Chapter 37
THIRTY-SEVEN
For one endless second, the world goes silent as I stare at my daughter on the dock. My heartbeat drowns out even the waves below.
“Sadie!” The word tears from my throat as I sink down next to her. My hands linger over her face. I’m afraid to move her, and afraid not to touch her.
Before I can say more, her eyelids flutter. A groan escapes her lips. Relief floods through me as she blinks up at me, dazed but awake. The hatred in her eyes remains intact, even as confusion clouds them.
She’s still upset but not badly hurt, at least not physically.
She lifts her hand to her head and I stop her. “Sweetheart, don’t move—”
“Leave me.” She jerks away from my touch.
Then she scrambles to her feet.
“Sadie!” I try to reach for her again, but she hurries away, her hand pressed against the side of her head.
She stumbles once but doesn’t fall again. Then she starts running, off the dock and toward the camp buildings. Away from me.
I chase after her, my chest tight with each ragged breath. The fact she can run means she can’t be badly injured. She’s moving. She’s alright.
I’m gaining on her when someone steps directly into my path so suddenly we almost collide.
She’s tall and very blonde. The moonlight shines on her hair in a way that creates an eerie glow around her head, like a halo.
But there is nothing angelic about the way she looks at me. “You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave,” she says calmly. “This is a private beach.”
“Sadie!” I try to move around her.
“She’s fine.” She places a firm hand on my chest and shoves me back a step. “She’s safe inside.”
“I need to see her, to talk to her.” My breaths come in short, painful bursts. “She needs a hospital. She hit her head. She could have—”
“You can’t see her. You are not her accompanying adult, and you entered these premises without authorization.” She throws a glance behind her. “You need to go. We’ll have someone evaluate Sadie. We have staff with medical training.”
“Move,” I snap. “That’s my daughter.”
“I know exactly who you are, Mr. Sutton.” She stands with her hands on her hips, spine straight as a ruler.
I squint at the woman blocking my path, searching her face for any hint of recognition. Nothing. “Who the hell are you anyway?”
“Irrelevant. What matters is that Sadie is safe, and you need to leave the premises. Now, Mr. Sutton.”
“My daughter just collapsed on that dock. She could have a concussion.”
“Yet she managed to run away from you,” the woman counters. Her voice is level but her eyes are hard as flint. “She’s alert and mobile. And she doesn’t want to see you right now.”
“That is not your decision.”
“It is while she’s a resident here. And from what I heard, she wants to stay here… longer.”
“She’s a minor,” I snap. “This isn’t her choice. I am a lawyer and I know—”
“—that it’s not that simple,” she finishes.
“She’s in a safe place. At sixteen, police won’t force her to leave the camp unless there’s immediate danger.
Or if she’s involved in something criminal.
She clearly doesn’t feel safe at home. We already know the child is frightened of you and we want to stop any further distress. ”
“Frightened of me?” My voice is louder than I want it to be. “Are you telling me that my daughter said she’s scared of me? I don’t believe you for a second.”
Sadie may be disappointed in me after catching me with Scarlett, but frightened?
No. I can’t claim to have been the best father.
I know I have shouted at her more times than I can count when I was home and she distracted me from my work or thoughts of Scarlett, but she knows I love her.
She would never say that, not to a stranger.
Except, a few memories suddenly come to mind where my tempter flared and I screamed at her so loud that she flinched or ran off to hide in her room. That’s not enough to make her not want to see me now. Children often want to be near their parents when they’re hurt.
The woman sighs, rubs her temple with two manicured fingers. “You have to understand that when kids come here, they are free to speak about their troubles. We offer them a safe space to be honest. And Sadie has told us a lot about your family life… the abuse.”
“Abuse?” That’s when I lose it. The veins in my neck almost popping from under my skin. “That’s ridiculous! Sadie was never abused.”
“Abuse comes in many forms. Your daughter was abused and neglected. Those were her words. The shouting, the anger.” She runs a hand through her hair.
“Spending only a few minutes in your presence, I can already see that you struggle to contain your anger. We don’t want to expose Sadie to that any longer.
It’s damaging to a sensitive child.” She throws a quick glance behind her, then returns her attention to me.
“That’s why we have decided she will stay here.
She’ll be well taken care of. She’ll become part of this safe environment.
There are other kids here like her. Sadie has already suffered enough, don’t you think?
There’s enough evidence to prove that you pushed her. We have cameras out here.”
“How dare you!” I take a step toward her, getting into her space, and then I realize that’s probably what she wants, for me to show her my dark side. “I did not lay a hand on my daughter. You think you can just keep my daughter here—are you crazy? Who do you think you are?”
She takes a step toward me. “Someone who wants to protect Sadie. You have a history of violence, Mr. Sutton.”
My stomach drops. “What are you talking about?”
She steps even closer, close enough that I can hear her whisper. “We need to protect Sadie from the anger you carry around with you. We wouldn’t want her to end up like your high school friend Luke Landry, would we?”