Page 61 of The Exposed Heiress

When she had calmed down, Emma started the car and pulled back onto the road.

An hour later, she pulled into the parking lot at the rehabilitation center, and barely remembered driving there.

She took in a deep breath and walked into the lobby of the medical building. Security gave her a pass and directions to her father’s room.

The long hallways were tranquil with windows looking out to gardens and framed landscape paintings of the English countryside. She nodded to a few nurses walking in the opposite direction.

Getting to another section of the building, she had to ring a bell for the door to be opened. An older nurse buzzed her through and greeted her in the hallway.

“Your father will be happy to see you.”

Emma smiled and looked in the direction the nurse pointed. He had been moved to a new room since she had visited last.

Squaring her shoulders, she walked into the room.

Her dad put down the newspaper and said, “Emma, this is happy surprise.”

Seeing her father, sitting in a recliner near the window, made her hesitate. Tears threatened and she remembered her early training to put on a veneer of politeness. Pushing aside her despair, she smiled and bent down to kiss her father on the cheek.

“You look good, Dad.”

James gestured to a nearby chair. “Pull the chair closer. I’m afraid I can’t quite do that yet.”

Emma moved the leather chair within a few feet of her father and sat down.

“How are you feeling?”

“The recovery hasn’t been easy, but I’m healing. I’ll be left with some aches and pains, but I should be able to go back to my life.”

Emma looked out the window. “Things have changed.”

Her father touched his chest. “I’m sorry you were left to deal with all of it. I’d been trying to protect you. It all seemed so impossible.”

“Leo Bloom,” Emma hesitated to gather her emotions, “helped tremendously.”

“He’s a good man.”

She looked at her dad and nodded.

“For more than a year, I thought we would have to declare bankruptcy. It’s unbelievable that you’ve found a path forward.”

She remembered her mother’s caustic comments. “The new location is in Rotherhithe.”

Her father looked out the window. “I’ve always been found of that area.”

She nodded. “Leo told me the story about you finding him and his brother when they were small boys.”

He let out a sigh. “Their Uncle Harry had so many fears and couldn’t leave his house. It was a bad situation.”

Emma smoothed her skirt. “Leo wanted to find a way to repay that debt.”

James waved his hand. “There’s nothing to repay. He was a young child, and the adults in his life had failed him.”

After a few minutes her father continued, “There was something about him that day. He was so strong and proud and had been protecting his brother. But it was an impossible situation. The warehouse was freezing and they had no food. His father should have been brought up on neglect charges.”

“Why couldn’t his mother get help?”

James shook his head. “She had been abused by her husband and worried Harry would hurt the boys. I had a heck of a time forcing her into the car. At the time, I worried the police would be called. She pleaded and shouted. Telling her young sons to run. But somehow, Leo believed me and convinced her that they would be safe.”

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