Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Connor had never been so scared in his entire life.
He’d also never been more relieved.
Holding his daughter, Lexi, and Jonah was just…it was everything.
Behind him on the path, he knew there were dozens of people who had all been aiding in the search, but thankfully they were giving the four of them some space.
He held on so tightly because he was afraid to let go.
He heard everything his daughter was saying to Lexi, and it gutted him.
He was beyond furious that his parents’ behavior had led to this, and he didn’t want his daughter—who was clearly wise beyond her years—to see that side of him.
But when she started to squirm, he knew he had to put his anger aside and focus on what was important.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said quietly.
Cupping her face, he just marveled at the fact that she was safe. “I’m not going to lie, what you did was wrong, baby girl. You scared all of us.”
She looked down, and he saw her bottom lip tremble.
“You should have come and talked to me,” he told her gently. “There isn’t anything in the world that you can’t talk to me about, okay?”
“But Grandma said…”
“I don’t give a damn what Grandma said. I’m your father. You belong here with me and no one else.”
“But what about Lexi and Jonah?” she asked shyly.
Damn.
He met Lexi’s gaze and saw nothing but love there, and he knew they were going to be okay. “You belong here with all of us. We have a house to build and a life. For the four of us.”
She hugged him tightly. “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, sweet girl.” She was shivering, and he knew he needed to get her inside and warmed up. Picking her up, he asked, “How about we go up to the lodge and have breakfast, huh? I’ll make you whatever you want.”
She peered over his shoulder to look at Jonah. “Should we have waffles or pancakes?”
“Waffles!” he cried out.
“Okay, then. Let’s go make waffles!” he announced. His daughter was in his arms, but his free hand reached for Lexi’s, and he felt like his world was righting itself.
When they stepped up onto the path, the only people standing there were Slater and Axel. “Walker went and talked to the cops,” Slater told him.
“And we told everyone else to just head up to the lodge to give you guys some time to yourselves,” Axel added. That included Connor’s parents, so he was sure that didn’t go over too well.
“What about…?”
“Harlow took care of them,” Slater said with a grin. “I wish I could have gotten it on video.”
The laugh was out before he could stop it, but he sobered quickly.
“Thank you.” He had a feeling he was going to be saying that a lot over the next few days.
Each and every member of the staff had jumped in to help him find his daughter.
And as much as he wanted to know exactly how Lexi had found her, he was going to wait until they were alone later to ask.
Right now, he needed everything to feel normal, like this was just another morning and they were going to breakfast.
They were almost at the stairs leading to the back entrance when he reconsidered.
“How about we go to the cabin instead? This way you can warm up and put on clean clothes.”
His daughter agreed, and he motioned to Lexi to stay with them.
“Call us if you need anything,” Slater said before clapping him on the back and walking away.
“And don’t worry, we’ll take care of keeping everyone away for as long as we can,” Axel assured them.
“Give us an hour,” Connor said, and prayed he’d be ready by then.
They walked the rest of the way in relative silence, and he had to wonder if his daughter had been up all night or if she had left early this morning. Either way, she was resting her head on his shoulder and she seemed exhausted.
“Do you have everything you need to make waffles?” Lexi asked, and he was thankful for a break from the silence.
Inside the cabin, he put Annabeth down and told her to go and get changed. Jonah went over to the small toy box Connor had bought not too long ago and pulled out some trucks to play with. When he and Lexi were alone in the kitchen, he finally allowed himself a moment to just breathe.
“I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to her,” he said gruffly. “I was almost afraid of what we were going to find.”
She nodded. “I know. At one point I almost wished that Jonah wasn’t with me, and…maybe this isn’t the right thing to say, but…he’s the one who knew where to look.”
That wasn’t what he had expected her to say. “He did?”
Another nod. “We asked him where the two of them liked to play or hide, and when we got to the third spot, thankfully, she was there.”
“Third time really can be a charm,” he said wearily before he met and held her gaze. “I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
Her smile was shy. “You would have found her eventually. Slater was going to get the drones going, and luckily, she wasn’t hurt. She was just hiding.”
Raking a hand through his hair, he mumbled, “From my parents.”
Yeah, that had been like a punch to the gut. He had no idea if his parents had heard because they weren’t far behind him, but it killed him that Annabeth had been so worried that she thought the only thing she could do was run away.
“Apparently I’m going to be apologizing for the rest of my damn life because of the two of them,” he said before he started gathering ingredients for their waffles.
“I don’t see why you need to apologize,” she began and quickly stopped when he gave her a look that said, “Really?”
“What am I supposed to do, Lexi? I mean, I told them how I felt, and it was like they weren’t even listening. My words meant nothing to them.”
“Well, hopefully, actions will. Especially this morning’s. I don’t see how they could be immune to seeing how much they hurt Annabeth.”
“They hurt you too, and they didn’t care.”
“I’m not family,” she reasoned.
Connor placed a bowl down on the counter and looked at her. “I hope that you still want to be, though. Everything we started planning yesterday, I still want it. You, me, the kids, the house…” Swallowing hard, he reached for her. “I know you asked me to give you space, but…”
“But I willingly came into yours,” she teased lightly. “This is where I want to be, no matter what. Your parents? Well…if it were just me they hurt, I know I’d eventually get over it, but for what they did to Annabeth, I want to be the one to put them in their place this time.”
She sounded fiercely protective.
Like a mother should.
There were so many other things he needed to focus on right now, but he was seriously in awe of this side of her.
Stepping in close, he rested his hands on her hips and gave them a seductive squeeze. “As much of a turn-on as that little admission was, I can’t let you fight this battle for me. They’re my parents, and I need to put the boundaries in place. Again.”
“But…”
Reaching up, he placed his finger against her lips. “I’m not telling you that you can’t put them in their place as well, but just know that I have plans for it too.”
She nodded, grasping his wrist and pulling his hand away. “And you won’t be upset if I have a discussion with them?”
“Not at all. You are your own person, and I know you already have things you need to say to them. I just honestly didn’t want you to feel like you had to get it done since clearly I failed.”
She grinned. “Well, I wasn’t going to put it quite like that, but…”
He couldn’t even be offended because she was right. He had seriously misjudged the power of his own words.
Lexi cupped his cheeks and gave him a loud, smacking kiss. “Now make us waffles because we deserve them after such an emotional roller coaster of a morning.”
“You’re on.” Turning, he got to work on getting their breakfast ready. He would have preferred the kitchen up at the lodge, but as he watched his daughter and Jonah sitting on the floor playing while Lexi talked to them, this felt like the home he’d been envisioning.
So he made the waffles and felt himself relaxing more and more as they sat around the small dining table and ate together.
The kids were still talking about the water park and how they were getting to miss yet another day of school.
But he couldn’t even be upset about it because his daughter was safe. School could wait one more day.
“I have to ask,” he began during a lull in the conversation. “Why did you pick that spot to go to?”
With syrup dripping from her chin, his daughter shrugged. “After Lexi found that spot, I thought it was just cool. Sometimes I like to go there and read by myself after school, when the resort and everyone is busy and everyone forgets I’m even there.”
Okay, that was a lot to unload.
“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry that you felt like I was too busy or that I forgot about you,” he said, and it pained him because people had been telling him for a long time that he needed to work less.
“I can promise you right now that things are going to change. We have to get the resort officially open, but then I’m going to take the summer off for just the two of us. ”
“Dad, you can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because what about Lexi and Jonah? If we’re a family, then we all need to spend the summer together.”
“Um…” He nervously glanced at Lexi for some help.
“Well, your dad can take the summer off, but I really can’t,” Lexi explained. “I’m helping Slater get the whole activity department up and running, but once we figure out the schedule, I promise that we’ll do things for the four of us.”
“But I’ll still be here for you and Jonah,” Connor added. “Hopefully we’ll find a rental house with a pool or something and…”
“Then why can’t we just stay here and do stuff with the kids’ program?” Annabeth asked. “Then Lexi wouldn’t be left out. We’d all get to see each other.”
“How about we take it one day at a time because you’re making my head spin?” he teased, making everyone laugh