by Rachel Hanna
“Michael? I don’t think so.”
“Michael was Tanner’s older brother. They were only two years apart in age. When Tanner was ten and Michael was twelve, we went to the beach on vacation, down in the Gulf of Mexico. It was beautiful, and we had a wonderful time. It was September, which is during hurricane season. One day, the ocean was kind of choppy, but we went anyway. I let the boys swim out into the ocean a little bit, not real far, ya know? This thing called a riptide pulled poor Michael out and he kept trying to swim back. Tanner tried to reach him, but Michael just tuckered out. He was so tired trying to fight those waves. Tanner couldn’t swim against them and…” her voice was broken by tears. I could tell that she was struggling as she recounted the story for me.
“Oh, Claire, no…” I said patting her hand.
“Yes, Michael drowned. Right in front of me, right in front of Tanner. I felt so helpless. How could I have let him go into the ocean with the waves being so choppy? Why couldn’t I swim hard enough or fast enough to save him? I went through a long period of blaming myself… a real depression. Then, one day I realized that Michael would have wanted me to go on. He was the light of our family. A very funny kid, always smiling and joking… He would have been heartbroken to know I had given up on life. So, I slowly started forgiving myself. That’s what you are going to have to do, Shannon. Courtney would not want you to stop living, blaming yourself for an accident,” Claire said. Her motherly tone was just what I needed right then.
“I am so sorry for your loss, Claire…” I didn’t know what to say. I only knew that she had been in my place and had felt my pain.
“It’s been a long time, but the pain never goes away. It only gets a little easier with time, Shannon. You will never forget Courtney or replace her. Sometimes I still cry when I think about Michael… what could have been… but I can’t stop my life because of it. Tanner told me a bit about your marriage to that man…”
“Tanner likes to talk, doesn’t he,” I giggled.
“For a man, I guess he is a bit of a gossip… at least with me. He’s a momma’s boy,” she smiled.
“It’s sweet…”
“I know that you are hesitant to get involved with someone again, Shannon, but my Tanner is a good boy. He will treat you right. He can’t wipe away the pain of a bad marriage or of your daughter’s death, but he can add love to your life. That’s all I am saying. Just consider it, okay? He really cares for you, and he is worried sick. I was so happy to see you walk in here, sweetie!” she grabbed my hand, leaned over the table and kissed me on the cheek. One of her waitresses started waving at her, so she had to get back to work.
I ordered a sandwich to go. I had to see Tanner.
Chapter 20
The blue sky over the farm was in direct contrast to my life at that moment. I got out of my car and ran toward the guest house. I knocked on the door, and Tanner answered. His face was filled with exhaustion, his eyes red from what appeared to be no sleep. When he saw me, his mouth dropped open and his eyes lit up.
“Shannon… My God, Shannon…” he whispered as he reached out and threw his arms around me. He buried his face in my neck like he hadn’t seen me in a million years. “How are you? I wanted to be there…” He kept talking as if he was afraid of what I might say if he gave me the chance to open my mouth.
“Tanner…” I gently pushed him back and looked him in the eye. “I am so sorry about how I treated you at the hospital. I was wracked with grief and looking for someone to blame. You didn’t deserve that. I wouldn’t blame you if you never spoke to me again…”
“Never spoke to you again? That would devastate me, Shannon. Don’t you know?”
“Know what?” I asked confused by his words.
“That I love you?” he said softly looking into my eyes and moving my hair behind my ears. “I love you with everything I have. I would take away this pain if I could… I just want to be there for you. Hold you when you cry. Help you mourn. Stand in the gap when you need me to.” His words cut through me like a knife. No one had ever said anything like that to me before.
“I love you too, and it scares me…” I whispered looking up at him. “But I am willing to be a little afraid if you can be patient with me.”
“I would wait a lifetime for you, Shannon. I have waited a lifetime, actually…” he said. I threw my arms around him and buried my head in his chest. Sobs for Courtney came flooding out of me and he just held me close. We embraced for what seemed like hours, but was only minutes. The warmth of his body covered mine, and for once in my life I felt like someone was on my side, fighting for me.
We spent that evening going through old pictures of Courtney. I recounted memories of her that I thought I had forgotten. I stopped talking about the pain of being married to John and instead focused on the joy of being Courtney’s mother. I realized that I had been focused on the wrong thing for so long that I had forgotten my role as mother had been worth it. I wouldn’t wish what John did on any other woman, but he did give me one sweet gift in the form of Courtney. Even though she was gone, her last words still rang in my ears:
“Go for it, Mom. You deserve it. You owe it to yourself to start living now. Don’t keep waiting because you never know when you won’t get any more chances.”
It was like she knew. She was so wise for her age. I would miss her, but hold her in my heart forever. As we talked, my cell phone rang. It was Lucy calling, so I told Tanner that I needed to step outside to take a quick call.
“Hello?” I whispered as I moved further from the house.
“Shannon? It’s Lucy. Listen, Parker left a little earlier than expected today. I got it. I got the file!” Lucy was simply giddy with herself for being such a super sleuth.
“You did? On my God! Did you read it?”
“Yes. There is a lot of information in here, Shannon. A LOT. How can I help you?” Lucy was fully invested now after reading the contents of the file. We started planning. Lucy had plenty of private investigator contacts as well as officials in law enforcement. She felt sure she could get them on the case immediately and track Tina down.
We ended our call, and I went back in the house. Tanner was busy preparing dinner, so I called Denise to tell her I was staying there. At home. With Tanner.
All evening, we talked about what had happened, about Courtney, about Emmy. We shared our hearts, our hurts and our plans for the future. I never felt so whole. We spent the night wrapped in each other’s arms. We didn’t make love that night. I wasn’t ready to feel that intensity yet. I just wanted his strong arms around me.
At 8am the next morning, my cell rang. My heart sank with the memory of my phone ringing that morning at 2am when Courtney died. Tanner didn’t stir. He was exhausted. I slipped out of the room to answer it.
“Hello?”
“Shannon? It’s Lucy…” she was whispering.
“Lucy? What’s wrong?”
“They found her, Shannon. They found her!” Lucy yelled into the phone just about busting my eardrum.
“Where?” I asked trying to contain myself.
“Well, it seems Miss Tina was just about to go over the border into Mexico with Emmy. They caught her in Texas around 5am this morning. She’s in the process of being booked into jail. Emmy is with the investigators being de-briefed,” Lucy said.
“Emmy is okay, right?”
“From what I can gather, she is fine. And she is coming back to her Daddy!” Lucy said giddy with her involvement in the situation.
“Oh, my God… When? Can they bring her here to the farm?” I asked looking behind me to make sure that Tanner wasn’t hearing this conversation.
“Yes, I have instructed them to bring her home to the farm,” Lucy said.
“I can’t believe this happened so fast…” I said.
“I know. It just all lined up quickly when they figured out where she was. In these cases, you have to strike while the iron is hot, as they say. Well, gotta get back to work. Tanner should see Emmy
sometime today!”
All day long, I kept the secret that Emmy was coming home. I wanted to see Tanner’s face. Watch him hug her. Watch him hold her and love her like a Daddy should.
Tanner worked with the horses for much of the day while I went through old photos, made some phone calls and tried to pass the time. I didn’t want him to see my anxiety. I was excited and nervous all at the same time. The gift I was about to give him was life-changing. Even if I couldn’t hold my Courtney again, I could give him this gift of holding his little blond haired daughter.
I went outside to see what Tanner was doing. He was feeding the horses when I heard the car pull up. He couldn’t see the police officers walking toward us or the little blond haired angel, holding a teddy bear, following them up the path to the barn. Time seemed to stand still as I turned and touched his arm. He turned around and the color drained from his face, his mouth dropped and he just ran.
“Emmy! Emmy! Emmy! My baby!” he screamed as he ran toward her.
“Daddy!” she yelled as she began to cry. She ran toward him, dropping her teddy bear. He swooped her up in his arms, sobbing as he squeezed her tight. She was crying and giggling at the same time.
“Let me look at you, beautiful girl…” he crouched on the ground with Emmy sitting on his knee. “You are even prettier than I remembered…” he said smiling at her and touching her face.
“Daddy, I missed you so much!” Emmy said grinning from ear to ear as she hugged his neck again. “I don’t know why Mommy took me away from you. I love you so much! Where is Nana?”
“Nana is at the diner. We’ll go see her soon. I need to talk to those nice police officers, okay? Can you hang out with my good friend for a minute?” he said pointing to me. “Emmy, this is my friend, Shannon.”
“Hi there, Emmy. You are mighty pretty, young lady,” I said reaching my hand out. We walked toward the horses while Tanner talked to the officers. A few minutes later, he returned and the officers left us alone.
“I don’t know how this happened. It’s a miracle…” he whispered as we watched Emmy chase a butterfly through the yard in front of the guest house.
“I wanted to give you your daughter back since I had lost mine,” I said softly as I looked into his eyes.
“You did this?” Tanner was shocked.
“I ran into an old friend who works at the law office. She did some investigating for me and put all of it in motion. They caught Tina this morning in Texas,” I explained.
“I can’t believe you did this for me…” Tanner said whisking me into his arms and kissing me passionately.
“Gross, Daddy…” Emmy said from behind him. We all had a good laugh. Emmy wanted to see her Nana, so we went to Claire’s diner for dinner. The look on Claire’s face when she saw Emmy was priceless. I’d never seen her so speechless.
Chapter 21
I had never felt so whole in my life. Living with Tanner and Emmy was like heaven for me. I found myself in them. Emmy was so innocent and full of wonder. Showing her the world around the farm was healing for me. Tanner was happier than I had ever seen him. Claire was the doting grandmother.
One Sunday afternoon, Claire asked if she could take Emmy to work at the diner. Of course, Emmy jumped at the chance. Tanner and I decided to have a picnic up in the mountains near a local waterfall.
“Emmy is so sweet, Tanner. She just lights up a room, doesn’t she?” I said as I spread the blanket on the ground.
“She does, and so do you, pretty lady. Always have…” he kissed me sweetly as he dropped the picnic basket onto the blanket.
“I am so glad that the house is almost finished getting repaired so I can move back in. Emmy has her eye on the big room upstairs…” I laughed as I started to unpack the food.
“Yes, she does… She really loves you,” Tanner said.
“You think so?”
“I know so. She tells me all the time. And, of course, I’m quite fond of you too…” he said nibbling my ear.
“Are you now?” I said moaning as he kissed me with a force and intensity that made my toes curl.
Secluded in the woods, we curled up on the blanket and kissed until we were both breathless. Then, it happened. Tanner sat up and removed something from his pocket. I sat up to see what it was, and he took one knee.
“Shannon, I have a question for you…” he whispered.
“Okay…”
“When I met you, we were both lost in this world. Through it all, I have wanted nothing more than to be by your side… to help you, love you and make you feel wanted. I want to be with you in our rocking chairs on the front porch of our home one day… Will you marry me?” He opened a box to reveal the most gorgeous antique diamond ring I had ever seen. “This was my grandmother’s ring.”
“Wow, it is beautiful… Yes! Yes, I will marry you, Tanner!” I yelled jumping into his arms knocking him over. He slipped the ring on my finger and kissed me deeply. I couldn’t believe that I had finally found a man who wanted me. Needed me as much as I needed him.
Then, he had another surprise.
“We own the house, Shannon…”
“What do you mean? Parker owns the house, Tanner…”
“He did own the house. I did a little convincing him when I explained that I would be glad to turn him in for hiding evidence in a kidnapping case. Suddenly he was very negotiable about signing this house over to me. We own it. He is out of our lives…” Tanner whispered. “Oh, and he also paid me that $250,000 just to be on the safe side.” The grin on Tanner’s face was priceless.
I threw my arms around his neck. He had saved me from myself, from a life without love and from under the thumb of a man who had tormented me from beyond the grave. And I saved him from a life without his beautiful Emmy. We had saved each other, and now we would create a new life together saving each other every single day. There, next to the waterfall and secluded in the woods, we made love.
The End
For more by Rachel Hanna and to find out about her newest romance novel, connect with her at:
www.RachelHannaRomance.com
Facebook: http://bit.ly/RachelHanna
Twitter: @RachelHannaBook
Table of Contents
Second Chance - Tanner Shannon
