Emily had kept an arm around the little girl and her blanket the entire ride back, but now Melanie shrugged off the blanket and ran into her parents’ embrace.
Emily smiled. There was so much love in that family. She suddenly wished that her family had been like that. An idea began to form in her head.
“Good work with the comforting,” Nate whispered to her as he walked past.
Sam winked at her with a smile and followed Nate. Together, they would have to talk to Melanie’s parents. That could take them awhile.
She tapped her fingers on her leg for a moment before pulling her phone out of her pocket. She sent a quick text and then dialed a number.
“Hello?” it was answered on the fourth ring.
“Mom, are you back in town?” Emily asked.
“Yeah. Just got back in. Look, I thought about what you said to me the other night. About Jesus. I accepted him.”
Emily smiled. “That’s great. We should talk more about it. Could you meet me at my house in, oh I don’t know, thirty minutes?”
“Sure. They’re letting you go from work that early?”
“Yeah. Long story, but I kind of have the day off.”
“Alright. I…I guess I’ll see you then.” She hung up.
Emily breathed a sigh of relief and watched Sam and Nate interact with the family. One day, she would have a family like that. And she had a feeling Sam would be part of it.
Sam watched Mrs. Bosch smooth her daughters mangled hair and had to smile. This woman cared so much for her daughter. That was what a true parent was to him. If they didn’t care, he was always dubious about them.
“So, how long were you there?” Nate asked Melanie as she wrote.
She looked up at him. “A few days. There weren’t any windows in the living room, but I watched the light fade in and out in the kitchen as best as I could. I was so scared that I was going to starve to death or something. I mean, he always came back with food until yesterday. He never showed back up. Emily says it’s because he had her. Weird guy.” She went back to writing.
Mr. Bosch put a comforting hand on her back. “Her statement will help put the guy away?”
Sam nodded. “Yes. On top of that, this guy kidnapped and threatened to kill an FBI colleague. He’s going away for a long time.”
“Oh my,” Mrs. Bosch spoke up. “If you don’t mind my asking, who was it?”
Sam looked down for a minute. “Emily Baker.”
“Oh, the poor woman,” Mrs. Bosch said in disbelief.
Sam smiled. “Emily handled herself with expertise. She’s fine.”
He looked around for her, but couldn’t seem to find her anywhere. She had just been there moments ago. He wondered where she had gone. If she were working again already, he would hurt her. He pulled out his phone and dialed her number.
“Hello,” she answered cheerily.
“Where did you disappear to?” Sam asked.
She laughed. “Home. I need sleep. And I have a meeting with my mother.”
“You’ll forgive me if I’m a little incredulous.”
“Hey! I really do. She flew back in this morning.”
“Ok. Have a good nap. Enjoy your freedom.” Sam finally brought himself to let her have her way. Without Troy on the streets, he felt safer sending her home alone.
“Thank you. I will. I love you, Sam.”
He smiled and turned away for a minute. “I love you, too. I’ll call you later.”
“Ok. Bye.”
“Bye.” He hung up and rolled his eyes at her. She was so flighty sometimes. But, that was part of what made Emily, well, Emily. It was part of the reason he loved her. And it was part of the reason he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
Emily paced her living room floor and glanced at the door. Her mother would show up soon, and it was making her nervous.
Sure enough, two minutes later, the doorbell rang. She opened the door to see her mother standing there with a large smile on her face.
“Hi, mom,” she greeted her.
“Hello, Emily.”
“Please come in and sit down. There’s one more person coming to this meeting.” She didn’t add who, thinking it might cause her mother to leave.
Emily’s mother sat on the couch and Emily stood in front of the coffee table.
“How have you been, mom?” she asked.
“Fine,” her mother said with a curious expression. “And you?”
“Oh, I’m fine as well.”
The front door opened and her father walked hurriedly into the living room. “Emily, what was so all-fired important that you needed me to…” he stopped his sentence and stared at Fran.
Emily pointed to the couch. “Sit,” she commanded.
Mark held up his hands and did as he was told. He sat at the complete other end of the couch.
“Ok, you two, listen up,” Emily started, she began to pace the floor nervously. “I know you don’t get along very well, and that’s ok, but there are going to be some changes in this relationship. I am your daughter. Your is plural. I want a healthy, working relationship with both my parents and that can only be achieved if I’m not split between the two. I can’t have one of you complaining about the other one and putting all this drama on me. We need to talk this out.”
Mark and Fran shot each other a look.
“Ok, then, I’ll start,” Emily continued. “Mom, dad feels that you treated him unfairly in leaving him like you did. Care to explain why?”
Fran teared up a little and stared at the floor. “Lester seemed like a wonderful man, Mark, but he wasn’t. He had a mean streak like no one else I have ever known. I didn’t realize the good thing I already had with you. You were so sweet and loving, but I chose to ignore it. I left because I didn’t think you loved me anymore.”
“Ok,” Emily said slowly, “now, dad, explain why you let her leave the way you did.”
Mark looked across the couch at Fran. “You said you didn’t love me anymore. I didn’t want to let you go. I fought it for all it was worth. In the end, I felt I had lost the battle. I let you go instead of making you choose between Lester and me. But I never fell out of love with you. I know there is a lot of ground to make up and a lot of scars to heal, but if you would let me, I would like to try to woe your heart once again.”
Emily had to walk to the kitchen. Her parents were making her tear up. If she had done this earlier, maybe something could have been resolved in her life. She pulled out her phone and dialed Sam’s number.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
She took a deep breath. “I think my parents are going to get back together.”
“That’s amazing,” he said sincerely. “Why are you crying?”
“I’m just so happy! I never thought I could have my parents together again.”
“If it’s happening, then believe it.”
Emily finished her conversation with him and watched her parents interact. They were happy together. Again. Finally.
All those years of her broken childhood melted away before her eyes, and everything that had happened to make her life miserable was no longer important. God was healing her family, and He was healing her emotions. He had brought a wonderful, perfect man into her life, and she was going to make a decision to follow God with every fiber of her being. The danger of losing her life, or worse not knowing where she would go when it was over, was finally gone. She was content once again. Free to live her life to the fullest and love her family with her whole heart.
For the first time in her life, Emily finally felt the full effects of forgiveness, and she had to admit the journey had been worth it.
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Eminent Danger Page 18
