his head to make eye contact with me, and the fire that swam in his stare softened once he was staring my way. “Let’s go. Please.”
His shoulders relaxed, and he nodded slightly.
Reese looked as if she was confused and horrified all at once. I hated that fear that she was feeling. I rushed over to her and lifted her into my arms. “It’s okay, baby. You’re okay.”
She curled into me, and I held on tighter than ever.
“That’s right. You need to get to leaving,” Dad said, trying to be strong, but I swore when Oliver stepped up to him, I saw something I’d never seen in my life—I saw Dad flinch.
I felt defeated as I looked toward him and asked him the one question that had been sitting on my mind almost my whole life. “Why do you hate me?” I whispered, sounding like the hurt child I used to be.
Without hesitation, he blinked once and answered. “Because you’ve always been a disappointment.”
My heart.
It shattered.
“Let’s go,” Oliver softly spoke, placing a hand on my lower back.
I looked toward my parents and wanted to say so much, yet nothing was strong enough to leave my lips; instead, I turned on my heel and began to walk away.
“You okay, Mama?” Reese asked, wiping away the tears that fell down my cheek.
“Yes, baby, I’m okay.”
“She shouldn’t be calling you her mother,” Mama called out, but I kept walking, even though her words felt like stabs to my soul. “She’s not yours,” she said, making every inch of my body shake with heartbreak. How could she say something so harsh? How could she be so cruel?
I felt as if my knees were going to buckle beneath me any second, and right before I almost fell apart, Oliver was there, linking his arm with my free one. He kept me standing when I felt like falling.
“Keep walking, Em,” he whispered. “Just keep walking.”
We moved on autopilot until we reached the car. I buckled Reese into her car seat and then moved into the passenger seat. Staring forward, I tried my best to control the anger and pain rushing through me.
“Hey, Mama?”
“Yes, Reese?”
“Why did she say I wasn’t yours?”
I shut my eyes as tears rolled down my cheeks. “I don’t know, sweetheart. She was just a crazy woman.”
“Oh, okay.” She accepted it easily as ever, before saying “Hey, Mama?” again.
I sniffled. “Yes, sweetheart?”
“I don’t think you’re a disappointment.”
My head lowered as the tears kept falling from my eyes. “Thank you, baby.” I tried my best to still the shaking of my body so Reese wouldn’t see my poor reaction.
“Are you okay?” Oliver whispered.
With a deep inhalation, I said, “Just drive, please.”
He did as I requested, and I kept my eyes closed the whole time as we drove toward the bed-and-breakfast. I didn’t pull away when I felt Oliver’s hand fall against mine. With a gentle squeeze, a splash of comfort hit my soul.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Always.”
Reese was asleep within seconds of falling against her queen bed once we made it to our room. I moved slowly as my mind was spinning fast. After washing my face and putting on my pajamas, I heard a knock at the door.
I opened it to find Oliver standing there with his hands in his pockets. “Hey.”
I tried to force a smile, but it wasn’t there. “Hey.”
“Let me hold you?” he asked.
I shook my head. “It’s okay, you don’t have to; I’m okay. I’m fine. It was just a long day, that’s all. I should be getting to sleep.”
“You don’t have to do that, you know.”
“Do what?”
“Be strong all the time.”
“Yes,” I said while nodding, “I do. Because if I’m not, then I’m not able to be what my daughter needs me to be. She needs me to be strong in order to take care of her.”
His eyes moved to the sleeping girl in her bed, and then he looked back to me. “Right now she’s good, she’s safe, she’s okay, Emery. So, now it’s time for you to be taken care of.”
“I . . .” My words faded as I crossed my arms and shook my head slightly. “I’ve never had anyone take care of me before. I don’t even know what that looks like.”
“It’s different every time, but tonight it’s me holding you.”
I bit my bottom lip and nodded slightly, giving him permission to take me into his arms. The moment he wrapped himself around me, I melted into him, feeling at home in an instant. He moved us