Page 44 of Healing Hope

“Don’t do that again,” she warned.

Hope nodded, then turned to her father. “I’m sorry, Daddy. It didn’t seem like you were listening to me.”

Paul crouched down on the grass in front of his daughter. “I am listening to you, sprite, but I can’t change what’s happening right now. I know you love Jess, I do too, but love isn’t always enough to keep a person in your life. I loved you from the moment I saw you, and I mean with my whole heart, but it wasn’t enough to keep you with me. Sometimes adults have to do things that aren’t going to make you happy, and you have to learn to deal with them head-on. You can’t run away in a fit and expect things to work out in your favor.”

Hope pouted, but she nodded. “I understand.”

Paul glanced at Jess, but she avoided his eyes. Oh, yeah, he’d just kind of thrown it out that there he loved her. Well, she would have to deal with that, too.

“I set up an appointment with Dr. Waters. Are you willing to go talk to her?”

Hope made a face, but she nodded.

“Good. I have to get back to work. We’ll talk tonight, okay?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

Paul stood and crossed to Jess. She still looked a little shell-shocked. “Same with you. We’re going to talk when I get home. Do you hear me?”

She nodded, her sea-glass eyes guarded. Without giving her a chance to back away, he cupped her head in his hand and kissed her, hard, for all the world to see. He was done hiding. Paul walked to his truck, got in and pulled away.

The girls were still standing in the yard staring after him when he lost sight of them.

* * *

Jess triedto gather her emotion, but it was hard. Paul had knocked her for a loop. As if the morning hadn’t been emotional enough, freaking out about Hope.

Blinking, she glanced around. They were on the front lawn of Paul’s house, just kind of standing there as they watched him drive away. “We’re going to be late for your appointment,” she said, scrambling for normalcy. “Let me go get my keys and purse and we’ll go.”

“Okay,” Hope said, digging the toe of her tennis shoe against the edge of the sidewalk.

Jess walked inside to gather up her stuff. She’d been ready when Hope had gone silent and disappeared. As she gathered her keys from the island, she stopped to lean her hands against the cool surface of the marble. Paul’s words echoed through her mind. Had he seriously just said he’d loved her? Yes, he had.

He didn’t meanlovelove, though. He meant the you-make-my-life-convenient kind of love.

Right?

Honestly, she’d had men tell her they love her before, and she’d been proposed to before, but she knew they didn’t mean it. The men who offered her money to stay were more honest.

She didn’t think sheneededPaul and Hope, but the closer the time came for her to leave, the more anxiety built in her heart. What the heck was she supposed to do?

“Come on, Sophie. You might as well come hang out with me while we wait for Hope to get done.”

The little dog danced around her legs and gave an excited yip. Then she dropped to the floor and looked toward the front door. With a growl, she took off.

That was when Jess heard Hope scream.Oh, no, not again.

Bolting through the house, she pressed the red alarm button on the keypad beside the door as she passed through. Whatever the emergency was, someone needed to be here, because Hope’s scream had been real and terrified.

Jess leaped through the door and down to the yard. Immediately she saw Hope struggling in the hold of a tall man. This time, though, there was a blonde woman with him, and she seemed to be pleading with him to let Hope go.

Sophie barked and growled, lunging in at the man. He kicked at her, but he seemed to be off balance, or inebriated, or something. He was also sporting one of the clearest shiners she’d ever seen on a man. His nose was also off-kilter.

“You need to tell me what she did with that money, you little bitch,” he snarled. “There’s no way she spent it all.”

Hope cried out as the man lifted her off the ground by her arm. “Stop,” she screamed. “That hurts!”

Jess didn’t even slow. She barreled into the man, leading with her elbows and tucking her head, knocking him to the ground. The big man let go of Hope, and she scrambled to her feet.