Chapter 38
My baby’s future depends on it.
Sissy’s words echoed in Naomi’s mind.
“I won’t let them get her,” Naomi said. “I promise.”
“And Richard—” Sissy’s voice broke. “I still love him. I do. But his family is different. They’re not like him. You have to believe me.”
Naomi’s jaw tightened.
Sissy was still in love with Richard Harding. The man who’d murdered Sarah. The man who’d manipulated Sissy into infiltrating the family, into planting herself in their lives, into getting pregnant so he’d have leverage.
Naomi didn’t understand it. She couldn’t wrap her mind around how someone could love a man who’d used her so completely.
But she saw the truth in Sissy’s expression. In the way her voice softened when she said Richard’s name.
She wanted to tell Sissy she was a fool. But then she remembered that Sissy was a victim too. Just a different kind.
A voice crackled over the intercom. “Visitation ending in two minutes.”
Sissy’s face crumpled. “No. No, please. I need more time—”
“I’m sorry,” Naomi said, her own voice thick. “We have to go.”
“Please take care of her.” Sissy pressed both hands against the glass now, tears streaming down her face. “Please. She’s all I have.”
“I will. I promise.”
The door on Sissy’s side opened, and a guard stepped through. “Time’s up, Sutton. Let’s go.”
Sissy shook her head, not moving. “Just one more minute. Please—”
“Now.”
The guard’s tone left no room for negotiation.
Sissy stood slowly, her hands sliding down the plexiglass, leaving smudged prints behind. She looked at Grace one last time—at the baby who had no idea her mother was being taken away—and her face twisted with grief.
“I love you,” she whispered into the phone. “I love you so much.”
Then she hung up the receiver and let the guard lead her toward the door.
Naomi sat frozen, Grace still in her arms, staring at the empty chair on the other side of the glass.
Micah moved forward and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s pick up our things from security.”
Naomi nodded but didn’t move right away. Instead, she sat there, holding Grace, staring at the smudged handprints Sissy had left behind.
Finally, she stood slowly and turned toward him. “Let’s get out of here.”
Micah guided her toward the door, one hand on her back, keeping her moving forward.
As they stepped into the hallway and the door buzzed shut behind them, Naomi’s mind was already racing.
Dale Harding. Criminal connections. People who didn’t ask questions.
Because the warning had been clear.
They were coming for Grace.
And Naomi wasn’t going to let that happen.
Naomi couldn’t help but feel that the drive back to Refuge Cove was longer than the drive there.
She sat in the back seat with Grace, who now slept in her car seat. The baby had no idea what had just happened. No memory of the sterile room, the plexiglass barrier, the sound of her mother’s voice breaking through a phone line.
Grace was just asleep. Safe. Unaware.
Naomi wished she could be that oblivious.
She stared out the window at the trees blurring past, but all she could see was Sissy’s face. The hollow look in her eyes. The way her hands had pressed against the glass like she could push through it if she just tried hard enough.
I love you so much.
The words echoed in Naomi’s mind, over and over.
Sissy loved Grace. That much was clear. She loved this baby in a way that made Naomi’s chest ache.
But Sissy also loved Richard.
That was the part Naomi couldn’t reconcile.
How could someone love a man who’d manipulated her? Who’d used her?
Naomi didn’t understand it.
But she’d seen it in Sissy’s face. She’d heard it in her voice.
And that reality scared her.
Because if Sissy still loved Richard, then how much could they really trust her warnings about his family?
“You okay back there?”
Micah’s voice pulled her from her thoughts.
Naomi blinked and looked up, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
He didn’t look convinced. “That was hard.”
“It really was.”
They drove in silence a few minutes before Micah spoke again, his voice quieter. “Are you glad you went?”
Naomi considered the question. Was she glad?
She’d wanted to give Sissy the chance to see Grace. Had wanted to do the right thing, the compassionate thing. And she had. Sissy had seen her daughter.
But the visit had left Naomi feeling empty, sad, and more uncertain than before.
“I don’t know,” she finally said, answering Micah’s question. “I wanted it to help. To make things clearer. But I just—I feel worse now.”
“You did a good thing, even if it didn’t feel good.”
Naomi nodded, though she wasn’t sure she believed it.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She pulled it out, grateful for the distraction, and glanced at the screen.
Hadley.
“It’s my cousin,” she said before answering. “Hey, Hadley.”
“Hey.” Hadley’s voice sounded apologetic. “I’m so sorry it took me this long to get back to you. I’ve been swamped with setting up the clinic, and I kept meaning to check the microchip database but—anyway. I finally did it this morning.”
Naomi’s stomach tightened. With everything going on, she’d actually forgotten about the microchip. “Actually, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore. The owner already picked Good Boy up.”
A pause sounded then, “I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“What do you mean? Arthur Bleakman is his owner . . . right?”
“Arthur Bleakman? No, the owner’s name was Barbara,” Hadley said. “And she died a month ago.”