I pause in front of the door.
Caleb’s in the house. I’m safe.
Reaching for the handle, I draw in a deep breath. My life feels like a series of challenges right now, and this is just another one.
I pull open the door.
He’s older, his beard white with age, but the man standing in front of me is undeniably my father.
“Dad? What are you doing here?”
I didn’t think of him tracking me here—didn’t think he’d bother. He didn’t come to the house in Christchurch, and I deliberately didn’t put Malcolm’s death in the paper. I didn’t want to risk him finding out before we left.
He looks me up and down and sneers. “I thought I’d find out what you’d bought with Malcolm’s money. You know, the money that was supposed to go to the church.”
I swallow hard. “He left everything to me and the children.”
“We both know that’s not what he intended. We’ll be contesting the will of course.”
I shrug. “If you want to waste your money.”
I fist my hands. Caleb’s in the house somewhere. I know I’m safe. But the loving home I once lived in became filled with fear once we moved away, thanks to my father. And the longer he stands on my doorstep, the more those old fears creep in.
“I have a lawyer too. And I know my rights,” I say.
His eyes narrow. “I’m sure the authorities would love to know how unstable you are. And with children in the house. They need to be with their grandparents in a safe community.”
Unstable.
For a moment, the word knocks me. But I’m all my children have, and I’m not about to let another man bully me.
“You have nothing.”
“Hand over everything you were left from Malcolm, and I won’t take it further. You know he was supposed to give it all to the church before he joined.”
“You’d leave me with nothing?”
He steadies his gaze. “Like I said, your children need to be with us. We’ll provide for them.”
“You have nothing to do with us. Not anymore.”
“I could make your life very difficult.”
What happened to my father? The man who used to love and protect me when I was a child? My heart cracks open a little bit more as I take in the sight of this stranger in front of me.
I steel my spine. “Get off my property.”
“Emma? Is everything alright?”
Caleb’s voice comes from the top of the stairs, and Dad blanches. Caleb’s Ute is in the back yard. Dad must’ve thought I was alone.
“I’ll go for now. But this isn’t over.”
“Oh, it is.”
I close the door on him just as Caleb reaches the base of the stairs. “I’m finished for the day. Door’s all done.” He meets my gaze. “Hey. What’s going on?”
I’m shaking so hard, my teeth chatter.
