Chapter 29
With a police escort, the ride to the plaza took about fifteen minutes. But sitting in the back of Andrew’s Bentley, my hand firmly between Grace’s, the trip felt endless. Tension settled on our shoulders, thick and heavy.
Before we’d gotten into the car, Andy had called his personal assistant to arrange for Knight Plaza security to go out and keep an eye on Josie until the cops showed up.
The police officers at the house had immediately gotten on their radios and requested the nearest patrol cars to head that way too.
So we could be reasonably sure that by now Josie was in good hands. That my baby girl was safe.
But it was impossible to feel relief. Not until I saw her with my own eyes.
“We’re going in through a service entrance,” Andy said once we’d reached the plaza. “That will get us closer to the green.”
Jay, sitting next to Andy in the front, looked over his shoulder to give me an encouraging nod, and Grace squeezed my hand as we descended into an underground garage. “Almost there,” she murmured.
We emerged from the car and out onto the lawn a few minutes later and were met by controlled chaos.
There was a crowd gathered, police officers and Andy’s security, plaza staff members, and visitors standing around, trying to get a glimpse at whatever drama they were witness to.
Not stopping to think about it, I dropped Grace’s hand and took off, running straight into the crowd.
I had to brush past several security guards who tried to stop me, nearly punching one in the face before I heard Andy’s commanding boardroom voice booming that they let me through.
I pushed aside a few more people and then, finally, I saw her.
There on a bench in the middle of all the chaos, looking absolutely terrified, sat my daughter.
“Josie!”
Before I had even reached the bench, Josie threw herself into my arms and burst into tears.
“You’re okay, baby. You’re okay. I’m here. It’s okay.” I chanted, over and over, as I squeezed her tight against me. She was safe and whole and here and the relief was so strong that it knocked the breath from my lungs.
“I’m so sorry,” Josie sobbed onto my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to…I’m sorry!”
“Shh.” My legs were shaking, probably from the rush of adrenaline, and I worried I’d be too weak to hold us both. I sank down to my knees on the grass, still holding her tight, and ran a hand over her hair, kissing the top of her head. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay, Daddy,” she cried, her arms tightening around my neck until I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to breathe. I didn’t try to pull her off me, though. I would rather choke than let her go right now.
“Josie, you’re safe. We’re together. That’s all I care about.”
Behind me, I heard Andrew commanding his staff to get the area cleared but I didn’t bother looking to see if we were still surrounded. The only thing I cared about was getting Josie to stop crying. The bone-deep sobs emanating from her body were breaking my fucking heart.
“Please don’t leave,” she whispered.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She shook her head against my chest, again and again. “Please, Daddy.”
I finally pulled away enough to look down at her. The fear I saw in her eyes felt like a punch to the gut. “Josie, I’m not leaving. We’re going to go home, okay? And you can see Granny and Grandpa and—”
“No!” she wailed, and the wild panic in her voice stopped me cold.
“Josie—”
“Don’t leave me with them,” she cried, hysterical now. I hadn’t seen her lose control like this in years, not since she’d been a toddler. She hadn’t even cried this hard when I told her about the trade.
“I’m not leaving you tonight,” I said firmly. Hell, I was going to have a hard time leaving her tomorrow or next week or a month from now. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be able to breathe properly unless I had her in my line of vision at all times.
But my words didn’t seem to calm her. If anything, she cried harder.
“I won’t run away again,” she said. “I promise. Okay? Just don’t leave. And I won’t be so mean to you or grumpy or—”
“Hang on a second.” It was starting to occur to me that she wasn’t just talking about me leaving in the immediate future. “Baby, do you think I’m going somewhere?”
She wouldn’t meet my eyes and when she finally responded it was a whisper. “I read on the internet that the team is doomed. They said since everything is such a mess it’s only a matter of time before you demand a trade.”
I stiffened. I’d heard rumors like that, too—that a player of my caliber wouldn’t stick around on a sinking ship. It was bullshit, of course. There were things in my life much more important than a win record.
“I’m not demanding a trade, Josie. That’s silly.
” I tilted her chin up so she would look at me, wincing at the sight of her puffy red eyes and the tears that continued to stream down her face.
I wiped at a few with my thumbs. “But, sweetie, even if I did get traded, that doesn’t mean I would leave you.
” I tried to swallow past a lump in my throat.
“We’re in this together, baby girl. Where I go you go. ”
She burst into another round of sobs, burying her face in my chest. “But I’ve been so awful.”
I rubbed her back, wanting nothing more than to cry right along with her, hating that she was in so much pain. Somehow, I managed to push down my own emotions, needing to make this right for her. “You haven’t been awful, Josie. You’ve been sad.”
“I knew she didn’t want us,” she sobbed, her voice muffled by my cotton T-shirt. “I always knew it. And I took it out on you. I’ve been so mean, Daddy. I was just…just…”
“You were sad,” I repeated. “That’s all. It was a hard time, Josie. I knew that.” I kissed the top of her head, hating that these thoughts had ever been bouncing around in there. “You don’t have to be sorry for anything.”
“I thought you were going to leave me with Granny and Grandpa,” she whispered, and I froze in horror. “I thought that’s why we moved here.”
“No,” I finally burst out when I could breathe again. “Oh, no, Josie. Never. I swear to you, I wouldn’t do that. Not ever.”
She raised her swollen, tear stained face up to meet my gaze. “Are you sure?”
Tears pricked at my own eyes and I didn’t bother to wipe them away. “I’m positive. You’re my whole world, baby girl. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Daddy,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
“Shh, now. That’s enough of that.”
I tucked her under my chin again and rubbed her back, over and over, just the way I had done when she was a baby and couldn’t fall asleep. Slowly, her breathing started to even out, her hiccupping sobs coming farther and farther apart.
When she finally seemed relaxed enough, I squeezed her shoulders. “Think you can stand up?”
She nodded and pulled herself away. Her movements still seemed shaky but she was able to stand on her own two feet. I stood as well, finally turning to see that the crowd had dispersed entirely. All that remained were the three police officers from the house, the Taylors, Andy, Jay, and Grace.
My eyes met hers immediately and she gave me a weak smile as she wiped away her own tears.
I wanted to go to her in that moment, to have her and Josie both in my arms. To just hold them, these two girls who meant everything to me.
But Josie’s quick intake of breath reminded me that I had more pressing matters to attend to.
I looked down and saw her eyeing the cops with wide, worried eyes. “Am I in trouble?” she whispered.
“No sweetie.” I squeezed her hand. “But you can’t ever, ever do something like that again. You really had us worried.”
She looked down at the grass. “I know. I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice. “I just…I was just really upset and I didn’t know what to do.”
“Running away is never the answer,” I said. “If you ever feel like you don’t know what to do, you talk to me. Or your grandparents.” My eyes met Grace’s again. “Or your teacher.”
“Okay,” Josie whispered.
I placed a hand on her head, reminding myself that she was here and okay, and took a deep breath. “Let’s get you home.”
I was disappointed when Grace declined my invitation to come back to the house with us. “You guys need to be with family tonight,” she said.
But you’re part of that, I wanted to argue. To tell her that she belonged with me. That I was more than ready to tell the entire world—especially my daughter—how I felt about her.
Grace, apparently, was not on the same page. And I was starting to wonder if she ever would be.
I got permission to skip practice the next day and kept Josie home from school. I figured we more than deserved it. We spent the day just the two of us, huddled up on the couch with snacks and movies.
It was hard to drop her off at school the following morning. I ended up walking her all the way to her class. Josie rolled her eyes at me, but she didn’t complain.
“Josie,” Grace said as soon as she saw us. She put an arm around my daughter’s shoulder, giving her a quick squeeze. “I’m so glad to see you,” she murmured softly, just for her.
“Me too,” Josie whispered back, casting a sheepish smile to the floor.
“I need your help this morning,” Gracie said. “Gerald hasn’t been fed yet.”
Josie’s face lit up. “Okay!” She started to run to the back of the classroom before catching herself. She turned back to me, curled her arms around my middle in a quick hug, then ran off again with a “bye, Dad!” over her shoulder.
“Gerald?” I asked.
“The class turtle,” she explained, watching Josie pulling a step stool up to a glass tank behind the desks. “She seems to be back to herself.” I could hear the relief in her voice.
“Yeah. I think things are going to be a little easier for her.” I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck. “Remember when you said the school could recommend a therapist?”