“I can’t imagine.”
She wiped at her eyes, and I took a deep breath, remembering how difficult that choice had been for me. But because I’d done it, Risa and the rest of the world were safe from him. At least for a little while.
“Do you really want to work with me again?”
Her eyes brightened. “Yes.” She said the word emphatically, hope lighting up her face.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
Her jaw fell. “Wait. Are you serious?”
“I’ve thought about it a lot. I can see that you made a mistake. I want to protect myself from people who would do what you did to me, but I also want to believe that people can change and be better.”
“I will, and I am. I promise you.”
“I hope that’s true and that my instincts on this aren’t completely wrong. I want to hire you back at your original pay. I have only one condition.”
“Absolutely. Whatever you want.”
I drummed my fingers on the table a couple times, wondering if she would really do it. If she had the strength to, I knew I was making the right decision.
“Risa, I want you to go to the police and tell them what Max did to you.”
The earlier flush of color left her cheeks. “I—I can’t do that.”
I leaned in, holding her gaze. “You can.”
Her lip quivered.
“Risa . . . You can do this. And I’ll be there to help.”
“Okay,” she said, with a whisper.
EPILOGUE
Crisp cool water washed up on my feet. I scanned the sand below for something that would catch my eye. Any little treasure she would like. The pull of the tide made a divot around a shell. I bent and captured it. Finding it unbroken, I washed it clean with the next wave.
“Mommy! Look what I found!”
Tricia ran toward me, breaking her stride with playful, excited leaps. Her swimsuit was a shock of neon colors among the otherwise muted tones of the ocean side. Her fine blond hair fell long down her back, bright against her sun-kissed skin.
“What did you find, honey?”
She stopped abruptly in front of me, holding up a long, slightly mangled feather, no doubt once belonging to a seagull.
“Wow, that’s beautiful. Can I clean it for you?”
She hesitated a moment before handing it to me. “Okay.”
I washed it in the water, smoothing the gray and white fronds until they more closely resembled their original form. As soon as I finished, Tricia reached for it eagerly and ran back to where Blake sat several feet away in the sand. I followed behind, sizing up the sand castle progress that had been made.
“Daddy, this can be our flag.”
The excitement in her voice was contagious. I reached for a distant memory on the beach at the lake with my mother and Elliot, when such small triumphs could fill my young heart. Witnessing her wonder was a gift, one I was grateful for each day.
A concentrated frown left Blake’s features as he gazed upon our daughter and her new treasure.
“Perfect.” He reached for the small feather.
She held it back. “No, I wanna.”
He sighed. “All right. Where do you want it?”
She sat on her knees and shimmied closer, sending an avalanche of sand into Blake’s carefully constructed moat. “Here,” she said, planting the quill into the soft sand at the top of the castle Blake had spent the better part of an hour crafting.
She sat back, eyes bright. Blake’s mouth lifted into a small smile, admiration and love plain on his features.
“Perfect.”
He reached an arm around her, tugging her close to his side. They admired their handiwork when the sound of a car door closing interrupted them. In the distance, a man walked toward us.
Tricia’s eyes widened, and she scrambled to her feet and out of Blake’s arms. “Poppy!” she squealed.
She ran toward Daniel with the same leaps and bounds as before. He caught her little frame and tossed her into the air before catching her and holding her up on his hip. A smile tugged at my lips, but all signs of the love in Blake’s eyes had vanished.
I rose as they approached.
“Hey,” Daniel said, his voice low but jovial. He leaned in, kissing me on the cheek.
“How was the trip?” I asked.
He smiled fondly, his gaze falling on Tricia. “Ah, not bad. Well worth it to see my princess.”
“Poppy, I want to show you something.” Her pale green eyes widened with excitement, and she wriggled free from his embrace.
“What do you want to show me, sweetheart?”
She caught his hand in her small one and tugged him down onto the sand. He laughed, and she began cataloging the pile of shells and debris she’d accumulated over the afternoon.