Second Chance (13 page)
All day long, I kept the secret that Emmy was coming home. I wanted to see Tanner’s face. Watch him hug her. Watch him hold her and love her like a Daddy should.
Tanner worked with the horses for much of the day while I went through old photos, made some phone calls and tried to pass the time. I didn’t want him to see my anxiety. I was excited and nervous all at the same time. The gift I was about to give him was life-changing. Even if I couldn’t hold my Courtney again, I could give him this gift of holding his little blond haired daughter.
I went outside to see what Tanner was doing. He was feeding the horses when I heard the car pull up. He couldn’t see the police officers walking toward us or the little blond haired angel, holding a teddy bear, following them up the path to the barn. Time seemed to stand still as I turned and touched his arm. He turned around and the color drained from his face, his mouth dropped and he just ran.
“Emmy! Emmy! Emmy! My baby!” he screamed as he ran toward her.
“Daddy!” she yelled as she began to cry. She ran toward him, dropping her teddy bear. He swooped her up in his arms, sobbing as he squeezed her tight. She was crying and giggling at the same time.
“Let me look at you, beautiful girl…” he crouched on the ground with Emmy sitting on his knee. “You are even prettier than I remembered…” he said smiling at her and touching her face.
“Daddy, I missed you so much!” Emmy said grinning from ear to ear as she hugged his neck again. “I don’t know why Mommy took me away from you. I love you so much! Where is Nana?”
“Nana is at the diner. We’ll go see her soon. I need to talk to those nice police officers, okay? Can you hang out with my good friend for a minute?” he said pointing to me. “Emmy, this is my friend, Shannon.”
“Hi there, Emmy. You are mighty pretty, young lady,” I said reaching my hand out. We walked toward the horses while Tanner talked to the officers. A few minutes later, he returned and the officers left us alone.
“I don’t know how this happened. It’s a miracle…” he whispered as we watched Emmy chase a butterfly through the yard in front of the guest house.
“I wanted to give you your daughter back since I had lost mine,” I said softly as I looked into his eyes.
“You did this?” Tanner was shocked.
“I ran into an old friend who works at the law office. She did some investigating for me and put all of it in motion. They caught Tina this morning in Texas,” I explained.
“I can’t believe you did this for me…” Tanner said whisking me into his arms and kissing me passionately.
“Gross, Daddy…” Emmy said from behind him. We all had a good laugh. Emmy wanted to see her Nana, so we went to Claire’s diner for dinner. The look on Claire’s face when she saw Emmy was priceless. I’d never seen her so speechless.
Chapter 21
I had never felt so whole in my life. Living with Tanner and Emmy was like heaven for me. I found myself in them. Emmy was so innocent and full of wonder. Showing her the world around the farm was healing for me. Tanner was happier than I had ever seen him. Claire was the doting grandmother.
One Sunday afternoon, Claire asked if she could take Emmy to work at the diner. Of course, Emmy jumped at the chance. Tanner and I decided to have a picnic up in the mountains near a local waterfall.
“Emmy is so sweet, Tanner. She just lights up a room, doesn’t she?” I said as I spread the blanket on the ground.
“She does, and so do you, pretty lady. Always have…” he kissed me sweetly as he dropped the picnic basket onto the blanket.
“I am so glad that the house is almost finished getting repaired so I can move back in. Emmy has her eye on the big room upstairs…” I laughed as I started to unpack the food.
“Yes, she does… She really loves you,” Tanner said.
“You think so?”
“I know so. She tells me all the time. And, of course, I’m quite fond of you too…” he said nibbling my ear.
“Are you now?” I said moaning as he kissed me with a force and intensity that made my toes curl.
Secluded in the woods, we curled up on the blanket and kissed until we were both breathless. Then, it happened. Tanner sat up and removed something from his pocket. I sat up to see what it was, and he took one knee.
“Shannon, I have a question for you…” he whispered.
“Okay…”
“When I met you, we were both lost in this world. Through it all, I have wanted nothing more than to be by your side… to help you, love you and make you feel wanted. I want to be with you in our rocking chairs on the front porch of our home one day… Will you marry me?” He opened a box to reveal the most gorgeous antique diamond ring I had ever seen. “This was my grandmother’s ring.”
“Wow, it is beautiful… Yes! Yes, I will marry you, Tanner!” I yelled jumping into his arms knocking him over. He slipped the ring on my finger and kissed me deeply. I couldn’t believe that I had finally found a man who wanted me. Needed me as much as I needed him.
Then, he had another surprise.
“We own the house, Shannon…”
“What do you mean? Parker owns the house, Tanner…”
“He did own the house. I did a little convincing him when I explained that I would be glad to turn him in for hiding evidence in a kidnapping case. Suddenly he was very negotiable about signing this house over to me. We own it. He is out of our lives…” Tanner whispered. “Oh, and he also paid me that $250,000 just to be on the safe side.” The grin on Tanner’s face was priceless.
I threw my arms around his neck. He had saved me from myself, from a life without love and from under the thumb of a man who had tormented me from beyond the grave. And I saved him from a life without his beautiful Emmy. We had saved each other, and now we would create a new life together saving each other every single day. There, next to the waterfall and secluded in the woods, we made love.
The End
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