you think it’s about time? Our marriage was a mistake from the beginning. We got married for the wrong reasons,” Wyatt said.
“Did you stay together for my sake?” Emma asked. “If you did, neither of you did a very good job.”
“I know that, too.” Wyatt nodded. “I didn’t know how to be a father, especially with Victoria griping about everything I did, so I gave up too easily and let her have her way. You know how she is.”
“Oh, yeah, I do.” She sighed and was beginning to feel comfortable enough to pick up a cookie and take a bite. “Think she’ll ever change?”
“Not really. She’d have to want to change, and in her eyes, she’s perfect the way she is. I wish her the best, but I can’t spend the rest of my life with her, so Betsy and I are going to Belize to live. We’ve signed all the divorce papers, and an agreement has been reached. Your mother isn’t happy with it, but I am.” Wyatt laid a folder on Emma’s lap.
Betsy? The name seemed to come out of thin air. Why hadn’t she seen his dissatisfaction before now?
“These are your bank accounts with a pad of checks and a debit card. I set it all up in a bank in Dallas, but you can change it to one in this area if you want.”
“How . . . what . . . ,” Emma stammered. “Mother said . . .”
“I know what she told you, but the only way I would agree to let her have my part of the house was if she gave you back what was rightfully yours. She has been throwing a fit about Sophie hiring a lawyer, and this gives her a way out that makes her feel like it’s not her fault. She’s giving you the money to get me out of her life. She can blow the money from the sale of the company if she wants, but we’ve caused you enough pain without leaving you penniless, and for that I’m truly sorry. I should have been a better father,” Wyatt said.
“Thank you.” Emma ran a finger over the folder. Now she was financially independent. That was one step in the right direction.
“Do you want to know about Betsy?” The smile on his face when he said her name spoke volumes.
“I would think that she’s your new friend or girlfriend, right?”
Wyatt nodded. “She’s a waitress at the café where I go for coffee every morning. That’s where I met her, and we fell in love. I’ve invested my paycheck the past thirty years, and we are retiring to Belize because I don’t want to live anywhere near Victoria. I’m sorry if that disappoints you. God knows that you deserve so much more than I’ve ever given you. Maybe someday you’ll come and visit me, especially if you have children. I’d like to think maybe Betsy and I would be better grandparents than I was a father.”
“She doesn’t have children?” Emma asked.
“She had a miscarriage when she was just a teenager, and there were complications,” Wyatt answered.
“Did Mother tell you about”—she stumbled over the words—“the rape?”
Wyatt’s brow furrowed into deep wrinkles. “What rape?”
Emma took a deep breath. If she could tell Josh such a private thing about herself, then she could tell her father. “I buried the memory of it for a long time, but I’m getting better every day out here in this wilderness.” She went on to tell him the story, ending with how Sophie had rescued her.
“My God!” Wyatt tucked his chin down to his chest. “I’m so, so sorry that I made things so hard that you couldn’t trust me with this. When did you tell Victoria?”
“After I remembered what had happened and Sophie helped me sort through some of it. She asked me what I did to cause it,” Emma answered. “But I’m past what Mother thinks, and to tell the truth, part of me knew she’d say exactly what she did. The only thing I regret right now is that I didn’t face the whole situation sooner. I wanted her to love me like Rebel loves Sophie so badly that . . . well, you know.” She shrugged.
Wyatt raised his head and wiped at his wet cheeks.
Emma left her chair and knelt in front of him. “Don’t cry, Daddy. It happened. I’m learning to deal with the problems Mother caused right along with that. I’ve got a wonderful therapist who is helping me so much.”