Page 5 of Keeping Her Safe

He watched a single tear roll down her cheek. At that moment, he wanted to take it all back, gather her in his arms, and never make her do anything she didn’t want to do. Before he could say a word, she pushed herself away from the counter and walked to the bedroom. She paused at the door, but then walked into it and shut the door behind her.

It would take everything inside him to get her on that plane going north. Though he didn’t know the entirety of her past, his dad had told him a little. It was years after Brian had tried to adopt Zephyr, but she wasn’t yet eighteen. Brian had asked him to stop by; it had come out of the blue since Zachary had just started on the force that year.

Sitting in the back yard, across from this father in his home in Tampa, it had surprised Zachary when the older man had said, “Zephyr’s father died today.”

Zachary had been stunned. Where was this man five years ago? “I didn’t know she had one.”

Brian put his beer down and replied, “He was married to her mother when Zephyr was born but signed away his rights as soon as he found out Zephyr existed.”

“What about when her mom died?” Zachary asked.

“That was after she was dead. I told him she would end up in foster care, but he didn’t care. He was tired of raising his wife’s kids.”

“Bastard,” Zachary hissed.

“Yeah, but now he’s dead. Her next of kin is now a few sisters, all adults.”

“Do you think they will want her?” He wanted to know.

“I don’t know. I don’t know if I can take the chance with Zephyr. She’s special, Zach.” He looked at the dead grass in the yard.

“Yeah, I guess,” Zachary mumbled. At the time, he had seen nothing too special about her.

“She’s six months from turning eighteen. She’s been writing for years—you know that. Always writing something. She’s finished three books already, and they’re good. I told her not to publish them until she was eighteen and out of the system. I want her work to be hers,” Brian explained.

He went on, “I don’t want to tell these women that they have a sister, and they just use her for her talent, stealing everything she ever did. She’s not of age yet.”

“So, you think these women will just take advantage of her?” Zachary asked, brows scrunching together in contemplation.

“I don’t know. Does it make me a bad person for wanting to guard her future, or am I being a bad person for sending her to people she doesn’t know? Which makes me the worse person?”

“Does she know she has sisters?” Zachary asked.

“Yes, her mom used to talk about them a lot.”

“Has she ever tried to contact them?”

“No, they don’t know about her.”

“Then I think you leave things as they are. If she wants to contact her sisters, she can. That way, she’ll be able to control her own future,” Zachary replied confidently.

Both men fell silent as they drank their beer. Each was lost in thought. Cars drove by, and neighbor kids yelled in the distance as they sat silently. Zachary couldn’t help but wonder about a man who would cast a child into the system. Didn’t he know how bad it was for a kid alone in the world?

Brian set his beer on the patio table. It was empty. Turning to his son, he said, “If something happens to me, I need you to take care of Zephyr. She needs someone, and I want you to be that someone, Zachary.”

“Okay, Dad, I’ll take care of her. But you have to promise that it won’t need to happen for many years,” he joked. His father was putting a lot of responsibility on his only son.

Brian didn’t laugh as he looked at the empty can on the table. “Zachary, do you remember when you were eighteen, and I took you up north to Jacksonville and found your mom’s grave?”

Zachary looked at the man who had done everything for him. “Yes.”

“I want to take Zephyr to her mom’s hometown one day, maybe meet her sisters. I think she really does need to meet them at least once. If I don’t live long enough, I want you to take her. Birch Cove, Minnesota—remember that. Her family’s names are the same as hers: Hart.”

“Why so much talk about dying tonight, Dad?” Zachary asked.

“I don’t know, just feeling down today. Will you take her?” he asked again.

“Yes. I will take her, I promise,” Zachary said with a nod.

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