Chapter Fourteen
AIDEN
OUR PARK
Hadley and Emma giggled like two little girls as they explored.
I was as conflicted as ever with my feelings as I watched the two of them.
I knew Hadley loved having Emma in her life, and I knew it was important to have a female figure for her.
She had my mother, of course, and Tammy.
But the connection she was making with Emma was very different.
Emma showered Hadley with the type of attention she needed.
Lisa had been an amazing mother until near the end, when she took out her fear and anger over the cancer on me and, sadly, sometimes Hadley.
Still, even before the separation and her cancer, though she indulged our daughter, she wasn’t the adventurous type.
She never went hiking or camping with us.
The only outdoor activity she ever agreed to attend was a zoo or carnival.
Hadley was like me, she loved being outdoors. Loved going on wild adventures and could sit for hours waiting to see a moose walk out from the tree line to the water.
“You’ve seen a moose?” Emma asked, almost as if she’d read my mind.
“Yep! Daddy and I saw one together. You have to really look hard. They were indoduced back to the park.”
“Indoduced?” Emma asked, peeking over to me.
“Introduced.”
“Ahh,” she said, walking along next to Hadley. Their hands were interlocked, and Emma swung them just the slightest bit.
“We’re almost there! We’re almost there!” Hadley cried out.
“Well, we won’t see anything with how loud you’re being, young lady,” I warned.
Hadley slapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she whispered, then dragged Emma farther up the trail. When we got to the top, Emma sucked in a breath as she spun around in a circle and took in the view.
“Oh my. This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”
“It is,” Hadley and I said at the same time.
“Daddy, put the blanket out!”
Emma looked at me and lifted a brow in question.
“Early dinner of cold fried chicken and biscuits.”
“Yum,” Emma said as she rubbed her stomach.
She helped me get the blanket all spread out while Hadley took care of the food.
While we ate, she talked a mile a minute about everything, from what she wanted to be for Halloween to the winter carnival the church was putting on.
She also made plans to show Emma the indoor swimming pool at the community center as soon as possible.
Emma and I chatted about Hadley taking swim lessons at the center, and when she mentioned piano lessons, I thought Hadley was going to explode with excitement.
By the time we made it back down the trail, packed up the truck, and headed home, Hadley was fast asleep.
“If I had an ounce of her energy, I could power an entire city,” Emma said while looking back at Hadley.
“I totally agree. This age is amazing but it’s a lot.” I smiled over at her but then asked the question I’d been thinking about all day. “May I ask you something personal?”
Emma tensed like she always did when you asked her something about her life before Estes Park. “Sure.”
“Why didn’t you ever have kids? With your ex-husband.”
Turning to face forward, Emma stared out the window as if lost in thought, silent in her seat. I realized I’d asked the wrong question.
“Never mind, you don’t have to answer me. It’s none of my business, and you’ve already said you want to put your past behind you. I’m sorry.”
Her hands wrung in her lap for a good three minutes. She slowly took in a breath before she spoke. “I was pregnant once, and I lost the baby when I was twenty-four weeks along.”
My stomach lurched. “I’m so sorry, Emma.”
She gave me a smile that seemed to say she was sorry for making me feel uncomfortable. I’d never met a woman like her before. I was the jackass for asking a question that was clearly painful, and she’s the one who gives me an apologetic smile.
“It’s okay. I know now there was a reason why it happened. Everything happens for a reason. I truly believe that.”
“Was it early on in your marriage?”
She looked away from me and out the window. “Yes, it was.”
I closed my eyes and cursed at myself internally.
When I talked to Rose initially about Emma, she told me she’d already run a background check on her like she did for every client who comes through her office, and nothing criminal came up.
I wanted to find out the bastard ex’s last name and run a background check on him.
It was abundantly clear he’d broken her down, that he was the reason she was starting over.
When Tammy had called me after the circle meeting and confirmed Emma’s ex was a Marine, the incident in the kitchen made sense. I wanted to pound the guy’s face in. It killed me not knowing what he’d done to her.
The rest of the drive back home was silent. Emma carried in the picnic items while I carried Hadley up to her room. I didn’t even bother changing her out of her clothes, I just let her crawl under the covers.
She only woke up long enough to tell me she loved me and asked me to tell Emma that she loved her too. The moment she said that, I panicked.
Then Hadley rolled over, grabbed her stuffed animal and whispered, “Good night, Mommy. I love you.”
The tension in my chest eased. She wasn’t going to forget her mother. I wouldn’t let it happen, and I knew Emma wouldn’t either. I needed to stop worrying so much about it.
When I shut Hadley’s door, I leaned against it and tried to even out my breathing. Emma walked upstairs, heading for the balcony doors. She stopped in the middle of the loft when she saw me.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Yes. Hadley said goodnight…and that she…she loves you.”
Tears filled Emma’s eyes, then she quickly looked away. “Would you like for me to spend less time with Hadley?”
I pushed off the door with a frown. “What?”
“It’s just, I know your fear of her becoming too close to me and…”
Making my way over, I stopped in front of her. Damn it all to hell if I didn’t want to pull her into my arms and tell her everything was going to be okay. Or maybe I needed her to do that for me. I wasn’t sure.
“Don’t stop what you’re doing, Emma. You were right. Hadley won’t forget her mom. She needs you, and so do—”
I caught the last word before it was out of my mouth.
Emma took a step back, and I did as well.
With that sweet smile of hers, Emma softly said, “Thank you for a lovely afternoon. I enjoyed it. Good night, Aiden.”
“Good night, Emma.”
She walked out to the elevated deck as I followed behind her to lock the door. I watched as she crossed the deck and went into her apartment.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there before I finally made my way downstairs to my own room. I took a shower and climbed into bed and willed myself to stop thinking about Emma.
* * *
Almost two weeks had passed since the hike.
The pattern we’d fallen into with Emma being here came so easily and seemed so natural, I kept waiting for the sky to fall.
Hadley was thriving. I had gained six pounds from all the good food she’d made…
and Emma seemed to be avoiding me ever since she’d told me about her miscarriage.
Well, not really avoiding me. She avoided us being alone.
Stepping into the house after work, I headed straight to my bedroom and removed all of my work gear, putting the gun and taser in my safe.
It was a rare occasion that I worked on Fridays, but when we got the call about a missing couple, I prepared myself for a possible long weekend of work.
I’d called Emma and told her I most likely wouldn’t be home for dinner.
By a stroke of sheer luck, we stumbled onto the couple within an hour.
That meant I could now surprise Hadley and Emma with dinner. I quickly changed into jeans and a long-sleeve T-shirt, knowing they’d be home soon. It was Hadley’s second day at swim practice and so far, she was loving it.
As I made my way out of the bedroom, I heard Hadley and Emma coming in from the garage.
“I don’t know why he’d say such a mean thing, Emma.”
I stopped short of the kitchen and stepped back into the hall.
“Well, for starters, some people just have meanness in their hearts, Hadley. For whatever reason, they’re hurting, and they think it’s okay to hurt other people to make themselves feel better.”
“But Olivia laughed with him. I thought she was my friend!”
“I know it’s hard to understand but…sometimes, people do things for all the wrong reasons. I bet you right now Olivia is feeling pretty bad for laughing along with Ricky. But you saw how the other kids didn’t laugh, right? The ones who stood up for you?”
My brows pulled in tight as I wondered what happened to my daughter.
“Yes.”
“Those are your true friends, Hadley. Olivia might tell you she’s sorry, and she should, but remember the friends who were there for you. The ones who stood by you and didn’t believe Ricky when he said all those mean things.”
“Ms. Lacey says Ricky said those things because he likes me and that’s what boys do.”
What in the hell?
Why would a teacher say that? I balled my fists and wanted to storm out and ask Emma exactly what happened, but something held me back.
“No, that is not true. Hadley, you listen to me right now. If a boy likes you, he will never treat you that way. He won’t pull your pigtails or push you into a pool and tell everyone you can’t swim.
If a boy likes you, he’ll help you out of the pool.
Give you a towel to dry off. He’ll pick you a flower and give it to you just because he wants to see you smile.
He’ll tell you that you’re pretty, and he won’t make fun of your beautiful curly hair.
Do you understand the difference, sweetheart?
And sometimes boys can start off being nice, and then they turn mean for whatever reason. Those are not boys who like you.”