My hands trembled as I gripped the edges of the screen and stared at my beautiful daughter.She had been adopted by the doctor who delivered her.The doctor, who happened to be gone longer from my room than seemed necessary.The doctor who gave me time with my baby, knowing that I was going to leave her behind.
“I can’t believe it,” I whispered, refusing to let go of the computer.“She’s really okay.”
“It looks like she’s doing well,” Dom said.“And I don’t know about you, but I’m always up for a road trip to Junction Pass if you are.”
I pulled my head back and shook it.
“I can’t go back there,” I rushed out.
“Why not?”
I shrugged, feeling the anxiety bubbling up inside of me.
“Because I left her, Dom.I can’t just show up and expect that they’re going to let me see her.Hell, who knows if she would even want to see me.It’s better that I don’t...”
Dom leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table.
“Better for who?”he pressed.“You?”
He licked his lips and then continued when I refused to answer him.
“It’s hard, and it’s scary, I get that, Jo.But this isn’t a baby you abandoned because you didn’t want it.This isyourchild, whom you sacrificed everything for, to make sure she had the best shot at life she could.Who’s to say thatshehasn’t been looking foryouthis whole time?”
“What if she doesn’t even know that she’s adopted?What if I go there, tell her my big secret, and ruin everything?I can’t do that, Dom.That isn’t fair to her.Why should I go disrupt her life just because I know where she’s at?”
“Like I said, what if you’re not disrupting her life?What if you’re the missing piece she’s been looking for?You can’t tell me that they’ve kept her birth story a secret, Jo.She’s old enough to do research, and it’s not like the town has kept it hidden that there was a baby surrendered in their only clinic.”
He had a point, even if I didn’t want to accept it.
“What do you suggest I do?”I asked, finally letting go of the computer and looking at him.
“I think that we should take a trip to Junction Pass.It’s only a few hours away, and we can leave cell phones behind so no one can trace us.Plus, it gets us out of Timber Falls since we’re stuck here until Keith’s team locates Tray and his men.”
“Do you really think he’s going to let us go?”
“No,” Dom said with a crooked smile.“That’s why we’re not asking permission.”
