Come Back for Me (Arrowood Brothers #1)(56)

I can’t imagine how she feels because, if her emotions are anything like what I’m enduring, she’s overwhelmed.

I have a little girl who I missed getting to watch grow up, but I don’t blame Ellie. How the hell could she have found me? Walked around a town that I didn’t live in, asking for a guy whose name she didn’t know? Sure, if she knew I was an Arrowood, it would’ve been different, but she didn’t even have that much.

“You did the best you could. You didn’t know she was mine until just now. You protected her, Ellie.”

She lifts her head, and I wipe away the moisture under her eyes. “She should’ve never needed it.”

“We can’t change the mistakes we’ve made. Lord knows I’ve tried to atone for mine.”

If she knew the things I’ve done to erase the things I want to forget, she might run. The day I left this town was the day I shed who I once was. All of my brothers did the same. When we were here, we were forced into a life we didn’t want. My father broke us, and I’ve done everything I could to rebuild. I served my country and tried to do good. I’ve never allowed the shit that happened to affect who I am now.

“I feel like I can never make this right for her or you. She should’ve known you. Look how much she loves you already.”

“And I’ll be there for her the rest of my life.”

“You know this means . . . everything I was worried about with the divorce won’t matter. Kevin will never be able to touch her. He isn’t her father, and he has no rights to her,” she says as her eyes fill with relief.

No, her ex will never be around Hadley or Ellie ever again.

“In order for that to happen, we’re going to have to tell her.”

She takes a step back and then turns. “I know.”

“Do you not want to?”

Ellie spins around. “No, I do. But we can’t just spring this on her. She doesn’t know we met before. She’s only ever known Kevin as her father. While I don’t think she’ll react badly, I think she’ll be confused.”

I nod. The last thing I want to do is make this harder on either of them. And even when you have an abusive parent, you still love them and want them to love you—maybe even more so than if you had a loving parent. I would beg God to let my father see that we were good kids. I wanted him to be proud of us and would often do things to earn his approval.

It never came, and I was only left more disappointed until I finally stopped caring.

“And we’ll both be there to help her through.”

Ellie gives me a soft smile. “We have a daughter.”

I take the step toward her, closing the distance. “We do. And soon, I hope to have you.”





Chapter Twenty-Five


Ellie





“Mom, watch this!” Hadley yells as she spins on the tire swing that Connor hung for her off the edge of the tree house.

He’s been working on it at least an hour of each day, making it more special than she could ever imagine. This last week, she’s been here until one of us comes to drag her home.

“Hadley, it’s getting cold, and you have homework.”

“But I like it here!”

“I know you do, but you have to get your schoolwork done. And we have to go home to get some things.”

She mutters under her breath as she slogs her feet toward me. “Can’t you go?”

It’s been months of this, and I’m starting to think it’s not real fear anymore and that she just likes being at Connor’s.

“No, we both need to go.”

Mainly because once the divorce happens, it won’t be my house any longer, so we need to get everything out. Kevin owns all of the land and the house on his farm. I don’t know anything about it and it was his family’s home, not mine, so I have no rights to it even if I wanted it.

“I hate it there.”

“You know that nothing can hurt us there, don’t you?”

Hadley looks up at me, her green eyes wide and trusting. “I know. Daddy’s in jail.”

And that is the saddest thing. She only feels safe because Kevin is in jail.

I’ve come close to telling her that Connor is her daddy so many times. I’ve wanted to blurt it out instead of agonizing over every word I want to say. It’s been hard knowing the truth and keeping it from her, but Connor and I decided to wait. I want Kevin to be served with the papers, which happens this week. This is also the week I’ll be filing for dissolution of paternal rights due to the fact that DNA has proven Kevin is not her father.

Sydney was able to get Kevin to agree to a DNA test, and she is holding those results for legal proceedings.

All of it is messy and ugly, but each step has been necessary to get him removed from my life.

“All right, how about you run back and get started on your homework and I’ll meet you there in a bit?”

Hadley grins and takes off running.

I start back toward the house, not in a rush as I enjoy the crisp, fall air. It reminds me of my mother. She loved this time of year. Our house smelled like apples, pumpkins, and spices. Baking gave her a great sense of joy, and my father loved all things horror themed, so Halloween was his favorite holiday.

I move through the tall grass, just breathing without worry. It’s a totally different life for me now. I don’t worry about having dinner on the table or making sure the house is immaculate. As my way of thanking Connor, I do cook and clean up, but it’s appreciated not expected.