Though she had his phone number halfway memorized, she blocked his number from her phone and deleted his contact information.
It was the only way she could deal with it. She had to rip the Band-Aid off quickly. She’d learned a long time ago that dragging out a break up was not the way to go. It caused too much heartache. This way, she never had to see or hear from him again.
He’d sounded tired in the last message she’d gotten only a few minutes ago. He said the girl was the granddaughter of an old friend. He said he’d given her a ride to see her dying grandfather.
Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe he’d only been comforting an old friend. But she saw what she saw. She couldn’t unsee it. Now, whenever she saw him, she’d have that image in her head. That image of him embracing another girl.
But she wasn’t that vulnerable girl she’d been at seventeen when she’d had no coping skills; when she’d felt that life wasn’t worth living without her boyfriend.
The tears started again. She couldn’t go through the whole thing all over again. What Joey had done had drained her and left her emotionally fragile. It probably didn’t help that her hormones were all out of whack from the pregnancy.
A baby. She had a baby to take care of. That’s all that mattered right now.
She would go home. She would go back to where she felt safe.
And her first appointment when she got back would be to her psychologist’s office.
She needed to get over Samuel Johnson and get on with her life.
She set the teddy bear aside.
Chapter 48
It wasn’t until he was flying back from Phoenix, in the dark, by radar, that Samuel realized Noah must have put it together that he was seeing Danielle. Noah had asked him to look after his daughter. And he wasn’t dumb. Nonetheless, Samuel had kept Danielle’s wish and hadn’t said anything to her father.
He had gotten back to Dallas after Midnight, then driven the short distance to his rented apartment and fallen into bed. He had tomorrow off to see Danielle, so he didn’t set a clock.
Big mistake. He didn’t wake up until nine o’clock.
There was no way he would be there to take Danielle to lunch. He sat on the edge of the bed in his pajama bottoms and dialed her number again. No answer.
He jumped in the shower and threw on some jeans and a sweater. The sooner he got there, the sooner he could straighten this thing out.
He usually found being in the air calming, but not today. He couldn’t shake the unease. He’d hated seeing the pain on her face and it was ten times worse knowing he’d somehow caused it.
After he landed, he grabbed the car he’d requested to be waiting for him. He assumed she would be at work, so he went to her workplace first. Her computer was turned off and had a yellow post-it note on it. Danielle wasn’t in her office. He walked around her office space and knew she wasn’t there and she wasn’t coming back. Her space felt... different.
He wandered down the halls looking for someone to ask about her. He found two open doors. Both women shrugged and shook their heads. “People come and go all the time,” one of them told him.
Her boss was out, so there was one else to ask. He needed to get to her apartment.
He rode down the elevator and dashed to her place. The apartment door stood open. Never a good sign. Was she hurt? Is that why she didn’t answer? His irritation turned into true gut-wrenching concern. She could be here hurt or dying and no one would know. Except maybe the two guys taking a picture off her wall.
“What are you doing?” He stood in front of the man holding Danielle’s art work. It was one of the few furnishings left that didn’t have a yellow sticker on it.
The worker shrugged.
“Where is Danielle?” The pit of his stomach dropped out as it occurred to him that they may have already taken her body out.
One of the two workers took pity on him. “She moved away, man. We’re gonna be right behind her, except we’re driving.”
“Where did she go?”
His new friend looked at the other guy who shrugged. “I don’t know about her, but we’re going to L.A.”
Samuel dropped to the sofa that obviously didn’t belong to Danielle since it didn’t have a sticker on it. He allowed this information to sink in. That’s when he noticed the teddy bear left on the sofa. She had left Pappa! And Pappa wasn’t wearing a yellow sticker. He picked it up and ran a hand along the fur on its head. The fur was damp.
It was like a stab in his heart that she left Pappa. Samuel couldn’t leave him here. He was glad he’d come here and found the little teddy bear.
Gathering up Pappa, he waved to the movers and headed out the door.
Chapter 49
Danielle sat in the back of the taxi, riding from LAX to her house - her mother’s house. She hadn’t called her mother. She was just going to show up. She smiled to herself.
I am my father’s child.
Her father rarely called before showing up. Both her mom and stepmother had tried to break him of that habit. His new wife had come closest.
The driver stopped in front of her house and took her two suitcases from the trunk. After he set them on the curb, Danielle paid him and the driver drove off.
Danielle stood on the curb between her two suitcases, with a tote bag on her shoulder. She watched as the taxi turned the corner and drove off. She then turned and faced her mother’s house.
It was Thursday afternoon, so no one was home. She was about to upset their evening. She grabbed a suitcase with each hand and dragged them to the front. She went to the door, keyed in the code, and let herself inside.
And was met by her cat, Charlie. She picked up the cat, squeezed him to her, and carried him with her into the living room. She needed to bring her suitcases inside, but decided she was too tired to drag them up the front porch steps. She grabbed a throw, and curled up on the sofa. She was exhausted from the trip. Exhausted from crying about Samuel. She buried her face in the cat’s fur and was soothed by its purring.
She was sad that she’d left Pappa in her old apartment. It had been done in a brief moment of anger. She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and dialed the apartment complex phone number.
It took her ten minutes to convince the girl to send someone to her apartment to look for the stuffed bear. It took another thirty minutes for them call her back. The movers had already come and gone.
And there was no sign of Pappa.
When Danielle woke up, her mother was sitting on the coffee table watching her. She rubbed at her eyes and sat up. Someone had brought in her luggage. “Mom. I must have fallen asleep.”
Claire nodded. “It’s almost six o’clock.”
Danielle hugged a throw pillow and avoided her mother’s intense gaze. “I should have called.”
“I guess you came by that honestly.” Claire said softly.
Danielle blinked back the tears, but felt her chin trembling. Then her mother was sitting next to her, and Danielle buried her face against her mother’s shoulder and cried until her tears were spent.
“Now Danielle Worthington.” Claire put her hands on either side of Danielle’s face and forced her to look at her. “Tell me what’s going on with you.”
“Everything is falling apart.” Danielle’s chin trembled.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure we can fix it.” Claire released her.
Danielle shook her head. “I don’t think so, Mom.”
“You’re too upset for this to be about work.” Claire tilted her head. “I know you broke up with that Joey, thank God, but you said you had a new boyfriend.”
“It’s so complicated. I don’t know where to start.”
“Start at the beginning.”
Danielle’s breath hitched. “I’m pregnant.”
Claire sat up straight. That was her only reaction. Years of etiquette classes. “You’re pregnant?”
Danielle sniffled. “But that’s not the worst part.”
“Worse
than being pregnant?”
It all came out in a rush. “The worse part isn’t being pregnant. It’s because the father is Joey. And because I love Samuel. He would have been a great dad, but he found someone else.”
Her mother scowled at her. “It might take a little time to sort all this out.”
Danielle almost smiled. She’d made the right decision to come home.
Chapter 50
Samuel sat between his two grandmothers at Pappa’s Burgers and stared at his food. He ordered fried catfish – something he’d never ordered here before. He’d eaten a few bites and moved his food around on his plate.
It was Sunday dinner with the family. The day Danielle was supposed to meet his family. Samuel had been a ghost of man since he’d walked out of her deserted apartment.
He’d never known anyone to be so determined to break up that they’d moved across the country the next day. In all fairness, though, he understood her wanting to be with her mother.
But he just needed her to listen. To understand that he hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d been so excited to see her. And then she’d run off – across the country.
“What’s gotten into you, dearie?” His grandmother Veronica asked.
He shook his head and straightened in his chair. “It’s nothing.” He attempted to smile.
“You were supposed to bring your girl today.”
Everyone knew of course, but Veronica was the first person to bring it up. “She’s not talking to me right now.”
“Nonsense. Why wouldn’t a girl want to talk to a handsome young man like yourself?”
“It was a misunderstanding, but she’s made her decision. She doesn’t date pilots.”
“Samuel Johnson.” He turned to face his grandmother. His affable grandmother looked rather stern at the moment. “I know it hurt when Jessica was taken from you.”
Samuel looked away. It had crushed him to lose Jessica, but since he’d met Danielle, she’d become a memory to him. He was ashamed to admit it.
Maybe his grandmother was the one person he could talk to about Danielle.
“Grandma. There’s something about her I was wondering if I could talk to you about.”
“You can talk to me about anything.”
“She says she doesn’t date pilots.” His moment of resolve crumbled at the last minute.
“Nonsense. She’ll get over that. What is it you really wanted to ask me about?”
Samuel chuckled. “When I met her, she was expecting a child with her ex-boyfriend.” He kept his eyes down. Now, at least, his grandmother would stop asking about her, and he would start finding him someone respectable to date.
When his grandmother didn’t respond, he looked up at her.
She shook her head. “Samuel. Is that why you let her go?”
“I didn’t…” He looked away from his grandmother’s piercing gaze. “She left me.”
His grandmother patted his arm. “How do you feel about her being pregnant?”
“I wish the baby was mine.” Samuel blurted.
“Why did she leave?”
“She saw me with a client. A young girl. And she must have misinterpreted. She… the girl hugged me. Maybe Danielle thought I was cheating on her.”
“Were you?”
“No. Of course not. I love—” He looked at his grandmother. “her.” It was first time he’d said it out loud. I should have told her.
His grandmother grinned. “Listen to me,” Veronica said. “If you want this girl, then you have to do whatever it takes.”
“I don’t think there’s anything I can do. She won’t answer my calls, and she moved to California.”
“Well, that is a bit of an obstacle.” Grandma Veronica took a swallow of sweet tea. “But if a man wants the girl…”
He turned and looked into her eyes. “If you want this girl, then you’ve got to find a way to win her back. This is not the same as what happened to Jessica. You have a chance to turn this girl around. She may say no, but you surely have to do anything and everything to get her back.”
“But—”
She held up a finger. “No buts, Samuel. It’s time for you to take control of your life.”
Chapter 51
Danielle was home alone when she got the flowers. And the letter.
Her eyes widened when she opened the door to the delivery guy holding the vase of three red roses.
Then she caught herself. They would be for her mother, of course, from Grayson. He was always doing little things to surprise her.
“I have a delivery for Danielle Worthington.” The delivery boy said, holding the vase toward her.
“Me?” She took the flowers, but kept them at arm’s reach.
“Are you Danielle?”
“Yes.”
“The guy asked me to give you this letter, too.”
Danielle took the envelope, too, and glanced past him, but didn’t see anyone watching. “Who?”
“I don’t know. Some guy who came into the flower shop. I think there’s a card.”
“Okay.” Danielle took the flowers and closed the door, the delivery boy forgotten. Her mind whirled. Whoever had sent her flowers had bought them in person. Who would be in L.A. to personally buy flowers to send her when they could have brought them?
Her mind darted to Samuel, but surely if he was here and knew where to find her, he’d come by. He doesn’t know how I would react.
She took the flowers to the coffee table and opened the card. Someone had scrawled Best Wishes on it. Not helpful at all.
She opened the sealed envelope.
Dear Danielle,
I hope you’re doing well. I’m sorry I wasn’t the boyfriend you were looking for. I’m just not ready to settle down. I hope you’re happy with your new boyfriend. He seemed like a nice guy, even though he did give me a black eye when I told him I didn’t even know if I was the father.
Danielle rubbed her forehead. Samuel had managed to leave that part out.
I know I’m the father. You’re a good girl. You deserve to be happy. So I’m not going to bother you. I’m going to leave you to raise our child as you see fit. If there ever comes a time when you need me for anything, you know how to get in touch with my mother. I told her about you and the baby. She wasn’t happy about my choice, but she agreed to contact me.
Joey
P.S. If you want child support, just let my mother know, and I’ll take care of it.
She read the letter a second time. The only really new information was that Samuel had given him a black eye. She wasn’t quite sure what to think about that. Samuel did not seem like the kind of guy who would hit someone.
The fact that he had hit someone in defense of her honor sent a flurry of emotions through her that she couldn’t even begin to sort out.
And what had prompted Joey to send this letter to her? He could easily have just let the whole issue alone. A touch of conscience perhaps? They had known each other a long time after all.
Nonetheless, it was a relief that he wasn’t planning to seek custody of their child – her child. And she didn’t need or want his money. That wasn’t even an issue.
She was on her own. Thoughts of Samuel swirled in her mind. She had thought he would be there for her. But she had chosen to block him out of her life. She wanted someone whom she could trust with all her heart.
Chapter 52
One Month Later
Samuel stood next to Noah Worthington at the window overlooking the tarmac at Dallas Love Field Airport. They both wore black pants, white oxford shirts, and black hats with silver braiding, the uniforms of Skye Travels.
“I should probably call Savannah or Danielle to let them know we’re running late.” Noah said, but made no move to do so.
“Yeah,” Samuel kept his gaze on the storm gathering in the west. He swallowed the lump in his throat at hearing Danielle’s name.
“It’s okay,” Noah held his iPad toward Samuel. “We can still make it.”
/> Samuel looked at the radar showing the storm. He closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose.
He tried to ignore the pain in his heart. There was nothing he could do about it at the moment.
“See that break in the storm – here,” Noah held a finger over a clear area on the radar. “We can take off and get above the clouds.”
Samuel opened his eyes and blinked. Focus. He pointed to the image near Birmingham. “You know they won’t approve it. And even if they did, look at this area. We’ll never be able to land.”
Noah checked his watch. “I can’t call Savannah.”
“Why not?” Samuel asked, but his thoughts were already back on Danielle. Danielle was with Savannah right now. They were getting ready for Savannah’s graduation from Auburn University with a Ph.D. in psychology.
“I don’t want her to know I screwed up,” Noah wore a miserable expression. “I can’t let her down.”
Well, hell. Samuel was still confused about why Noah had brought him on this flight. Noah had to remember that he and Danielle were no longer together. Samuel hadn’t tried to contact Danielle after he found Pappa in her deserted apartment. The message was too loud and clear.
Even though it went against his better judgment, the least he could do was to go along with Noah. He understood Noah’s need to be there for his wife.
He followed Noah out onto the tarmac and boarded Noah’s Cessna with the name Skye Travels emblazoned in red across the fuselage.
He sat in the copilot’s seat and watched patiently as Noah checked the radar again and called in to the Airport Traffic Advisory System and listened to the recording.
This was Samuel’s first time to fly with Noah. By reputation, Noah was one of the best pilots. As far as Samuel could tell, Noah was about to make a decision based on emotion instead of good judgment. He bit his tongue as Noah radioed in to the control tower requesting permission to take off.
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