Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Huge tears rolled down Charlotte’s cheeks. “I don’t want it to snow!” she whined.
“I know, baby, but we don’t get to choose the weather,” she said as Charlotte kicked in her arms. Ally realized that her daughter had skipped her morning nap, which could account for the theatrics now.
“But Joe was going to come…” The last was a wail as she buried her face in her chest.
“Honey, Joe said he had to work,” she reminded her gently. Why was her daughter so attached to the man already?
“I don’t want him to work,” she said through tears as she buried in her face deeper in her chest.
Had she ever been this dramatic as a child? How had her mother handled it?
“Charlotte Eva Wilson,” she warned in a soft voice. “What do you say we take our picnic up to the top of the lighthouse and watch the snow from up there?”
“I don’t wanna.” She kicked softly.
“I’ll let you make the sandwiches.”
Silence.
“All by myself?”
Ally winced, knowing the mess she’d have to clean up after. Chances were, however, that her daughter would go down for a very long afternoon nap after all those stairs. “Sure,” she agreed.
Just then the doorbell rang and her daughter actually pushed herself out of her arms and almost fell face-first onto the hardwood flooring.
“He’s here,” she said loudly over and over as she raced toward the door.
“Charlotte!” she said sternly as her daughter yanked opened the door without her permission.
Thankfully, it was Joe standing on the doorstep. He had a dusting of snow covering him like he’d been standing outside waiting for the right time to ring the bell.
“Hi.” She held up a finger to ask him to wait a moment. “Honey,” she said, kneeling to Charlotte’s level. “We’ve had this talk. You are not old enough to open the door.”
Charlotte wiped her red eyes from her earlier tears and nodded. “Sorry, Mama.” Then she smiled up at Joe. “You came.”
“I did.” He nodded. “I hope that’s okay?” he said, turning to her. Ally just shrugged. At least her daughter wasn’t crying any longer.
“We’ve been having a meltdown about the snow ruining our picnic plans.
” She motioned for him to come inside out of the weather.
“I bet this would be an interesting report,” she said before she could catch herself.
She rolled her eyes when her daughter looked up at her funny.
“We were going to make sandwiches and take them up to the lighthouse to watch the snow.”
“That’s a great idea, only, why just eat sandwiches?” He held up a bag and boxes from the Golden Oar restaurant. “I stopped off and got their last three burgers and the rest of their french fries.”
“Really?” Charlotte bounced a few times.
“Yes, and if you promise your mama never to open the door by yourself again, I might just give you the slice of chocolate cake that’s in there too.”
Charlotte quickly turned to her and tugged on her pants. “I promise, Mama.”
Ally smiled down at her daughter. “I guess it’s okay. Why don’t you go get your jacket and hat. I bet it’s cold up there.”
When Charlotte had rushed off, she turned to him. “You didn’t have to—”
“I quit,” he blurted out, shocking her.
“You… quit?” She frowned.
He nodded quickly. “It’s a long story, longer than I think we have time to discuss now.
” He glanced toward the stairs. “I was able to get my hands on some of the sealed court case files. I know the truth about what he did to you now. I have never and will never work for someone like your ex. After I resigned from the job, let’s just say I got a taste of the real man behind the DA’s office. ”
She tensed. “I… don’t understand.”
“Let’s talk later,” he said as they both heard Charlotte racing down the stairs.
He touched her arm. “Just know that I’m not here on official business.
I’m here because a little girl asked me to come and to see my pictures.
” He smiled as Charlotte came racing back in the room, holding her coat and hat in her hands.
“Mama, get your coat. Let’s go…” she whined.
The three of them made their way up the spiral staircase that wound to the top of the lighthouse, their laughter echoing off the stone walls as Charlotte bounded ahead, her little boots clanging on each metal step.
By the time they reached the glass-enclosed lookout, the snow had thickened, turning the coastline below into a blur of white and gray.
“It looks like we’re inside a snow globe,” Charlotte whispered, her earlier tears long forgotten as she pressed her nose to the glass now.
“It does,” Joe agreed softly, setting the bag of food on the small wooden table that Max had placed up there. The space was chilly but it became cozy enough once Ally turned on a small heater.
They unpacked the food and sat together as the snow swirled beyond the glass, eating burgers and fries while the sea crashed below, its sound muffled by the wind. Charlotte giggled at a funny story Joe told while she dipped fries into ketchup.
He showed her all the photos that he’d taken on the beach, and her daughter acted genuinely interested and impressed.
“Do you sell these?” Charlotte asked. “When I grow up, I want to sell mine,” she said proudly.
“I don’t.” Joe tilted his head, as if thinking. “I bet you could sell a lot of the photos you’ve already taken. Some of them are really good.”
“I like this one.” Charlotte touched the picture of the lighthouse he’d taken the day before.
When it was dessert time, Joe sliced the massive piece of chocolate cake into thirds.
Charlotte’s eyelids began to droop when she was only halfway through hers.
She finished the rest of it sleepily and curled up in the corner seat.
Ally wrapped the blanket that she’d brought with them around her for more warmth and wiped the chocolate off her face.
“I didn’t think you’d come today,” she said finally.
“I hadn’t planned on it,” he admitted in a low voice so as to not wake her daughter.
“But I wanted to come over and tell you that I had stepped aside.” He looked out at the horizon, at the snow still falling quickly.
“I couldn’t do it anymore. Not after I saw what kind of man he really is.
” He turned to glance at her, and the look in his eyes had her heart skipping. “He seemed pissed that I walked away.”
Her throat tightened as she replied, “Ted’s always been… controlling.”
“Yeah, I get that.” His jaw flexed a few times. “Men like him think power makes them untouchable. I saw that firsthand when I lost everything that mattered.”
She frowned, seeing his pain written on his face. “What happened?”
He hesitated, then exhaled slowly. “Her name was Lisa. We’d been together since…
” He shook his head. “Forever. We were going to get married. Well, at least I was about to finally propose to her. It was almost a year after I’d gotten out of the army.
I was working my way up so I could have stable hours as a cop.
She was driving home from work one Saturday night and got hit by a drunk driver.
He walked away without a scratch, she never regained consciousness.
Because of a technicality, a paperwork error, he never saw a single day behind bars.
The fact that he was the nephew of one of the county judges I’m sure played a huge part as well. ”
Ally’s eyes softened. “I’m so sorry.”
“That was six years ago. After that, I stopped believing in the system. I stopped wearing a badge. I figured the least I could do was make sure the next bastard didn’t get away clean.
That’s how I ended up taking jobs like this one.
But…” He looked at her then, the weight of honesty sitting between them.
“You’re not what he said you were. I understand that now. ”
She swallowed hard, her voice a whisper. “Why tell me this?”
“Because you deserve to know someone’s still watching out for people like you.
Everything in my bones tells me that he’s not done.
Men like him are never done.” He shook his head.
“Just so you know, he’s hired someone else, someone less subtle, who may not know the truth.
Or might not care. I don’t know who yet, but I’ll find out before they show up. ”
“You’re not the first one I’ve spotted watching us.” Her pulse stuttered. “I can handle—”
He held up a hand. “I’m not offering my professional services. Just to be clear.”
She took a deep breath. “What are you offering?”
“I don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck and looked out at the white sky. “But I’m not going anywhere for a while. Not until I know you and your daughter are safe.”
She wanted to argue, wanted to tell him that she didn’t need saving, but the truth caught in her throat. Because for the first time in a long while, she didn’t feel completely alone. Besides her family, there was someone else out there seeing what she’d known all along.
Charlotte stirred in her sleep, mumbling something about snow angels, and Ally brushed a hand through her daughter’s hair.
When she looked back up, he was watching them both, his expression unreadable.
Outside, the storm thickened, wrapping the lighthouse in white silence.
“I can carry her downstairs if you want?” he offered when he saw her shiver. “It’s getting worse out there. I should get back to the hotel before it gets too bad.”
“Thanks, I can take her if you can grab the mess?” She motioned to the empty food containers.
“Sure,” he said, standing up at the same time she did. Their bodies bumped, and she became very aware of how close they were.
A wave of desire pulsed through her quickly, then he took a step back and turned to collect the mess from the table.
She bent down and gathered Charlotte, who stirred in her arms and snuggled in as she shifted her weight.
“She’s getting so big,” she said, mostly to herself, as she held tight while they started down the spiral stairs.