“Wait, I recognize her,” Tanner said, taking the photo from April’s hand. “I think I met her once in -”
“Vegas?” April suggested, hoping to jog his memory so he’d finally know the truth.
Tanner’s eyes went wide. “How did you -” His jaw dropped and the photo fell from his hand landing on the soft carpet. “Wait a second. Are you telling me -”
A tear escaped and trailed down April’s cheek as she nodded, confirming what she’d been dying to tell this man since the first time she’d met him. “I know you said you weren’t sure about having kids, but Violet needs you, Tanner. You’re her only hope of getting away from -”
Tanner pulled her into the tightest hug she’d ever been in. “Tanner…” she started to say.
He pulled back then and met her gaze. “Are you sure?”
“Am I sure she was in Vegas or that she found out she was pregnant six weeks later?”
Tanner took a step back, bent to pick up the photo, then sat down on the edge of the bed. He stared at the picture of Casey for a long moment. “Seven years ago, one of my buddies at the station was getting married. He’s since gotten divorced, but that’s not the point. He invited a bunch of the guys to Vegas for his bachelor party. I met a woman there. She was stunning and her eyes were this incredible bluish-purple color. At first, I thought it was from the lights in the club, but then we went back to my hotel room and… she was gone when I woke up the next morning. I had a splitting headache, and all I remembered was that her name was CeCe. I wanted to find her. I never forgot her or those eyes, but I obviously didn’t have much to go on. I didn’t even know where she was from, just somewhere in California.” Tanner paused then, collecting his thoughts, catching his breath. “I never saw or heard from her again. All this time…”
“Tanner,” April said again, wishing there was some way she could soften the blow.
“How could I have not known that I had a kid? Why wouldn’t she have come to me? And why did she tell me a fake name?”
“CeCe was a nickname she sometimes used with strangers. And she did come to you,” April said. “Casey was here when she was seven months pregnant. It took her forever to find you, but she said you guys sent her away. She was devastated, but determined to raise her baby.”
Tanner shook his head. “I never saw her.”
April almost couldn’t believe it, but Zara had been right all along. Tanner never knew about his daughter. More determined than ever to make things right for her niece and the man she cared about, April continued. “When Violet was a year old, she started showing signs of her ability. It freaked Casey out, and she started looking for treatments to help control what she could do. That was how she met Ned. At the time, he claimed to be doing some sort of research on gifted children. She didn’t tellme much, and then she was killed. I had no idea what was happening to Violet until I got here three years ago. And then it was too late.”
“Why didn’t you come to me then?” Tanner asked.
“Because I didn’t know who you were. Casey was so angry with you that she burned all your information and refused to give me a last name.”
“But that didn’t stop you from finding me.” His words hit her like the accusation they were meant to be. “How long have you known who I am? Did you know that night at Madigan’s? On our runs? At the soup kitchen? How long, April, were you going to keep this from me? Keep my daughter from me?”
***
Tanner hated the way he was practically yelling at April. None of this was her fault, and he had no doubt she’d done the best she could. He needed to take a minute. He’d started out telling himself to stay calm. Not to get angry. But the more April told him, the angrier he got. “Give me a minute,” he said, then left the room in a huff.
He needed to get control of himself. He stood in the hallway, watching Violet sleep. Her dark hair was fanned out, her soft lashes kissed the tops of her cheeks, and her little hands were tucked in under her pillow as she lay on her side. How had he not seen it the moment he met her? She had his chin and his mom’s high cheekbones. She even gave off little snores just like Faith did when she was that age. His heart was nearly splitting in half watching his daughter sound asleep.His daughter!
Was it even possible? Nothing in the world felt more right, but he still worried this was some dream he was going to wake up from, and Violet and April would be gone.
“A little over six months,” April said, coming up behind him a few minutes later. Tanner suspected she hated this conversation as much as he did, but they needed to have it. If Violet was his daughter, which he fully believed that she was, there was no way he was just going to stand by and let someone else take care of her or control her life. “It took a while to find you because Casey never told me much about you. I used two different private investigators. That also took time because I had to make sure they weren’t in Ned’s pocket, and then I had to save up enough cash to pay them so I didn’t leave any paper trail for Ned to find. Once I knew who you were…”
Tanner didn’t miss how she lowered her gaze as if in shame or deep regret. “Hey,” he lifted her chin gently with his finger until her eyes locked with his. “I’m not trying to be a jerk here, or in any way downplay your role in Violet’s life. I just need to know.”
“I understand. And I promise, I’ll tell you everything I know. I’ll be an open book with you. The hardest part was finding a way to tell you. Even after I spent time with you and figured out that you weren’t going to be another Ned in her life.”
“You thought…” He couldn’t even finish the sentence. “April, I would never -”
“I know that now,” she said, retreating back to the guest room. Tanner followed her, needing to hear the whole story. “When I first met Ned, he saved me, Tanner. He helped me in a way that no one else could or would. I trusted him. Then I saw what he was doing with Violet, and everything changed.” She let out a long sigh. “I couldn’t just walk up to you and tell you about her. I had to make sure you were really and truly a good guy.”
“So, our bumping into each other at Madigan’s was a set up?” He hated that everything they’d shared was just her doing reconnaissance.
“No. I had no idea you were going to be there. I was shocked when I saw it was you.”
Tanner rubbed the side of his neck. “I gave you my business card that night. You didn’t call or text me for days.”
“I know,” she dropped her gaze as if trying to hide from him. “I knew Ned had a lot of the local law enforcement in his pocket. I wanted to get Violet out of there, but first, I had to make sure you weren’t - Ned keeps a lot of the cops in this town on his payroll. They turn a blind eye to a lot of his shit. Do a lot of his dirty work. I had to make sure you weren’t one of them.”
“Like Ethan.” Tanner forced the words out in a barely audible whisper. He understood. Of course, he did. But that didn’t make him any less angry. And it didn’t help that he was beyond exhausted. But he’d meant what he said. The last thing he wanted to do was make April feel bad for protecting her niece. He would’ve done the same thing if he’d been in her shoes. He just wanted answers.Neededthem in order to make sense of everything. “You know what, we’re both tired. Let’s get some rest. We can talk more tomorrow.”
