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Reaching across the car, he took her hand. “I believe you.”
Still, she simply stared at him. Her mouth worked and nothing came out. Finally, she squeaked, “You do? Why?”
“Why?” He gave a choked laugh. “Because I’m looking at you and thinking I know you so well and I remember who you were. I see who you’ve become and you’re not lying—I believe you.”
A whimper escaped her. Then tears welled and began to roll down her cheeks. “Really?”
“Really. And I’m sorry,” he whispered back, feeling his own throat go tight. “I’m so very sorry.”
She nodded and swiped her cheeks. Leaning over, he placed a hand behind her head and pulled her in to close his lips over hers. A soft sigh escaped her and she didn’t resist. Gratitude filled him. He meant the kiss to reassure her, to be a promise, to renew hope that they could still have a life together.Please, God.
His heart smiled at the short prayer.
When he pulled back, he zeroed in on her flushed cheeks and soft eyes. “We’ve got a lot to talk about. A lot to plan. But first…”
“…we find our daughter,” she finished.
“Yeah.” He nodded. His heart beat with unrestrained love for this amazing woman. Regret and anger pierced him as he thought about the lost years, but he pushed them aside with determined force. Nothing was going to dampen what was building at lightning speed between him and Lacey.
After one last lingering kiss, he gave her soft cheek a gentle stroke. When he turned back to crank the car, emotion blindsided him. Pulling in a deep, steadying breath, he said, “Right. We find our daughter.” Then his jaw hardened. “And I have a heart-to-heart with Daniel Ackerman.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Mason dropped her off at home and left. She chewed the inside of her lip as she watched him drive away. And frowned.
She waved to the unmarked car sitting on the curb. Mason had called in a friend of his. Another marshal giving up her day off to keep an eye on things at Lacey’s house.
Her heart clenched with gratitude. She was very blessed in spite of her daughter’s disappearance. She just had to keep reminding herself of this fact.
Entering the house, she found her parents in the den watching the news. Probably hoping to hear Bethany had been found.
“Hi,” she said softly.
Her father looked up, his lined face seemed to have a acquired a few more wrinkles just in the short amount of time Bethany had been missing. “Anything?”
“We thought we had caught her, but—” She bit her lip and shook her head. “I’m not sure what to think. It seems she was attacked, then rescued by a woman. But we still don’t know where she is!” Tears filled her eyes and this time she couldn’t hold them back.
Sinking onto the sofa next to her mother, she buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Warm arms enfolded her and she let her mother hold her as they shared their common fear in a flood of tears.
A hand covered the back of her head and soft whispers finally reached her ears.
Her father was praying.
But would God hear this man? She thought He might now. In the short time she’d been home, he’d proven to be a different person than the one she grew up with. Her mother had told her he was, and Lacey had to admit she had seen a huge difference in the man ever since they’d moved in.
She looked up and palmed the tears from her cheeks. Her mother did the same, and her father returned to his recliner, leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
But his lips still moved. Her heart breaking at their anguish, she sighed and headed for the kitchen.
Her mother hurried after her, wiping her own tears on a tissue magically produced from one of her pockets. “What is it, Lacey? What are you not telling us?”
Lacey pulled the milk from the fridge and the cocoa, sugar and other items from the cabinet. “Want some hot chocolate?” So what if it was eighty-five degrees outside. She felt chilled from the inside out.
Her mother watched her, sighed and pulled two mugs from the cupboard. “Sure, that would be lovely.”
“Bethany loves this stuff,” Lacey murmured. “She always has. I never could fool her when I fixed the package mix. She would always shake her head and say I fixed her the fake chocolate and she wanted the real deal.”
“She’s turned into a wonderful girl, Lacey,” her mother said softly. “You’ve done a magnificent job. And all by yourself, too.”
