Daddy Next Door - The Complete Series Box Set (A Single Dad Navy SEAL Romance)

by Claire Adams

  The press was going crazy: snapping pictures, shouting questions, milling close to the edge of the front porch. I clenched my teeth as they shouted questions that were just flat-out cruel to Johnny about Claire — cruel not only to Johnny, but also to Claire’s parents as well, utterly unfeeling. Johnny raised his hands up in the air, gesturing for the journalists to move back. “We have a statement,” Johnny said, pitching his voice over the shouting of questions. “We are going to talk to you, but you have to move back and let us speak.”

  Gradually, the reporters and photographers and cameramen understood what was happening and they began to quiet down, to move back enough to give Johnny and Claire’s parents a little space. I swallowed against the lump in my throat. I wasn’t sure I would be able or even willing to do what Claire’s parents were about to do to clear Johnny’s name.

  Claire’s mother spoke first, clearing her throat quickly and sniffing. Johnny reached behind and I took his hand; he held onto me tightly. “I wanted to address rumors — rumors circulating about my daughter, who tragically took her life after a brutal attack and bullying.” Claire’s mother cleared her throat again and I wished that I could do something, anything, for her.

  Claire’s mother told the story, almost exactly the way that Johnny had: that her daughter had gone to the party, and that Johnny had left before the attack had ever happened. “I have no doubts that he was out for pizza,” Claire’s mother said, glancing at Johnny. “And I have no doubt at all in my mind that as soon as he knew what had happened — as soon as he had the slightest inkling of it — he hurried to get back to Claire, to do what he could to help her. He brought her home to us.”

  Claire’s father swallowed before taking up the story. I had to admire both of these people so much — they could easily have refused to speak, refused to be forced to relive what had to have been the most horrible weeks of their lives. No one would have blamed them. “I’ve known this young man for years,” Claire’s father said. “I have known from the first time that he took my daughter out that he was a good guy. I believe it to this day; Johnny Steele could never have hurt Claire. He loved her.” Johnny gave my hand a squeeze, unconsciously.

  I listened as Claire’s father explained the role that Johnny had played in getting Claire home, that Johnny had tried to get Claire to seek help. Claire’s father teared up as he described his daughter’s final days on the planet — the fact that she was hounded by so many people at school. That Johnny had tried to do what he could to encourage Claire to either change schools or seek treatment. “This is a man who loved my daughter,” Claire’s father said, sniffing as he fought to keep from openly weeping in front of the camera. “I miss my little girl every day, but I know better than to blame it on this young man. I know exactly who Johnny is — and I know what he tried to do for my girl.”

  It was Johnny’s turn, and I felt the clamminess of his hands as the journalists waited with bated breath to hear what it was he had to say. I didn’t know what he was going to say, either; I didn’t know what there even was to say anymore, but I knew that Johnny had to address the press with something.

  “I’d like to thank you all for letting Mr. and Mrs. White deliver their statements,” Johnny said. He smiled slightly, wryly. “I’m sure you all have questions that they weren’t able to answer, so now I hope you’ll listen to me.” I couldn’t help but feel proud as Johnny spoke about the love he had felt for Claire, but that things just hadn’t worked out between them; he didn’t share any personal details or mention what he had told me of Claire’s wilder, more flirtatious ways after the breakup. It wasn’t important, and it would only hurt her parents. He came to the night of the party and went through the events one last time — just in case, I thought, someone had missed the previous recital.

  “I’m sure many of you are wondering why there’s a police file on me for the investigation, if I’m so innocent,” Johnny said, looking out at the crowd of reporters. There was a faint little murmur sounding like agreement. Johnny took a deep breath. “The boys who did those horrible things to Claire — they were my friends. They were my teammates.” Johnny swallowed. “I knew that they had to go to jail, but I was afraid to come forward at the risk of losing my other friends on the team. All of the guys on the team wanted everyone to keep their mouths shut, not say anything one way or another. But I knew what I had seen that night.”

  I gave Johnny’s hand a squeeze, and he glanced at me — just for an instant. He continued, “I knew that the prosecution needed all of the information I could give them, if they were going to put the boys who hurt Claire in jail. So I testified against every last one of the guys who attacked her. The file is sealed for my protection. The police were afraid that there might be reprisals against me if it came out that I had testified against my teammates.” Johnny paused and smiled slightly. “I loved Claire, but I didn’t just testify because I love her. I testified because it was the right thing to do. Any girl that I knew about who had that happen to her, I would give her whatever help I could.”

  There was a pause, and I felt like some of the tension had finally begun to ratchet down in the air, the journalists absorbing the incredible information that had been given to them by Johnny and Claire’s parents. In the silence, Johnny pulled me towards him, and Claire’s father stepped to the side slightly so that I could fit between him and Johnny. “Thank you for listening, everyone,” Johnny said. “I think, I hope, I can trust this to be the end of the story. I can’t see any reason to keep hurting people who are already grieving, can you?” There was no way of knowing, but I thought, based on the way that journalists were obviously thinking about and digesting what Johnny had said, that it probably would be. After all, what point would there be anymore to continuing to pursue it if the victim’s parents themselves had gone on the record to say that everyone involved in the case was behind bars?

  Johnny’s arm tightened around my shoulders. I wondered what we should do; declare the impromptu press conference over? Some of the journalists were obviously eager to ask more questions, some of them were nodding, a few were smiling in recognition, acknowledging how much it must have cost Johnny, as well as Claire’s parents, to speak like this. “Does anyone have any other questions?” Johnny asked, sounding, like me, just a little confused.

  “There’s been some speculation that you’ll be sitting out, or even missing, the Championship game tonight,” one of the journalists said, pushing herself forward slightly. “Any comment on that?”

  “I fully intend to be there,” Johnny said firmly. “Hopefully, coach will let me play.” There were a few chuckles amongst the journalists assembled.

  “Is it true that this is your new girlfriend?” someone pointed to me.

  “It is,” Johnny said. “I have a lot to lose right now, which was why I was on the verge of giving into all this. But I’m not used to losing.” A few more chuckles at that, and some of the journalists asked a few more questions about hockey and about Johnny’s college career. “I hate to break this up,” Johnny said, looking at his watch. “But if you guys want to even have a chance at seeing me win the game tonight, we’re going to have to get on the road.”

  The journalists started to wander away, and I sighed with relief. Even when they were no longer bombarding Johnny or Claire’s parents with questions about her death, it was a lot of pressure to have them around, watching, taking pictures. Johnny hugged each of Claire’s parents in turn; Claire’s father said something to him, but I couldn’t hear it. Claire’s mother gave me a hug and pressed something into my hand that she had taken out of her pocket. I felt myself tearing up, and I kissed the older woman on the cheek.

  Johnny held my hand as we walked to the car, and I looked at what Claire’s mother had given me. It was a locket — it looked like it had come out of a catalog, and on the back it said “Love, Johnny.” I smiled to myself and showed it to Johnny. “I gave that to her,” Johnny said, smiling slightly, shaking his head. “I gave it to her for her birthda
y; I saved up for weeks.” I didn’t want to wear it, but I thought that it was fitting that Claire’s mother had given me one of the most important tokens of Johnny’s love for her daughter. It was clear approval of my dating Johnny, and it seemed almost to come from Claire as well as from her mother.

  We climbed into the car, and I thought to myself that I was putting more miles on my engine and my tires in one day than I had put in the whole past month. But it was in a good cause; I needed to get Johnny to the game. He had to get out there and win and show everyone that he was back. I took a deep breath and Johnny leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Don’t worry, babe,” Johnny said, reaching down and resting his hand on my knee for a moment. “Everything will work out.” I shook my head, laughing as I turned on the ignition and pulled away from the curb. It was a long way back to campus for the championships. I couldn’t quite imagine us making it in time, but I knew I had to try.

  Chapter Six

  Once more I was on the road, making the interminable trip back from Johnny’s hometown. The interstate was a little busier than it had been before, and I mostly just focused on the road around me. It wouldn’t do Johnny or me any good to get into an accident when he had a game to get to. “Were you seriously going to throw it all away?” I asked Johnny.

  “I thought it was what I had to do,” Johnny said, shrugging slightly. “I mean, it’s not like I wanted to stop playing, to lose my future…but I didn’t think anything else would make it stop. And Claire’s parents don’t deserve the hounding, neither does my mom.”

  “She didn’t quite believe that I was your girlfriend,” I told Johnny playfully. “In fact, I seem to recall that she said you hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend at all.” I gave Johnny an arch look and he grinned sheepishly.

  “I don’t tell her a lot of things!” he protested. “I didn’t even tell her we were going to the championships.” I rolled my eyes.

  “If only I’d kept my mouth shut. None of this would have happened.” I thought about my parents and their stupid misguided notion that just because Johnny and I were starting to get serious — and I had to admit it was a bit fast for that — that they needed to hire some private investigator to figure out what was in Johnny’s past. My parents had nearly ruined a man’s life, all because they couldn’t trust their own daughter to make good decisions and because they distrusted anyone who wasn’t wealthy.

  As we sped down the highway, going as fast as we safely could, Johnny called his coach to tell him he was coming. “I can play, right?” I heard Johnny ask. I wondered what he would have done if the coach had told him that he couldn’t. Apparently, the coach was just as eager to have Johnny play the championship game as Johnny was. Now I just had to make sure that I was able to get him back into town; we didn’t have very much time at all.

  Johnny and I talked a lot during that drive – not about Claire, but about us. About our future together and what it might look like. I had far more time left in college than Johnny did — we talked about how it would be when he graduated, what we wanted to do together, how we wanted everything to be. I knew that it was a complicated road ahead and so did Johnny; just because we had managed to get past the worst thing in his past, it didn’t meant that everything was going to be perfectly smooth sailing. But I thought to myself that if we could manage to weather what we just had, I would put good money on us managing to stay together through just about anything.

  At one point, Johnny kissed my hand, and I smiled at him. “What’s on your mind, babe?” I asked. Johnny looked at me — I barely managed to pay attention to the road.

  “I’m sorry I pushed you away. I’m sorry I put you through all this,” he said. “I should have probably told you right up front when you first asked, but…” I shook my head.

  “It’s easy to see that you loved Claire a lot,” I said. “I knew what kind of guy you were deep down.” I bit my lip. “I might have, on a few occasions, been a paranoid freak.” Johnny laughed. “But I knew no matter how stupid my brain was being to try and convince me that people wouldn’t be talking about it if there was nothing to it… I knew you were kind, and gentle, and sweet. At least, off the ice.” Johnny laughed again and gave my hand a squeeze once more.

  It was amazing that we could drive and drive and drive and somehow still seem to be so far away from the campus. We joked about Johnny’s tactic of going as far away from home as he could without leaving the state, and I told him that I was selfishly glad that he hadn’t left the state, since it would make it much harder for me to chase after him. “Not to mention that if I went out of state, and you didn’t, it’s not like we’d have ever met.” I had to agree that that was right.

  I had a lot to think about as Johnny and I made our way up the highway. I had to wonder if the news had already covered the extraordinary press conference that Johnny and Mr. and Mrs. White had given; I wondered if everyone at the school was aware of the facts now. I could only hope that it would have already become old news by the time we got there. Of course, I couldn’t hope with any real confidence. I had no idea how many journalists there were in the Whites’ lawn, but I thought that even if CNN had been there, the campus would take a long time to stop talking about it. Johnny and I would just have to deal with that. We both knew the facts, and we both knew the reality of the situation. I thought I could bear the lingering interest in Johnny with a little better fortitude than I had without him. I hoped so, at least. “You could let me drive,” Johnny pointed out when I complained about how far we still were from campus. It was less that I had an issue with the distance and more that I was concerned that Johnny would miss suiting up for the game and it would be all my fault.

  “My dad is already going to kill me for going on TV without a lawyer present or his say-so,” I said. “Forget the fact that I didn’t even say anything, he’s going to be pissed I was even there.” I grinned. “If I told him I’d let you drive the car on top of that? He’d cancel my card for sure.”

  Chapter Seven

  After what seemed like an eternity, Johnny and I finally arrived at the stadium, and I pulled right up to the front entrance to let him out. I was exhausted, but I knew that there was absolutely no way that I could avoid seeing this game — I had to support Johnny. “You should have some seats at the front reserved at the box office,” Johnny said to me as we approached the huge building.

  “You didn’t even know if you were going to be playing,” I pointed out. “You didn’t make any calls other than to your coach and your mom.”

  “I put you on the list for all of the home games, with a guest. I figured Gigi is cultivating her interest in the game, too,” Johnny said. I rolled my eyes and told him to hurry up and go in. Johnny reached out and gave me a quick, passionate kiss, unbuckling his seat belt with one of his hands. “I love you, Becky,” he said, and I found myself smiling like an idiot.

  “I love you, too,” I said, blushing more than a little. I watched Johnny immediately close the door and head into the stadium, raising his hand to the security guard as he dashed through the door. I chuckled to myself, thinking that anyone who could go from being that upset to running like a kid into the stadium to get ready for the game was more resilient than I was.

  I wandered around the stadium parking lot at a crawl, trying to find somewhere to park. I knew that Johnny and I had cut it close. He was only barely going to have enough time to get his gear and jersey on before the team had to go out onto the ice. I shook my head, thinking about the fact that Johnny had always seemed to be able to get away with anything — showing up to classes late, skipping classes, cutting out early to meet me to walk me back to the dorms. I was actually looking forward to the game for the first time since I had met Johnny; I had just accepted that hockey was going to be part of my life for as long as I dated Johnny, but I was starting to appreciate that it was a major part of his life. I wanted to understand it better. I wanted to understand him better every day.

  I finally found a parking spot way in the
back of the lot and sighed. There wasn’t anything closer. There was no way I’d be able to get away with walking less than a mile to get into the building. I was so tired from all the driving I had already done that it didn’t even seem fair. But I reminded myself that it was the college championship; the game would be extremely popular. People who hadn’t come out for games before in the regular season would come for a championship game. I got out of my car and hoped that I at least would have a chance to get something to eat; I realized that the only real meal I had had so far that day had been breakfast. Gor lunch I had only grabbed a quick bag of chips from the gas station I was filling my tank at. I walked stiffly, wondering how Johnny had been able to spring out of my car so fast and started up the long walk to the entrance once more.

  I was relieved when I saw that Georgia was waiting for me; I had texted her updates just as she had asked me when I’d embarked on this harebrained scheme to find Johnny, and I had told her we were coming to the Championship. I had already been so exhausted, but I knew that I couldn’t possibly let Johnny down, not after everything he had been through. Georgia was leaning against a stanchion, and as I approached, she waved, grinning at me. “So, you look happy,” she said, putting her arm around my shoulders.