He had to agree. Streaks of pink and purple and orange spilled out in glorious Technicolor. “May I join you?”
She hesitated. He could see her jaw flex, as if she wanted to say no, but she finally gestured to the empty spot on the blanket, which happened to be on the other side of her dog.
He would have liked to be next to Rosa, but this would do, he supposed.
“Where are Logan and Hank?”
“They were both with Carrie when Jenna called me. After Carrie heard what happened to you and found out I was part of the investigation, she insisted they stay the night with her.”
“Ah.”
He reached out and rubbed her brave, amazing dog behind the ear. His hand brushed against Rosa’s and it hurt a little when she pulled her hand away.
“How’s Fiona?”
“Fine. Dr. Williams said she might be a little bruised, but nothing appears to be broken. I am to watch her appetite and her energy over the next few days and tell her if I see anything unusual.”
“You’re a good, brave girl, aren’t you?” He scratched Fi under the chin and the dog rested her head on his leg.
All the emotions he had put away in the heat of the moment as he did his duty and stood for justice seemed to come rushing over him again, all at once.
“What you did—protecting your friend. It was incredibly brave.”
She gave a short laugh. “I think you mean to say stupid.”
“I would never say that. Never. You were amazing.”
He reached for her hand, unable to help himself. He thought she would pull away again, but she didn’t. Her fingers were cool and seemed to be trembling a little, but he couldn’t say whether that was from the cool coastal air or from the trauma of earlier.
She drew in a breath that sounded ragged, and before he quite realized it, she let out a sob and then another.
Oh, Rosa.
His poor, fierce Rosa.
Fiona, blessed Fiona, moved out of the way so that Wyatt could pull Rosa into his arms. He held her while she cried silently against his chest, not making a sound except the occasional whimper.
His heart ached for her, both for the fear she must have felt and for everything else she had endured.
“I am sorry,” she finally said, sounding mortified. “I think I have been holding that in all afternoon.”
“Or longer.”
She shifted her face to meet his gaze. Somehow, she had lost her sunglasses and he could see her now, her eyes dark and shadowed in her lovely face. Instead of answering his unspoken question, she focused on the events of the day.
“I was so frightened. I thought this man, he was going to kill me, then get to Jenna and Addie. I could not let him.”
“He won’t get to Jenna now. He is in custody and will be charged with assault, trespassing, drunk driving, driving across state lines with the intent to commit a felony and a whole host of other charges related to whatever stalking charges we can prove. He’s not going to get out for a long time.”
“I hope that is the case.”
“It is,” he promised. He would do whatever necessary to make sure of it.
“I suppose I should be relieved I did not kill him with that rock.”
“You were pretty fierce.”
“I could not help it. I could only think about protecting Jenna and Addie from someone who wanted to hurt them. Something seemed to take over me. Maybe some part of my brain that was fifteen years old again, focused only on surviving another day.”
As soon as she said the words, she looked as if she wished she hadn’t. She closed her eyes. He thought she would pull away from him but she didn’t. She continued to nestle against him as if he was providing safe shelter in a sandstorm.
With his thumb, he brushed away a tear that trickled down her cheek, his heart a heavy ache. “Tell me what happened when you were fifteen.”
“I have already told you too much. I don’t talk about that time in my life, Wyatt. It is the past and has nothing to do with who I am now.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I understand if you prefer to keep it to yourself. But I hope you know you can trust me, if you ever change your mind.”
She eased away from him and sat once more on the blanket beside him. Fiona moved to her other side and plopped next to her. Rosa wrapped her arms around her knees and gazed out at the water, a pale blue in the twilight.
She was silent for a long time, so long that he thought she wasn’t going to answer. But then she looked at him out of the corner of her gaze and he fell in love with her all over again.
“Sometimes it feels like it all happened to someone else. Something I read about in a terribly tragic novel.”
He did not want to hear what was coming next, but somehow Wyatt sensed it was important to both of them that she tell him. This was the reason she had pushed him away. He was suddenly certain of it.
That moment when he had rushed onto the porch earlier, he had seen raw emotion in her expression. That was the image he couldn’t get out of his head. She had looked at him with relief, with gratitude and with something else, too.
She thought her past was a barrier between them. If he could show her it wasn’t, that together they could face whatever demons she fought, perhaps she would stop pushing him away.
“I told you about the men who offered me a job in this country and who...brought me here.”
“Yes.”
“It was not a factory job they were bringing me to, as I thought. I was so stupid.”
“I didn’t think it was.”
She closed her eyes. “You are a detective. I am sure you can guess what happened next.”
“I’ve imagined a few possible scenarios since the night you told me.”
“Pick the worst one and you might be close enough.”
He gripped her hand tightly, not wanting to ever let go. “Human trafficking.”
She made a small sound. “Yes. That is a polite phrase for it. I was brought here to work in the sex trade. Me, an innocent girl from a small town who had never even kissed a boy. I barely knew what sex was.”
Everything inside him went cold as he thought about what she must have endured. “Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”
“I refused at first. The men who brought me here, they did not care whether I was willing or not.”
How was it possible for his heart to break again and again?
“You were raped.”
She looked at him, stark pain in her eyes. “Now you know why I don’t like thinking about the past. Yes. I was raped. At first by the men who wanted to use me to make money for them. Then by some of their customers. I did not cooperate. Not one single time. They threatened me, hurt me, tried to make me take drugs like the other girls, so I would be quiet and do what they said. I would not. I only cried. All the time.”
“That couldn’t have been good for business.”
She gave a short, humorless laugh. “No. Not at all. Finally, they left me alone. I still do not know why they did not kill me. It would have been easy for them. But then one of the girls died of too much drugs. She was...not well, so they had let her do all the cooking and cleaning for the other girls. They let me take her place. At least I no longer had to let strangers touch me.”
He squeezed her fingers. How had she possibly emerged from that hell still able to smile and laugh and find joy in the world, with a gentle spirit and a kind heart? Most people would have curled up and withered away in the midst of so much trauma.
“This went on for a few months and then I made a mistake. I knew I had to do something to change my situation. I could not stay. I tried to escape but they...caught me. They would have killed me that night. They knew I could tell the police who they were. I expected to die. I thought I would. But somehow, I did not. I do not know why. I only knew I had to do all
I could to survive. Mine was not the only life at risk that night.”
“One of your friends?”
She gave a tiny shake of her head and gazed out at the undulating waves. He waited for her to explain. When she did not, suddenly all his suspicions came together and he knew. He didn’t know how. He just did.
“You were pregnant.”
She met his gaze, her expression filled with sadness and pain. “No one else knew. I did not even know myself until I was too far along to—to do anything. I told you I was innocent.”
“How did you get away?”
She shrugged. “A miracle from God. That is the only thing it could have been.”
He had never heard her being particularly religious but the conviction in her voice seemed unswerving. He would take her word for it, since he hadn’t been there.
“We were kept above a restaurant in a tourist town in Utah. They left me to die in a room there, but I did not. I had only pretended. After they left, I saw they had not locked the door, like usual. They thought I was dead. Why should they?”
How badly had she been hurt? Wyatt didn’t even want to contemplate. And she’d only been a child. Not much older than his niece. How had she endured it?
“Somehow, I found strength to stand and managed to go out, stumbling down the back stairs. I still cannot believe they did not hear me. Once I was out, I did not know what to do. Where to go. I knew no one. I was certain I only had moments before they found me and finished what they had started, so I... I somehow climbed into the back of a truck.”
“With a stranger?”
He thought of all the things that could have happened to her by putting her trust in someone she did not know. On the other hand, she was escaping certain death so she probably thought anything was better than the place she was leaving.
“I was lucky. There was a blanket there for the horses and I was able to pull it over me so I did not freeze. The man was a rancher. He did not spot me until we were away from town, when he had a flat tire and found me sleeping.”
“What did he do?” Wyatt was again almost afraid to ask.
“He called the police and a kind sheriff and a doctor came to my rescue. Daniel and Lauren. My parents.”
Chapter Seventeen
Rosa could feel herself trembling, though the night was pleasant. She knew it was probably a delayed reaction from the attack earlier and from the emotional trauma of reliving the darkest time in her life.
When Wyatt wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to his heat, she wanted to sink into him. He was big, safe and comforting, and offered immeasurable strength.
She could not tell by his expression what he thought about what she had told him. She thought maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Did she want to know what he was thinking about her?
“They took you in.”
“They were not married at the time. Not even together. I like to think I helped them find each other. But, yes. Lauren took me home with her. I was still in danger. I had information about the men who took me. I knew who they were, where they were, so I—I stayed with Lauren until all the men were caught.”
“All of them?” Wyatt’s voice had a hard note she had not heard before, as if he wanted to go to Utah right now and find justice for her.
Oh, he was a dear man. A little more warmth seeped into her heart. How was she supposed to resist him?
“Yes. Some were deported. Others are still in jail here in this country. Daniel made sure all the girls were rescued and the men were punished.”
“I would like to meet Sheriff Galvez,” he said gruffly.
“You two are similar. I think you would be friends. That is one reason why I...” Her voice trailed off and she felt her face heat, as she was unable to complete the sentence. Why I fell in love with you.
“Why you what?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly. “I only wanted to tell you, after Daniel and Lauren married, they gave me a home and then legally adopted me.”
“They sound wonderful.”
“The best. Though they can be too protective of me.”
“That’s understandable, don’t you think?”
She nodded. “Yes. I do understand but this is one reason I think I had to move somewhere else. Somewhere I would not be poor Rosa Galvez.”
“What about your baby?” he asked.
Ah. Here was the most difficult part. The other things that had happened—the abuse, the beatings. Even the rapes. Those scars had healed. She hardly thought of them anymore.
Her child. That was a wound that would never close completely.
She chose her words carefully, wishing she did not have to tell him this part. “I had a baby girl ten weeks later and...she was adopted.”
There. The words still burned her throat.
He was quiet for a long time. Was he recoiling now from her? She could not blame him. It had been a terrible choice for someone who had been little more than a child to have to make.
“It’s Bella, isn’t it? Your daughter?”
That was the last thing she expected him to say. In horror, she jerked away and scrambled to her feet. Fiona immediately moved to her side, as if sensing more danger.
“No! Bella? How ridiculous! Do not say this. You are crazy.”
He rose, as well, gazing at her across the sand. The rising moon lit up one side of his face, leaving the other in shadow. “I’m not crazy though, am I?” he said quietly. “I’m right.”
She didn’t know what to say. How could she convince him he had made a terrible mistake? She had no words to undo this.
“No. This is not true,” she said, but even she could hear her words lacked conviction. “I do not know how... Why did you think of this?”
“The time frame lines up. Bella is the right age and she was adopted through your aunt Anna. You’re her birth mother.” If her own words lacked conviction, his did not. He spoke with a growing confidence she had no way to combat.
“I don’t know why I didn’t see the resemblance before. Maybe I didn’t want to see it. Does she know?”
Rosa stared at him, not sure what to say. All of her instincts were shouting at her to go inside the safety of the house, but she couldn’t leave. She had started this by telling him her history. It was her fault. He was a police detective. How could she blame him for connecting all the pieces of the jigsaw and coming up with the correct picture?
This was the part of the story she did not want him to know. The part she had been trying to protect him from. What must he think of her now? She had abandoned his niece, a girl he loved. She had given birth and handed her over to another woman to be her mother, then went on with her life. Learning English. Finishing school. Dating boys. Going to college.
Why did he not seem angry? Why was he looking at her like that, with a tender light in his eyes? Did he not understand what she had done?
She could not think about that now. For this moment, she had to focus on controlling the damage she had done. She should not have told him anything. Since she had, now she had to make sure he did not ruin all the care she had taken during the years she had lived in Cannon Beach, so close to her daughter but still far enough away.
“No. She does not know,” she finally said. “And you cannot tell her. Oh, please. Do not tell her.”
“I would never, if you don’t want me to.”
“You must promise me. Swear it.”
He seemed to blink at her vehemence, but then nodded. “I swear. I won’t tell her. This is not my secret to tell, Rosa. Again, please trust me enough to know I would never betray you.”
Oh, she wanted to trust him. The urge to step back into his arms was so overpowering, she had to wrap her own arms around herself to keep from doing it. “I thank you. She might have come from an ugly time in my life but none of that was her fault. She is the mo
st beautiful, precious girl. From the moment I felt her move inside me, I loved her. I wanted so much to keep her but it was... It was impossible.”
“You were only a child yourself.”
“Yes. What would I do with a baby? I had no way to take care of her myself, though I wanted to.”
“It’s obvious you love her. Whether she knows the truth or not, there is a bond between you.”
“How could anyone not love her? Bella is wonderful. Smart and pretty, always kind. She reminds me of my mother.”
“That’s funny. She reminds me of her mother, now that I know who she is.”
She blushed at the intensity in her voice. “Carrie is her mother. She has loved her and cared for her far better than I ever could.”
“Do Joe and Carrie know?”
“Yes. Of course. I would not have come here without telling them. When Anna asked me to come to help her with the store, I knew I must tell Carrie and Joe first. I called them to see how they might feel if I moved to town. I did not want to cause them any tension or discomfort.”
“What did they say?”
“They welcomed me. They have always been so kind to me. Always. From the day we met in the hospital. They never once made me feel as if I had...done something wrong.”
“Because you hadn’t!”
She sighed. It was easy for others to say that. They had not lived her journey. “I know that most of the time but sometimes I do wonder. I made foolish choices. Dangerous choices. And because of that, an innocent child was born.”
He reached for her hands again and curled his fingers around hers. To Rosa’s shock, he lifted her hands and pressed first one hand to his mouth and then the other.
“You did nothing wrong, Rosa. Nothing. You were an innocent child yourself, looking for a brighter future. You couldn’t have known what would happen to you.”
Tears spilled out again at his words and the healing balm they offered. He was not disgusted by her story. She did not know why. It seemed the second miracle of her life.
He pulled her back into his arms. She knew she should try to be strong but she couldn’t. Not right now. She would try to find the strength later to restore distance between them but right now she needed the heat and comfort of him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest again, wishing she could stay here forever.
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