The Good Father

“Did she seem upset?”

“From what one of the other girls said, he seemed to be trying to find out where she was. Which was why their alarm bells first went off.”

Brett had said he’d talk to Jeff. Tell him that he’d seen Chloe and that she was fine. Hadn’t he done so?

She’d assumed he had. He always did what he said he was going to do. But it wasn’t as though he reported in to her. Brett Ackerman hadn’t been all that great about sharing even during the last couple years they’d been married. She knew better than to expect it of him now.

“Did she tell him?”

“No.” Sara’s glance was warm and filled with compassion. “I made certain of that much. And the last time he called, I heard her chuckle before she hung up.”

Jeff was charming her. Or was he keeping her mentally enslaved?

Ella hated that she could even think such things about her brother.

But it was for his own good. She was trying desperately to save Jeff from himself. From a future that could kill him. If it didn’t kill someone else first.

“I have no idea what to do.”

“You don’t have to do anything,” Sara said, taking her keys in hand. “Chloe’s an adult. She’s taken the first step—coming to stay with you. Feeling her way. Finding out who she is with Jeff, and apart from him. If you push too hard, you might just push her away.”

“So you aren’t worried about the calls?”

“I’m concerned. I’m planning to try to engage her in a serious conversation, get her into counseling if she’s ready to go that far. And I wanted you to know so you could be aware.”

Standing as Sara did, Ella thanked the other woman. Agreed to stay in close contact. And felt as though she’d gained a hundred pounds in an hour as she walked slowly to her car.

CHAPTER TWELVE

ELLA HAD INTENDED to go straight home after the meeting. Chloe was spending the entire day at the Stand to oversee the dinner hour, which meant Ella would have a little time to herself in her apartment.

As much as she loved Chloe and Cody, as adamant as she was about wanting them with her, she’d been living alone for a long time and had been looking forward to having some space for a few hours. To be able to talk out loud to herself if she wanted to. Or sing off tune.

But home spoke of Chloe, too. Chloe’s and Cody’s things were scattered around the apartment. Reminders everywhere of the problems they faced.

Ella had a potential new house to drive by. A for-sale option Chloe had found on the internet the afternoon before and suggested she look at. She’d taken the address with her when she’d left the house that morning.

And didn’t get it out of her purse.

Just as she didn’t think about where she was going when she turned on her car. Didn’t consider options, or ask herself what she should do. Didn’t give herself a chance to object.

Putting her car in Drive, she pulled out of the police-station parking lot and headed straight to Brett’s place.

To share the burden of Jeff and Chl

oe’s situation with him.

Because she wasn’t like him. She asked for help when she needed it.

* * *

HIS BAG WAS packed, by the door, and he was ready to catch a flight later that night. With a pool towel in hand, Brett was walking naked through his living room when he heard the front bell ring.

It wasn’t a common occurrence. His place was set back from the road, and labeled with no-trespassing signs, so he didn’t get door-to-door salespeople, or religious advocates knocking on his door. He hardly knew his neighbors. And the rest of his life was run by someone who refused to see him.

Wrapping the towel around his waist, he went to investigate. He saw her car first. And then, through the peephole, Ella, in street clothes, her dark hair curling around her shoulders, looking...good.

Too good.