by Rimmy London
The police car drove them around the airport annex, back to the main building. Her father directed them to a Mercedes-Benz that shone as if it had just driven off the lot. "Right here, thank you." Her father’s voice was calm.
Abby followed him to the car, settling in the exquisite-smelling white leather seat. But even as much as she admired the beautiful material, she wasn't about to pay her father a compliment… not yet. He had some explaining to do. They pulled out of the airport facility and were on the freeway in a few minutes. The traffic was light, halfway between the noon and five o'clock rush hours.
"I could drive you back to your inn if you want."
"That's a nine-hour drive." Abby glanced at the clock. "We wouldn't get there until close to midnight."
"Well, what time was your flight?" He changed lanes, setting the cruise control.
Abby shrugged. "Eleven o'clock. We'd probably get there a little faster by driving as compared to flying."
"It's up to you." He said the words calmly, waiting out the long stretch of silence that followed.
Abby turned in her seat, facing him. "We can drive if you answer me one question." Her voice was so much braver on the outside. Inside, she was crumbling slowly at the uncertainty of what his answer might be.
He nodded his head slowly as if considering it before committing. "Okay. I imagine there could be more than one question, though. Ask whatever you want."
Abby swallowed. "Where have you been?" It came out more like an accusation, but with the way her throat seized up, she couldn't have taken it back if she wanted.
He dipped his head briefly with his lips pressed together, before returning his gaze to the road. "I—" He cleared his throat, and she watched his eyes scan the horizon. "When I left, my mind was so clouded by addictions, I hardly realized what I was doing. Leaving you with your mother was a sin I never expect to be forgiven of. Truly." He twisted the steering wheel in his hands. Locked in place with her legs tucked under her, Abby held her breath.
"But I was blessed to run into some good people. They took the time to help, got me pointed in the right direction. I focused all my energy, all my cravings, all my pain… into work. Learning to build frames turned into planning, which turned into custom building. I was able to make a good living, saving almost every penny I made. But what I was saving it for, I didn't know." He turned onto an exit ramp. Abby glanced down the road to see her hotel in the distance.
"Not until I found you—" His voice broke, and he cleared his throat again, falling into silence.
"What made you suddenly want to find me?" Abby thought back to the day she'd seen him at the lake, and Apple Hill, and again at Poppyridge.
"Can I answer that one later?" He pulled up to the curb, glancing up at the hotel. "Looks like we made it this far."
Abby's gaze flicked back to him, and a stillness settled inside the car. "Looks like we did." She hesitated before making her decision. "I'd like to drive back if you still want to."
His blue eyes were cloudy, and they squinted with a smile. "I do."
In her hotel room, Abby used the phone to call Chase. His breath gusted in her ear as he stumbled over an apology, the words rushing out in a tumble.
"Chase—Chase. No, it's fine—" Abby felt her lip shake, overcome with it all and wishing she was in his arms. "I'm driving home right now. Yes. With my--father. Okay. I'll see you tonight."
He'd been briefed about everything, thank goodness, or it would have been a much more shocking phone call. Still, Abby's head was spinning. The entire theme of her life had been shaken apart, sent a lifeline she'd never expected. She collapsed into the chaise lounge, listening to the muffled noise of the city outside her window.
A soft knock tapped on the door, and her eyes lifted. When she opened it, her father stood in front of her. It was still shocking. He shifted his weight, rubbing a hand through the short gray stubble on his chin. It was a good look for him, rugged and suave together. A sheen of moisture over his eyes made the blue more radiant.
"I didn't want to answer because I knew it would be difficult. Mind if I come in? Just for a minute and then we can be on the road."
Abby nodded and pulled the door open. She sat across from him, watching as he rubbed his hands on his jeans and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.
"I turned my life around, but I only ever thought of you. Every day was a new kind of torture, struggling with the guilt of leaving you behind. One day, I'd convince myself you were better off not knowing what became of me, and the next, I would desperately search you out, trying to find any information of where you'd gone." He glanced up from the floor. "I found you two years ago."
Abby flinched. "Two years?" She thought back to her life then, before Poppyridge. "I've only just seen you recently, though."
He looked into her eyes with a resigned calm, as if prepared for any outcome. The words came fluid and gentle from his lips. "I saw you with a young man, and you looked happy together. The thought of shattering that solidness in your life was too much. I—" He struggled, wringing his hands together. "I decided to leave you what you might need in a way that kept me out of your life. After your mother's death, I was given the journal of a relative of hers. A sister I'd never known existed who lived her whole life in England."
He met her eyes for just a moment before they dropped again, studying the downy-white carpet at their feet. Abby's heart was beginning to pound, and she could hardly believe what he was saying.
"I found a lawyer in London and fabricated an inheritance, even a letter to you with a set of challenges like a path. A path that might hopefully lead you down a road of healing—something a father might provide for their child. I required that the letter be burned, but I wanted you to have the journal. It was the truth, after all."
He cleared his throat, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "But I wanted to be certain your, uh, friend was genuine. If anything, I could at least assure you didn't have anyone as worthless as me in your life. So I limited the inheritance and met with your neighbor instead, convincing him to accept the money I gave him. In turn, he was to offer part of it to you as a means of finishing your dream. The inn."
Abby stood, hugging her torso and reliving the past. The day she learned of the inheritance. The day she believed it was gone. Chase's unwavering dedication to her dreams through all the challenges she'd completed. The thought slowly etched a smile on her face.
"I thought that would be enough," he continued. “But when Kyle showed up, asking me about you--"
Abby gasped. "He found you?" Kyle was dangerous, but the lengths he went to in order to steal her away was frightening all over again.
"He did. I believed his intentions were good, and then I felt I had to see you. The thought wouldn't leave my mind. I couldn't distract myself anymore--with anything. There was only the desire to see you and to speak with you, if only to apologize." His sigh was ages long, like a surrendering of years gone past. "So, in a way, I owe him a debt. I'm just glad I was able to discover his true nature when your husband called, half frantic with worry."
Abby's head was beginning to hurt. She rubbed her temple, letting all he had told her sink in.
"If you don't want to make this trip together, I understand. It's a lot to take in." He stood, crossed the room, and waited with his hand on the door handle.
Abby grabbed her suitcase and followed him out.
Light had long since left the sky by the time they neared San Francisco. The lights of the city glittered against the night in a flashing dance of colors. Abby still didn't feel tired, reeling from all she'd learned. So much had happened in the time she'd made the foolish decision to leave without speaking with Chase. The guilt of that choice pinched in her stomach, especially after her father had explained the hours before he rescued her. The knowledge that Chase had searched out the caterer and scoured the nearest hotels was incredible.
"Looks like we'll be there soon."
Her father's voice wa
s becoming familiar, and the thought had a lump forming in her throat.
"I want you to know, Abigail, that just because I've come here now and explained all this to you… you're under no obligation to include me in your life." He didn't look over, only spoke to the road in the distance and then the trees as they turned off the highway. "I've reconciled what I can, and it's a far cry from redemption. I know there's no making up the past. That's as it should be. I expect nothing from you."
They stopped at the graveled drive of Poppyridge Inn, and Chase appeared in the night, racing across the beams of their headlights as Abby stepped out. He lifted her off the ground, holding her in a comforting hug.
Her heart ached with the regret of leaving. It tightened her throat and stung in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered. He set her feet on the ground and kissed her. His hands brushed the sides of her face in a soft caress, and he shook his head the moment their lips parted.
"No, Abby, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He held her in another kiss, this one slowing gently with his breath. His lips softened, and his hand touched her hair. "Can you ever forgive me?"
The word had Abby's mind snapping back to everything her father said. To the one aching realization that through it all, he'd never asked for her forgiveness.
"I'm so ashamed that I didn't believe you." Chase wiped away the tears in his eyes. "All my years of books and studying, and I couldn't even see clearly enough to help the most important person in my life. Forgive me." His words were thick with emotion, and Abby settled a hand on his face, stopping him.
"Chase, I love you. Everything you were doing was to help, in the only way you knew how." Her gaze softened, and she felt enveloped in his eyes. "Of course I forgive you."
The driver's side door closed, and they turned to see her father standing solemnly beside the car.
"As I forgive you," Abby said the words softly. They flowed easily from her lips. But the effect on her father was powerful. His expression fell, crumbled into a quiet sob. He covered his face with one hand, struggling to gather himself in the seconds that followed.
Managing to gaze back at her through red eyes, his voice thick as he murmured a soft thank you.
Although Abby wanted to, she couldn't hug him. Not yet. He was still mostly a stranger to her, although one thing remained familiar. "Why do you wear that shirt?" Her question was abrupt, but he brushed the tears from his cheeks and answered quickly.
"I wanted you to remember me."
She nodded, still wrapped in the warmth of Chase's arms. "Can you stay?"
His answer came softly, after an intake of breath.
"I'd be honored."
Chapter 16
The next morning, Ava's squeals filled the house as her joy bubbled over at finding both Chase and Abby home. Climbing onto the bed, she rolled from one to the other, receiving tickles and kisses right and left.
"Wek, Daddy?"
Chase kissed her cheeks again, "No, honey, I'm home with you and Mommy today."
"Yay!"
When they went downstairs, the smell of eggs and bacon already filled the air.
"You kids hungry?" Her father's voice came from the kitchen.
Abby's stomach woke at the warm, savory fragrance of a home-cooked breakfast. She knelt in front of Ava. "There's someone very special here today."
"Gamma?" Ava twisted, trying to see around the corner.
"No, bug."
"Gampa?" She turned back to Abby. Chase knelt next to them, his arm resting on Abby's shoulder.
"It's a new grandpa." He smiled, turning to Abby.
"Yes." She took the lead. "Grandpa Tanner. Do you want to go say hello?"
"Otay, Mama!"
They walked together, each holding a soft, miniature hand. Abby's heart pounded with both excitement and fear. When they entered the kitchen, her father was setting a plate piled with pancakes on the counter. He stopped abruptly at the sight of them.
"Well, hello there." He smiled a wider smile than Abby had seen yet on his rugged face. It lit up his eyes, giving him a youthful glow. "Are you Ava?"
Ava held her parent's hands in front of her face, nodding her head.
"I have something for you."
She pulled their hands apart, peeking through at the new grandpa.
"You want to see it?"
"Uh-huh." Ava dropped their hands, stepping forward in anticipation. Her face was poised, watching him intensely as he pulled a small crocheted doll from his pocket. "I made this for you. I wanted to bring it to your birthday party, but I—couldn't." Ava was smiling. "Do you want it?"
"Yes!" She finally broke free from her restraint, jumping forward and snatching it from his hands. She held it in front of her for a moment, studying the dark eyes with delicate eyelash stitches and the golden, curled hair, very similar to Ava's. An intricate creamy-white dress had been stitched separately and fitted over the doll, and matching shoes covered the small feet. Ava hugged it to her, looking again at her new grandpa.
"Gampa Tan?" She hesitated, trying out the new title.
"Yes, sweetie."
"I wuv you." She jumped up enough to wrap her arms around his neck, squeezing with all her might.
Abby's father closed his eyes, hugging her briefly before she hopped from his arms. She turned to the breakfast table, climbing up on the bench.
Abby watched her father, the way he smiled back at his granddaughter, still lowered to his heels.
"I say we eat. This looks delicious." Chase patted his father-in-law on the shoulder and joined Ava at the table.
Conversation began casually, and a sweetness settled about the room. Abby could feel a dynamic change, something she'd never felt before. The presence of someone in her family who chose to do the hard work. He'd put in the time and effort to change his life, and he'd made it possible for her to have a brand new start at Poppyridge. But it was time to put a little distance between her future and her dreams. To reorganize her priorities and make them one and the same.
She turned to Chase, waiting for him to swallow a big bite of pancakes. "I think you're right." Her voice was quiet, the conversation only between them. "We need to raise Ava away from Poppyridge, where we can focus on us."
A contented smile brushed across Chase's face, and he reached into his pocket, pulling an image up on his phone. "It's just a thought, but I've been looking around in case we ever wanted to see what was out there. This one caught my eye." He tilted the screen toward Abby. It was a modest family house with hills and trees surrounding it. Abby flipped through the images, seeing a lake in the distance and a small barn not too far from the house. It was a dream.
"I think I recognize that lake." She couldn't help but smile at the memory of Cedar Creek.
"It's about twenty minutes from my parents, on the other side of the lake." His eyebrows rose as if awaiting her input. "There aren't any developments on that side, and it's not likely to change much in the future, if at all." He glanced back at the screen. "It seems very private and secure. The perfect place for Ava to run around, maybe get a pony."
"It looks amazing, but what about this place?" As Abby asked the question, a few guests walked by.
"We're heading out for the day," the father said. "Thank you, Mrs. Abby and Mr. Chase." He gave his three kids a meaningful look.
"Thank you," they chimed in, the words a jumbled scatter of voices. They continued excitedly out the door.
Chase turned back to Abby. "I actually might have a solution there, although we've spoken a bit about her already. I asked Cassandra to come out today and ran the idea by her."
"Well, hello there, friends!" The boisterous voice matched a filled-in, rose-patterned sweater and tight beige capris. Cassandra's smile was a beautiful thing, her grin causing a chain reaction of dimples, brilliant, white teeth, and sparkling eyes. She settled to a stop in front of them, her wedge sandals giving her an added height that was unnecessary. "I'm so glad you asked me to stop by—hello, beautiful little Ava!"
Ava sm
iled, lifting her new doll straight up in the air.
"Oh my, look what you have. It's so pretty!" Cassandra's eyes wandered to Abby's father, and her head tilted with a new smile. "And who is this dashing gentleman?"
"H'lo." Abby's father reached a hand out, his cheeks tinged a bit red with the compliment. "Nice to meet you, ma'am. I'm Abby's father, Briggs." They shook hands slowly, and Abby couldn't tell if they were interested in, or suspicious of each other.
"Well, what do you think, Cass?" Chase caught Cassandra's attention, and she dropped her hand, taking a seat aside from Ava. "Would you be interested in a job managing this place? We could bring in a tiny home for you to live separately if you'd like, but we would need you here on the property."
"Oh my heavens, I couldn't be more excited. I would absolutely love to! You know, after my divorce three years ago, I've just been telling myself that any opportunity is good mojo, and I take them all! But this one, what you two are asking me. I just can't imagine anything I would want more." She gazed out the windows as she spoke. Lost in the view, her words trailed away.
"Sounds like it's what you should do, then." Briggs smiled at her, a reserved, slim-lipped grin that had a dimple showing on his chin. Cassandra glanced back at him but didn't respond.
"And what are your plans?" Abby noticed the way her father turned back to her, like he'd been waiting for the chance to answer.
His head inclined, and he set his fork on his plate, looking back at Ava who was tearing her pancake into bits. He smiled. "Well, I've never put down roots, but I'd be happy to stick around and help with the inn if you need anything. Just while you're getting things settled, and only if it's what you want. I'd love to be helpful in any way."
