Page 45 of Come Back for Me
Ellie’s lip trembles. “How could I? I didn’t know your name or where you were from. I never saw you again until a little over a month ago. I married Kevin the day after we slept together, so it wasn’t as if I could say for sure.”
Right. Married and . . . yeah, it was one night with no names or expectations.
“Wait, the day after?”
She nods, looking nervous and almost ashamed.
But the reality is, I could’ve had a child for the last seven years and missed out on it all. “Does she have any idea?”
“No, no,Godno. I’m sorry, Connor. I should’ve told you when you got back here, but I couldn’t risk Kevin suspecting anything.”
Ellie wipes a tear away, and everything inside me springs into action. I made her cry on a night when she should feel nothing but security. I shift closer to her. “Ellie, don’t cry.”
“It’s that . . . I didn’t know. I really don’t know, and she might not be yours, but there’s this part of me that has always hoped she is. Because . . . you were kind to me, and that night is something . . .”
“That night is everything.”
She looks at me, her eyes still brimming with vulnerability. “You told me that you dreamed of me?”
I nod. “I did. All the time. I relived that night in my head, wondering who you were, where you might be, and if you were happy.”
“I wasn’t.”
“I know that now.”
The two of us watch each other as I reel with the confessions just made. I don’t know if I scare her or if she feels the connection that I do.
The sound of thunder rolling in the air snaps me out of it. The two of us blink, coming to the realization that Hadley is outside, probably hiding in a tree while a storm is rolling in.
“I’ll go find her,” I say before Ellie can speak.
“Connor . . .”
“We’ll talk more when I get back, but I’d like you to stay here at least tonight, for Hadley.” And for me, but I leave that part off.
“We’ll talk when you get back.”
I nod and when the thunder rolls in the distance, I feel it in my soul.
* * *
I approach the tree where I have a feeling I’ll find her, and sure enough, there’s a scuffling sound on the wood.
It’s hard, this time, not to think about Hadley coming here as some sort of sign or fates way of stepping in. But what are the odds of Ellie’s daughter finding her way to my farm and the tree that means the world to me on her own?
And does she have my eyes?
I try to picture it, but I can’t.
Is she my kid? If she is, what does it mean? Can I have time with her? Does she want that? Does it even matter when I care about her and already view the two of them as a part of my life, one that I don’t want to let go of?
I chastise myself because, right now, I can’t get caught up in a bunch of what-ifs and maybes because there’s a little girl who has been dropped into hell and is struggling to find a way through it.
I’ve been there.
Too many times.
I climb the wooden slats and pop my head up and smile at her. “You should probably pick another spot if you don’t want me to find you, but then I know how hard it is to avoid this tree when you know it has magical powers to keep you safe.”
