He motioned them to sit in the sofa adjacent to the armchair he claimed. Addy hesitated. She’d lost all the coloring in her face. The terror in her eyes made Toby reach out and lightly graze his fingers along her spine. That seemed to propel her forward. She took the cushion gingerly and sat ruler straight. Toby sat next to her and took her cold fingers in his.
“I have ruled it out as self-defense,” he told them right off the bat. “Every piece of evidence that I’ve collected confirms that Jonathon Montgomery came to Willow Creek with the intent to kidnap and possibly kill.”
“Oh!” Addy gasped, deflating a little in her seat. “So, is that it?”
Sheriff Benson shook his head. “Not by a long shot, I’m afraid. I talked to his parents when they came for his body and I’ve never met two people more in denial in my life. By their accounts, he couldn’t do a damn thing wrong. Hell, he could have been Christ reincarnated the way they told it. They did, however, have a few choice things to say about you, Ms. Nixon.”
Addy flinched. “I thought they would.”
Benson nodded slowly. “They sure don’t like you. But that isn’t why I came. I tried to look at Mr. Montgomery’s medical records, but the military is strict about that kind of thing. I did however talk to the family doctor who was treating Mr. Montgomery after he was discharged and I convinced him that he was no longer under the patient/doctor confidentiality clause now that Mr. Montgomery was dead. It took some doing, but I got those records.” He shifted in his seat, planting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. “Jonathon Montgomery was suffering from severe psychosis, depression and PTSD. I believe learning of your whereabouts may have been the thing that pushed him over.”
“I’ve known men with PTSD and depression, especially after being injured in combat and not being able to return,” Toby said. “Why wasn’t he on medication or seeing someone?”
“He was on medication,” Sheriff Benson cut in. “He was up until a few months ago when Mr. Montgomery was accused of raping a nineteen year old girl. He was never arrested, which I have a feeling was his father’s doing, and the girl retracted her allegations the next day.”
“Oh my God!” Addy whispered.
“The doctor I spoke to said getting Mr. Montgomery to continue taking his medication and going to counseling became a challenge after that.”
“What does all this mean for Addy and the kids?” Toby cut in.
Benson shrugged. “That I’m closing the case. That includes the missing person’s report on you, Ms. Nixon. The Montgomery family might not bother you anymore once all this hits the newspapers and people begin asking questions and putting the pieces together. I’m fairly confident they have enough bad publicity on their hands without making it worse on themselves by coming after you, but I would still talk to a lawyer about your rights and what you can do to protect yourself.” He pushed to his feet. “Of course I’m here if you need anything.”
Toby walked the sheriff out and returned to find Addy sitting in the same spot, staring at her knees.
“So, it’s over?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah, it is.” He went to her.
Her face lifted to his as he drew closer. “Do you really think Rayna and Stanton will let it go?”
Toby shrugged. “I think they will. Like the sheriff said, they’ve got enough problems and the last thing they’ll want is an abused mother going to the press to divulge all their dirty secrets. The media would crucify them alive and so would I. Literally.”
Addy rose and stepped right into his chest. Her good arm went around his ribs as she pressed her face into his shoulder.
“Thank you.”
Toby snorted quietly into the top of her head. “For what?”
“For being the kind of man I want my son to grow up to be like.” She lifted her face and peered up at him. “For being the kind of man I want my daughter to find one day and for being the man I never want to stop loving.”
It was a task swallowing around the band constricting his airway, but Toby worked through the knot to grin down at her.
“Good, ‘cause I got every intention of marrying you the first chance we get and making McClain’s out of the lot of you.”
Addy laughed. “I’d like that.”
He kissed her.
Chapter 23 ~ Addy
There were many decisions Addy wished she could make over again, decisions that she looked on later and regretted. Yet her decision to drive eight hours away from her home to see parents who hadn’t cared enough about her to protect her was at the very top of her list. Still, she didn’t ask Toby to stop. No matter how much it killed her.
They drove in nerve wrecking silence. Every mile they passed was a new thorn burrowing into her soul. The irritation was maddening, but she kept herself calm and focused on what she would say once she got there. One would think she would have plenty to get off her chest, except she hadn’t seen her parents since her scam wedding. Neither had made any effort to contact her after her things were moved out of their home for the last time. They hadn’t come to see Sean after he’d been born. She doubted they even knew his name. They definitely didn’t know about Hanna. She still wasn’t sure she wanted to tell them. It was why she’d left the children with Willa for the night. She hadn’t wanted to bring them to people who hadn’t cared about them. She certainly didn’t think her parents had any right to see their grandchildren after everything. Maybe that made her spiteful and petty, but she didn’t really care.
In her lap, closed firmly around hers, Toby’s fingers squeezed. It was just enough pressure to remind her she wasn’t alone, that he was there and everything would be fine. She returned the gesture without glancing at the man behind the wheel.
The city of Langford looked exactly as she remembered. The houses along her parent’s street were beautifully maintained, the lawns expertly treated and everyone blissfully ignorant of everything that didn’t involve them. It was the type of neighborhood where everyone knew everyone else and went out of their way to make sure they were better. There was no sense of community or warmth. It wasn’t Willow Creek.
“You okay?”
Addy nodded. “I think so.”
“It’ll be okay,” Toby promised. “I’ll be there the whole time and I promise, you say the word and we’re gone.”
Her only response was the tightening of her fingers.
Her parent’s home was a stunning Greek revival with a full-height porch and smooth, ivory columns. It sat on a bed of emerald green lawns and manicured shrubbery. The driveway was a smooth stretch of wet asphalt void of even a single dead leaf despite the sway and shivering branches canopying the way to the circular driveway. Toby pulled up alongside a series of wide stairs leading to the high, wooden doors.
Toby whistled. “Wow.”
Addy nodded. “Yeah.”
They climbed out and started carefully up the slippery steps. Addy stopped before the doors and stared. The air smelled of recent rainfall, pine and wet soil. There was nothing ominous about any of it and yet she felt like it was some kind of warning not to go in.
Gut clenching uncomfortably, she knocked. Then automatically took a step back like the doors might try to take a bite out of her.
Toby’s gentle hand settled on the lower curve of her spine. The gesture was sweet and reassuring, but it did nothing to calm the coils of dread tightening around her nerves.
One door opened and her father’s worn face peered out at her from the crack. He’d aged badly since she’d seen him last, standing behind her as she was pawned off to save him the shame of having a pregnant fifteen year old daughter. But the thing that hadn’t changed was the dark anger in his eyes. It was as livid and wild as ever.
“Hello Daddy.”
Andrew Blackwell’s eyes narrowed in a way that suggested he just didn’t understand why she was there. There was no sign of happiness, no regret or even surprise. Just annoyance.
“Adelaide.” He straightened the thin width of his sho
ulders so he was once more the looming and dominating father she knew. “This really isn’t a good time.”
She would have laughed at that if she could have managed it. “I drove eight hours to see you. Please make time.”
A muscle moved alongside his thin mouth. “It’s highly inappropriate to show up on someone’s doorstep before calling.” His gaze went to Toby and dropped to the arm Toby still had around her. “Who is this?”
“Toby McClain, sir.” He released his hold on Addy and extended the hand to her father. “I’m the man who’s going to marry your daughter.”
It was a tossup who was more stunned by the declaration. Her father recovered first.
“You’re the one responsible for Jonathon’s death.”
There was no telling if that was an accusation or a praise. It was said with simple flatness.
“That I am,” Toby stated evenly.
Addy didn’t know whether to kiss him or tell him to stop. She was saved from having to decide when a soft, feminine voice sounded from over her father’s shoulder.
“Andrew?”
Her father turned and glanced back as a smaller, older version of Addy joined the group. Light brown eyes moved past her husband and settled on the pair darkening her doorstep and widened.
“Adelaide?”
Addy struggled with a smile. “Hello Momma.”
Soft, pink lips opened and closed, but no words emerged.
“Your daughter wishes to speak with us,” her father said tartly.
“Really?” Her mom looked to Addy again. “All right.”
Her father looked no less pleased about having to open the door and letting them in, but he stepped aside and said nothing as they passed him into the foyer.
Old money dripped from every inch of the lavish set up. It trickled down the polished wood frames and glinted off the dangling chandelier. It was all tastefully done and placed in exactly the right place for maximum impact. Addy had never liked the place. It was all too stuffy, too dark and empty. She remembered being a little girl and being told not to touch the banister coming down or to stay off the sofas to keep from wearing them out. It had always felt more like a museum than a home. That hadn’t changed.
They were led into the parlor and offered a seat. Her mother went straight for the drink cart. The ice cubs rattled in her glass, revealing the extent of her nerves.
“What is it you wish to talk about, Adelaide?” her father demanded the moment everyone was seated.
It was a good question. On the drive down, she’d even had an answer, but sitting there, on the exact same sofa, in the exact same spot she’d told them what had happened to her, made her want to vomit. It made her skin prickle and her throat go dry. But she remained firmly sitting. No matter how badly she wanted to lunge to her feet and move away.
Her mother saved her from having to answer by focusing on Toby. “Who is your friend, Adelaide?”
“This is Toby McClain,” Addy answered almost automatically. “He’s—”
“I’m going to marry your daughter,” Toby supplied seamlessly.
“Marry?” her mother exclaimed and still managed to make the single word breathy and soft. “Adelaide, you’re not even fully divorced from your husband. It’s really bad form.”
“Jonathon is dead,” she reminded them sharply. “And I never wanted to marry him. You made me.”
“Here we go,” her father muttered, sitting back. “We’re the bad parents because we tried to do the right thing.”
“The right thing? You married me off to my rapist!”
“Adelaide!” her mother hissed as though Addy had cursed. “You’re being dramatic and you’re causing a scene.”
“I was fifteen! I was scared, hurt and alone, and you gave me to him like some consolation prize for what he’d done.”
“Okay, that is enough!” Her father straightened. “I will not have you sit there and accuse us all over again for something you did. You’re a grown woman now, Adelaide. It’s high time you took responsibilities for your own actions.”
There were so many things she wanted to throw in their faces, so many things she wanted to scream about, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the grudging stubbornness in her father’s eyes or the pity in her mother’s, but all the words dissolved on her tongue.
“I came today because I thought…” she trailed off with the shake of her head. “I don’t know what I thought, honestly. I just had this need to see you guys again. Maybe a part of me was hoping you finally saw Jonathon for what he was and realize that maybe you’d made a mistake. Maybe a part of me was hoping for an apology, but that isn’t it. I actually want to thank you. If you hadn’t done what you did, I wouldn’t have Hanna and Sean and my inn. I may never understand why you did the things you did, but I am eternally grateful for the joys your decisions have brought me.”
Her mother glanced at her father. “Who’s Hanna?”
“My daughter. She’s four and one of the brightest lights in my world.”
Her mother looked simply mystified. “Well, then I just don’t understand what all your fussing is about, Adelaide. We did what we could of in a bad situation. I mean, can you imagine what such a scandal would have done to the family? Jonathon did a kind thing taking you in and giving you and that boy a proper name. If anything, you owe us an apology. Do you have any idea how much stress this entire ordeal has cost me with the lady’s luncheon? It’s been a nightmare trying to explain how any daughter of mine could do the things you’ve done to someone as wonderful as Jonathon Montgomery. Why, that family has been nothing but good to you. Rayna won’t even look at me after what you did to her son!”
Addy tightened her resolve, fought back the clawing desire to scream and pitch something at her mother’s pretty face.
“I did what I had to to protect my children, as a parent is supposed to. I will never regret that. Jonathon is dead because he broke into my house and shot me. He was a monster. If anything, him being dead has saved countless other young girls from being his next victim.”
Her mother bristled. “Are you talking about that lying little whore who accused Jonathon of assaulting her? She admitted she made it all up.”
“No, she didn’t,” Addy whispered. “She probably has parents like mine.”
“That is enough!” Her father straightened. “I will not sit here and listen to you insult us in our own home!”
“If telling the truth makes me a bad person, then you know what, fine. This is me, washing my hands once and for all.” She touched Toby’s knee without looking at him. “We’ll show ourselves out.”
Toby rose with her when Addy pushed to her feet. He was so still and silent, but his eyes were twin flames of raw fury burning into her father.
“If Hanna ever came to me and told me some guy touched her, that he hurt her, that bastard wouldn’t be able to find a hole big enough to hide in that I wouldn’t find him. I may not have had a hand in her or Sean’s conception, but you can bet your last dollar that I would kill for those two without a thought. I sure as hell wouldn’t do what you two did.”
“How dare you—”
Toby ignored her father’s sputter of outrage and plowed on. “And you can tell the Montgomery family that if they even think about coming after Addy for those children, I will ruin them and I will take down anyone who stands with them. Including and especially you. I will paint you as the man who sold his daughter to a rapist pedophile and once that goes to the media, what do you think will happen when other girls come forward to tell their stories? What leg will you and Stanton Montgomery have to stand on then? There isn’t enough money in the world to conceal the disgusting reality that you are no better than Jonathon.” He paused to give the two a dark, predatory grin. “It was a pleasure to meet you both. I hope I never see either of you ever again.”
With that, he took Addy’s good hand and guided her to the door. They stepped out together into the muggy afternoon. He paused at the passenger’s side door of hi
s truck and peered down at her.
“You okay?”
Addy searched deep, analyzing every flicker of emotion going through her before answering, “Yeah, I think so.”
Toby nodded. “Good.”
She smiled up at him. “Thank you for coming with me and the things you said.”
He snorted as he wrenched her door open for her. “Don’t thank me for that. Thank me for not punching your father in the mouth like I wanted to.”
Laughing, she climbed into the seat and waited for him to close her door. Instead, he leaned in and kissed her lovingly across the mouth.
“It’s over, Addy girl. It’s time to put your demons to bed.”
Chapter 24 ~ Toby
“You came!” Calla bounded off the sofa and hurried across the room to Addy. “We have so much to tell you.”
Behind him, Addy struggled as she fought Hanna with her coat. Sean had already tossed his coat and shoes into the corner and was taking the stairs two at a time.
“Wait for me!” Hanna wailed.
“Will you stop for a second?” Addy laughed. She managed to get Hanna out of her coat using only one hand before the girl was bolting after her brother.
Calla took the garments from Addy and hung them up. Toby did the same to his own coat. Then helped Addy with hers.
“Addy!” Willa waved them over excitedly. “Calla and I were just making plans for another spa day.”
“But we weren’t sure if you were coming tonight,” Calla added.
“Which we are so glad you did!” Willa insisted. “It hasn’t been the same without you.”
The two joined Willa on the sofa and immediately fell into plan making mode. The unadulterated happiness on Addy’s face was better than winning the lottery. The warmth in her eyes and the smile pulling her lips was all the room needed to become a little brighter. Toby studied her, his heart, soul and brain all in agreement that she was the one. No matter what happened, there would never be another woman for him. She was it.
“Tob!”
He turned at the sound of his name. Damon and Jared waved him over to the other side of the room, quite possibly as far away from the rest of the group as humanly possible. They stood next to the bookcases, clustered close.
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