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He waits until we both take a deep breath before continuing.
“Seeing as your daughter is married to Mr. McConnely, we legally can’t force her to go home. If she wants to stay here then she can.”
“She doesn’t want to stay here! She wants to come home!” he yells, getting worked up again.
“No, I don’t.”
We all turn to see Salem standing in the open doorway. I thought she would be scared but all I can see on her face is sadness.
“I want to stay here,” she says as she steps closer to me, interlacing her fingers with mine. “With my husband.”
I smile down at her before we both turn and look back at the cops.
“Then there’s nothing for us to do here. Mr. Mitchell, you’ll have to vacate the property. Let the newlyweds have some time together.”
Salem’s father is screaming and sputtering, face red as the sheriff and deputy drag him back to his car. They usher him in and then wait for him to leave before getting in their police cruiser. Her father peels out of the driveway and I wonder when we’ll see him again.
I grip Salem’s hand tighter in mine and once again lead her back inside.
She follows after me and I turn and lock the door before leading her back into the kitchen. I’m not sure how she’s going to react to this new visit but I needn’t have worried. My girl is strong and when I look at her, I see that she’s not scared anymore. Instead, she just looks sad.
“You alright, princess?”
“Yeah. It’s just hard to see him like that. There’s never been any love lost between us but it’s still sad to picture him in that awful house all alone.”
“It’ll be okay,” I say as I wrap her up in my arms.
I end up calling Paul and telling him I won’t be out again today and he reassures me he’s got it covered. Salem and I cuddle up on the couch with my laptop in our laps. We spend the rest of the morning looking up places to visit and narrowing down where we want to go. We laugh as we argue about whether we should go to a beach or somewhere colder, somewhere remote or a tourist attraction.
We make soup and grilled cheese for lunch and cuddle up again on the couch to watch a movie. We’re about halfway through the second movie when someone knocks on the front door. I slip out from under the blanket and make my way to the front door. When I see that it’s Sheriff Shepherd, I want to scream. We have to do something. I can’t just keep letting Salem’s father ruin our days together.
“Sheriff,” I say as I step outside.
“Campbell. Is Salem here?”
“Of course she is. Where else would she be?”
“I need to speak with her.”
“Why?”
“I’m afraid I have some bad news, son,” he says and my stomach drops at those words.
I hear the door open behind me and Salem walks out to stand next to me. I wrap her in my arms and we stand like that while the sheriff tells us what happened. Salem stares wide-eyed at him as he tells her how her father was drunk and drove his car into a tree just a mile up the road.
“He must have left here and started drinking. We got the call about an hour ago that there had been a wreck. By the time we got there, he was gone. I’m so sorry for your loss, dear.”
The sheriff holds his hat and we both stare down at Salem but she seems frozen. Finally, she just nods her head and looks up at me. I can see the sadness and guilt swirling in her eyes and I pull her closer into me. I whisper into her ear that it will be ok, over and over as I rock her back and forth. The sheriff leaves after he tells us that he’ll be in contact with any other questions.
We can go down to the coroners tomorrow for the body and plan the funeral after that. My heart breaks for her. I hated the man and I wouldn’t shed a tear for the bastard, not after the way he treated my girl but my princess has a big heart and I know she wouldn’t wish this on him, on anyone. That some part of her was hoping he would just leave us alone and we could all live happily.
I carry her into the house and lay her down in our bed. I slide in after her and spoon her as she cries herself to sleep.
ChapterEleven
Salem
The funeral was yesterday and Campbell and I were the only ones to show. Campbell held me while the priest said a few words. We stood silent while they lowered the casket into the ground and then he led me back to his truck.
