Salvation (Surrender 3)

“I’m going to wait out front until Hayes gets here. If you need me, text.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Go see your dad, Ember, and be easy on him.” His soft eyes send a pit to my stomach.

I run to the office to see Dad cleaning up broken glass on the floor. “Dad?”

He looks at me, and my heart breaks. His eyes are bloodshot and face splotchy. There’s a half empty bottle of bourbon on the desk, surrounded by mounds of paperwork.

“Are you okay?” I utter, scared for his response.

He stops what he’s doing and comes straight to me, his eyes void. When he gets to me, he cradles my head to his chest and backs us to the small sofa.

“I’m so sorry, baby girl. So fucking sorry. I’m supposed to have taken care of you, protected you. When you were born, my life was complete. But I fucked up. I should have listened to my parents and taken you far away from the hatred and abuse. I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Daddy, what are you talking about? You always loved me.”

“And I always will, but I loved them, too. I was stupid and blind, thinking that things would get better. You were always the perfect daughter, the perfect student, perfect fucking angel. Now that I know what you went through, my heart bleeds. Serena promised me she would make sure you were safe and unharmed. When we came home that day, I threatened to turn her in for drug use, underage negligence, everything I could think of. She promised me if I kept her name clean, she would take care of you. Now that I know what I do, it’s killing me,” he cries openly, holding me close.

Tears seep into my shoulder, and I try to be strong. “I wouldn’t have left. I wanted to see you every weekend. It wouldn’t have mattered if you forced me to leave. I’d have found a way to stay to be close to you.”

He holds me tighter. I find an inner strength that has built in me over the last few months.

“Dad, you need to forgive yourself. I want you to take the job with James and start living again. No one blames themselves more than me for what happened, but we have to start forgiving.”

His eyes meet mine, and I feel a sense of pride. “Yeah, can you believe I said it? Forgiving. I have a new life. Chloe, Cruz, Alex, Robbie…the list is endless. I was asked today to design dresses for Abbi Collins’ wedding. Isn’t that incredible? We need to move forward. Together. Can we do that?”

His eyes widen and dry up. Tensing, he drops his head to my shoulder and starts to shake with laughter. “Always my angel. Not sure I can get past this shit, but for you, I’ll try.”

“I’m no angel, but Cruz told me months ago to let it finally go and I did. Now, I have a lot of good things to erase the bad. You being home is one.”

We hold each other for a few minutes until he stands up, bringing me with him. “Forgiving, huh?”

“Yes.”

“I hope the hell she thinks that way when we tell her our plans.” Robbie’s voice fills the room and I see him standing in the doorway, both hands in his pocket. His expression alone causes my pulse to race. There’s no doubt, whatever he’s about to say is going to be bad.

Chapter 31

Don’t Do this

Ember

The shower stops and I go slack, breathing deep, faking sleep. Warm steam fills the room, and I know without looking that Robbie is standing next to the bed. The scent of his body wash floats in the air. As hard as it is not to open my eyes, I lay still.

Last Saturday’s conversation floods my mind, and I clench my stomach tight not to react. Robbie standing in Chloe’s office, my dad holding me tight. Them telling me their plans to go to Alabama this weekend. They wanted me to understand so badly, but I couldn’t. My dad’s explanation was almost reasonable.

“I need to sit down with Serena. She seems to be on board with a ninety-day rehab. She’s scared for Natalie, and if I can do anything to help, I promised her I would. Then we’ll get a plan together. I can’t do that sitting in Nashville. It’s important I physically see her agree with me.”

“Why are you going?” I pointed my stare to Robbie.

“Because this woman turned on him before. Finn and I are witnesses. back, listen, and see if she gets out of line. We’re decorated Marines who work in security and have the Hayes name behind us. She’ll be stupid to try anything. Your dad’s parole officer and the county sheriff are aware of the meeting.”

“It’s a day trip. Why all weekend?”

Robbie looked at me with sadness and guilt.

“You’re going to find Brad, aren’t you?”