I was in the middle of arguing with myself about staying versus running back to the car and high-tailing it out of there when the door opened. A very handsome young man smiled at me and opened the door wider. “You must be Annabelle. I’m Ember’s fiancé, Dash. Please come in. Ember is finishing up in the kitchen. She’ll be right out.”
I followed the young man into their living room and glanced around. They had a beautiful home. I couldn’t help but notice that the decor was eerily similar to my house in California. Like mother, like daughter, I thought.
Ember came through a door on the other side of the room, wiping her hands on a frilly and flirty apron. Before I could comment on it, she smiled and said, “Morning, Mom. Would you like some breakfast?”
My heart fluttered. She called me Mom. She did it the day before, but this time seemed different somehow. I cleared the emotion from my throat and answered, “Yes, breakfast would be lovely.”
Dash joined us for breakfast, but left soon after. I was prepared for a morning filled with tension and awkward silences; however, there was none of that. Ember gave me a tour of her horse farm and then her organic plants project. It was truly impressive what she had done with a space that was once used for nothing but creating misery.
After we circled the rear portion of the property and were back at her house, she said, “I know Dad already told you how we found each other and everything that happened afterward, but what happened to you? I remember you from when I was little. You were there one morning and gone that afternoon. I tried to ask about you, but I was told to never say your name.”
Her words brought tears to my eyes. She remembered me and she asked about me. That meant she missed me. I inhaled deeply before I answered. “The day I disappeared was the day I finally escaped from Octavius. If I had known you were mine, I would have taken you with me, but at the time, I believed you were at the daycare while your parents worked on the farm. They even told me your name was Amber, not Ember.”
“I know you didn’t intentionally leave me behind. Please believe me when I tell you that I do not harbor one negative thought or feeling about you. None of this was anyone’s fault except Octavius’s. He destroyed our family; no one else is to blame,” she said vehemently.
But she didn’t know that I did take one of my kids with me. I needed to tell her and get it over with. The longer I kept it from her, the harder it would be for her to accept it. “I have to tell you something.”
“Nivan’s my brother, isn’t he?” she asked.
My eyes widened in shock. How did she know about him? What did she know about him? “Yes, he is. He goes by Nathan now, though.”
“What?” she shrieked. “He’s alive?”
I was taken aback by her reaction. “Yes, he’s alive. He’s been with me in California the whole time. Phoenix didn’t tell you about him?”
She slowly shook her head. “No, but I haven’t really had a chance to talk to him since he got back. The last I heard was what Octavius’s right-hand man, Hector, told us. Octavius did a very good job of hiding the truth about Nivan. I thought that he was alive and living on the farm, but then Hector said that Nivan died when he was five years old and there was documentation to prove it, though, to my knowledge, it was never found. No one ever said different, so I assumed he really was dead.”
“I see. Well, when I disappeared years ago, I took Nathan with me. A friend helped me fake an accident and then some people at the hospital helped us get away. He had just turned five years old at the time.”
Suddenly, I felt compelled to defend Nathan. “He’s nothing like Octavius. He doesn’t even know about him. He thinks his father was a Marine who died while deployed. He’s a good person. He’s the only reason I didn’t give up years ago.”
She smiled. “I would like to meet him.”
“I would like that, too, but I need to tell him about you first. Actually, I need to tell him everything. He doesn’t even know I’m here in Croftridge,” I explained.
“I understand. I have no intention of disrupting his life or anything like that. I just wanted you to know I want to meet him, whenever you think the time is right.”
We spent the rest of the morning talking and getting to know one another. The time went by faster than I expected. I honestly didn’t want to leave, but I also wanted to spend a similar afternoon with my son.
“How long are you going to be in Croftridge?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. My boss said I could take as much time as I needed off work, but I don’t want to abuse that offer. Nathan will be home from his training camp in a few weeks, so I will definitely have to be home by then,” I answered. Since I wasn’t sure how things would play out, I hadn’t given much thought to how long I would stay.
Her face fell. “Will you come back here?”
“To visit or to live?”
“Either.”
“I will definitely come back to visit, as often as I can. As far as living here...I’ve built a life for myself in California. I can’t just up and leave. But, you’re welcome to come visit me whenever you want and stay as long as you like,” I said, trying to lift her spirits.
She spoke quietly when she said, “Dash and I have been waiting for Dad to find you or find out what happened to you to get married because I wanted you to be there if you were alive. Do you think you can be here for the wedding?”
“There’s no way I would miss it. When do you think it will be?” I asked.
“We would like for it to be sooner rather than later. I think I can pull everything together in two or three weeks. Could you stay in Croftridge that long?” she asked.
“Let me check with my boss and see if I can take that much time off. If he doesn’t have a problem with it, then I’ll stay until the wedding.”
