Page 163 of Always Be an Us

She blinks at us in surprise, and then a blush spreads across her cheeks.

"Oh sorry," she says. "I didn’t mean to interrupt. Rachel told me you were alone and needed someone to look after you."

Rachel knows fully well that Dad is here, so this can only be a ploy.

"It’s fine," I say. I know Rachel set this whole thing up so that Emma could meet my father but I don't mind. They have to meet at some point.

My dad smiles warmly at her and gets to his feet, extending his hand. "You must be Emma."

For most of the afternoon, Emma and my dad talk about everything and nothing, ranging from his experience as an estate developer to fishing of all things.

"My Grandpa is a huge fisher," she says. "He's out to catch this pike that he swears weighs about sixty pounds if you would believe it. You should come with us sometime."

"Maybe I will," my dad says, sounding as genuine as I've ever heard him.

Later that evening, when Emma eventually returns home and Dad retires to the guest bedroom, I relax in my study with a glass of wine.

I haven't seen much of Emma for a few days, as she's been spending time with her grandfather. Though I miss her terribly, I’m giving them space to deal with everything. I can't imagine their taking the news of Rick’s betrayal well.

Rick, at the police station, confessed everything about his Rainbow Pearl scheme, most of it we already knew but some new information came out, implicating a few more people.

He also revealed that the men he was selling the pearls to weren't reselling them on the black market but were crushing them and making something else. What that something is, we have no clue.

According to Jensen's head count, about five people died in the shoot and four were severely injured including someone called Gary Fiore, who was also one of the construction workers at the Pink Hotel. Rick also called out the mayor who was in on it and who is currently on the lam, and Xavier who is sitting in jail.

According to Rick, the mayor sold my dad the property out of pure greed but then expected Rick's men to be able to scare me off so he could keep the money and the hotel. Smart plan, except I didn't scare off as easily as they thought.

Either way, news of this has spread far and wide and a few reporters have trickled into town as a result. Rick doesn't think Grey-Eyes' men will return, especially now that the FBI is involved in the investigation. They were all about secrecy and now that it's out in the open, they'll try to stay hidden.

So that's good at least, in terms of my daughter's safety. Still, I'm keeping Monty and Cross around for a little longer.

The high-profile nature of the case also means that when I'm walking through town, I now notice people staring at me but not in disgust as usual, but in awe.

"You're a hero," Emma said when I told her about it. "Everyone knows that you saved your daughter and Rick even though he wronged you. They all admire you now."

I only grunted. I just hoped in their admiration they didn't feel the need to approach me. I've enjoyed my solitude so far.

Especially because I plan to stay in town for a lot longer than I initially thought.

It’s hilarious that when I first got here, I couldn’t wait to leave, and now I’m actually considering living here at least part time. It can work, with a lot of flexibility, and also scaling back my workload and delegating more tasks to other people.

I can set up a base of operations here and communicate with the team all over. Fly over to New York for whatever I need to. It will likely be a messy adjustment at first, but I can make it work. I have to.

Because I can’t imagine Emma would want to live anywhere but Laketown.

The hotel door opens and I hear sounds of laughter and bickering. I rise and open my bedroom to find Rachel fussing over Amelia who is quickly growing tired of it.

The second Amelia spots me, she extracts herself from her mother and bounces over to hug me.

"Hi, Daddy."

"Hi." My heart melts. She's been calling me that all week. "What are you two talking about?"

"Making a bet," Rachel says.

"On what?"

"I'll tell you later."

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