. I’ve loved you from the first time I held your little body in my arms.” Blake pulls her back to him with his hand around her waist. He loves her, and I know he’d die for her. We saw it happen just a few weeks ago when her stalker came after both of them. I’m forever indebted to him for saving my little girl. He reaches out a hand to me and I shake it.

“Thank you, Mr. Wright. Without you doing what you did, I wouldn’t have met the love of my life,” he acknowledges. That’s one of the many blessings I got for making that hard life choice.

“But you never got to live your own life. Have your own son or daughter. I can’t believe that you never tried to find anyone,” she says, feeling guilty. I smile at her because yes, I didn’t have my own child or watch my wife carry our baby, but I’m not that old.

“I know you think I’m ancient, Amelia, but I’m only thirty-five. I’ve got plans to get married and have a bunch of kids.”

“How? I’ve never seen you date.”

“You’re right. I haven’t since you came to live with me. At first, I was just trying to hang on and do everything right by you. When you were about ten, I wanted to start dating, but as a cop, my life wasn’t easy to maneuver around. Then I didn’t know how.”

“Well, I’m married, and you can go and get anyone you want,” she insinuates that there’s already someone. I wonder if she knows. I look around to see that although Carly’s still standing around Tracy’s nowhere to be found. “I’m sorry, dad. I know you’re tired. You should be going home to rest. How about we stop over after work?” she offers.

“I’d like that. I need to go before I pass out driving.” Reminding me that I should be exhausted did the trick. I lost the second wind I had a moment ago. I walk out without saying goodbye to my woman. I’ll check on her in a few hours. I need some sleep though. As soon as I get home, I fall asleep on the sofa.