by Unknown
“When can I get her?”
“Now.”
“Right.” He headed towards the door saying, “See you in a few days.”
“Go to the police station and ask for the sheriff, I’ll give him a heads up, let him know you’re on your way!” Scott yelled behind him. Archer waved over the back of his head and walked to his truck as fast as he could. He had a daughter. A daughter!
He hit his hand on the steering as he tore out of the police station. He would be passing his house on the way to Bason Ridge, so he stopped and grabbed a change of clothes and got back on the road.
He kept saying ‘daughter’ aloud, thinking it might help calm him down. It didn’t. He was pissed at Shawna for not telling him. He never saw her after the night he broke it off with her, but he never once thought she might be pregnant. They always used condoms, every single time. However, most of the time he was wasted, he wouldn’t know if one broke, or maybe he forgot. His forehead furrowed, trying his damnest to remember one time they weren’t careful, one time when he found a broken rubber; but it was a long time ago and he was coming up empty. But Shawna knew how to reach him. She had his phone number and knew he liked to visit that bar where they met.
She should have told him. And now she’s gone. He’d never find out why she never told him, why he lost all this time with his daughter.
His daughter had to be at least seven or eight-years-old now. He missed some of the most important things in her life. Her birth...crawling, walking, her first words. He missed it all. His chest grew tight thinking about these lost moments, about meeting his daughter for the first time and her being able to remember that moment when she got older.
He pulled the papers out of his pocket and opened then back up. He needed to know something. He held them up on the steering wheel, paying attention to the road as he continued to drive. He just needed to know one thing.
Bailey Ann Davis.
His daughter’s name was Bailey. He tossed the papers on the passenger seat and continued to make his way to Bason Ridge.
Archer grew up with two loving parents. They were devoted to each other; their love was fierce and strong. His mom’s parents forbade their love. They didn’t like their daughter falling in love with a farmer boy that had dreams of being a police officer. However, that didn’t stop them. His mom chose his dad, and her family disowned her; cut her off from the family and their money. His mom didn’t care, because she was in love and she knew it would last forever. And it did, until their untimely death.
Losing his parents the way he did crushed him. He didn’t handle it well, leading him down the path that eventually brought him to Shawna and Ian.
Archer tried not to focus on anything other than his daughter, but he always thought about what his mom told him. She told Archer all the time how she fell in love with his dad. He could hear her faint voice tell him that he would find the same love and have a family someday. He shook his head to rid the painful memories from flooding his brain. Again, he heard his mom’s voice, “Be patient with who you fall in love with Rudd, but don’t fight it either. Sometimes people fall in love with just one look, one touch. I fell in love with your father the first time he smiled at me.” His mom truly believed everything she said and Archer listened to everything she said, and believed her just as much.
He wanted a family, always had. He wanted to find a love as strong and fierce as his parents. He wanted children, lots of them. He took his time like his mom said, not rushing, or settling, but he hasn’t dated since he was with Shawna. He needed time to get himself back on track after his little downfall. Living in a small town didn’t help either. There wasn’t anyone he was interested in. But now there was someone new in town. Adalyn interested him, but he wasn’t sure if it was just because she was a mystery or if it was something more. Sure, he was attracted to her, but he just couldn’t get past the fact that she was hiding something. His job was to keep his town safe, and he needed to know more about her to do that.
Whatever it was, he would find out.
Archer pulled into the police parking lot and turned his truck off. He pulled a picture out from his wallet, one of his parents, and gave it a quick glance before heading inside to meet his daughter.
“I’m here to see the sheriff,” he said, greeting the woman at the front desk. She looked a little young to be working at the police station, but it wasn’t any of his concern or business.
“You must be Rudd Archer,” she said popping up out of her chair. “I’m so happy to meet you.” She walked out from behind the desk and flashed him a warm smile. “Come on, she’s waiting for you.”
Archer followed the girl with the long black dress and listened as she continued to talk.
“She looks just like you,” she said turning around a corner. “Her hair’s just as black as yours, but it’s much longer. She’s so beautiful.” The girl stopped and looked up at him. “Don’t be nervous. She knows your coming and she’s very excited to meet you.”
At that same moment, Archer heard the words he thought he’d never hear.
“Daddy!” echoed down the hallway and he turned. His daughter was running down the hallway, her little legs going as fast as they could, her hair streaming behind her. “Daddy!” she yelled again, and Archer leaned down on one knee and opened his arms as his daughter smacked into him at full force. For such a small girl, she almost knocked him over. Archer couldn’t grasp onto any of the feelings that were coursing through his body. Not a single one. It was overwhelming and consumed every piece of him.
“I knew you’d find me,” his daughter whispered into his ear, holding him even tighter. He let those words permanently attach to his soul and held back the tears that were threatening to leak out. He stood and his daughter stayed glued to him and whispered again, “Never let me go.”
“Never,” Archer whispered back and turned to the girl in the black dress, who was now crying and she pointed down the hallway. Archer gave her a quick nod and walked down the hallway, meeting an elderly woman halfway there.
“She’s a quick one,” she said looking at Bailey and then back to Archer. “I need some papers signed and the sheriff would like a word. Follow me.” Archer did but at a slower pace. The woman had to be in her seventies and walked with a limp. It could have been from an injury, or just from old age. She led him into the sheriff’s office where a man was sitting behind a metal gray desk, the same ones they had at their station, holding the phone to his ear. He quickly ended it and stood to shake Archer’s hand.
“Rudd Archer,” he greeted. “Nice to meet you. Heard good things about you from Scott. So good, that if you ever get sick of that old man, you come find me. I’ll have a job waiting for you.” Archer knew that if Scoot and this man were close that he would also know Archer would never leave. But the offer was nice.
“Thank you.”
“Here are the papers,” the older woman said handing a folder to Archer.
“This is it?”
“Yes. The judge signed them after they got the paternity test results. Figured she’d been through enough already and wanted to make it easier on her.” Archer noticed the woman look at Bailey when she said that and saw genuine concern for her. The file was thicker then he’d like and he needed to spend some time learning about her past.
“You took care of her?” Archer asked still holding his daughter, but he only needed one hand to do that, so the other was now holding the file.
“Yes. I only have four kids right now. Three, now that she’s leaving us.”
“Thank you for taking care of her.”
“My pleasure. She’s a good girl. Never made a mess and she ate whatever I cooked, and then some. I think she was just happy to have people around.”
Archer set his daughter down in one of the chairs, and started signing the papers. He was also given the police report of Shawna’s incident and would also need to read that. He thanked the woman and Sheriff, grabbed a large pink duffle bag that belonged to Bailey, a
nd left.
His daughter grabbed his free hand and asked, “What’s your name?” she inquired innocently as they left the office and walked down toward the car.
“They didn’t tell you?”
“They said it was Rudd Archer. But I’d like to know your full name.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “It’s Rudd Jonathan Archer.”
“Thank you,” she said softly and her grip tightened.
“Do you have a house?” she asked while they turned the corner, which headed back to the front desk.
“Yes.”
“Do I get my own room?”
“Yes.”
Archer held the door open for his daughter, then scooped her up and carried her across the parking lot to his truck.
“Shit,” he said without thinking and quickly apologized to his daughter.
“It’s okay,” she replied. “I’ve heard worse things than that.”
That information didn’t sit well with Archer and he tried not to show it. He cursed because he didn’t have a car seat.
“Do you know if there’s a store around here?”
“Yes, Miss Hanley took me there to get some new clothes. They’re in my bag.”
“I need to get you a car seat.” He set Bailey down, opened the truck, and tossed the bag in the back seat.
“Okay,” she said looking up at Archer and he finally saw her eye color. They were bright green like his. She had his eyes and dark black hair. She reached for his hand, and he beeped the truck, making sure it was locked up, and he took his daughter shopping for the first time.
Chapter 5
“You nervous?”
“Yep.”
“When you get nervous, do you puke?”
“No, Madi, I won’t puke.” I wasn’t sure if that was the truth or not. I didn’t feel like puking, but I might later. I took the cash drawer out of the register and we started walking back to the office.
“Good. That would be worse than him hearing the sex talk.” She plops down in the chair behind her desk and rests her heel on the corner of it.
“Don’t your feet hurt wearing those heels?”
She lifted her foot, admiring her wedges and then put it back down. She shrugged her shoulders, like it was the first time she ever thought of the possibility of heels hurting her feet. “I’m used to it.”
I sat across from Madi and bundled the bills in my hand in preparation to count my drawer. I counted it three times to ensure my accuracy, my fingers feeling dirty after handling the paper bills and dirty coins.
I guess Rudd and Madi made a deal. He would check on me in exchange for dinner. It was Friday, I was feeling better, and according to Madi, this was the day for me to bring him dinner. I hadn’t seen him in a few days, though. Work could have been keeping him busy or we just kept missing each other.
“The anticipation is already killing me,” Madi said after I finished the drawer and handed it to her.
“It’s a thank you dinner that you arranged.”
“Could be considered a date.”
I laughed. “He doesn’t like me. Besides, I don’t want a boyfriend.”
She locked the drawer in the safe behind her and spun back around in her chair. “I thought you wanted to get fucked?”
“Shhh!”
“Just saying.” She stood and I admired her dress. This time her dress was dark blue, small white flowers were on the bottom half and one on each on her shoulder straps.
“I didn’t mean it,” I told her standing up and following her out of the office. She shut the light off, locked the door, and hooked her arm in mine.
“You did and that’s okay. We’re human. We have needs.” Her voice took on a serious tone before breaking out into a laugh. I couldn’t help but laugh with her. Her laugh is infectious, and I find myself sometimes laughing along with her even if whatever it was wasn’t funny at all. “You’ll be fine. Eat dinner with him.”
“Maybe.”
“You better call me right away.”
“I will,” I promised.
I took my vest off and hung it back in my locker, at the same time grabbing my purse. I headed home with shaky hands. I wasn’t sure what to expect. It couldn’t be much though. He’d probably just take the food and walk away. This was new territory for me and in no way was it a date like Madi said. Yes, I was attracted to him, but I meant what I said. I really don’t think I need to be dating, but maybe we could be friends. I mean, we kinda lived together… well, we shared the same address, close enough.
Nothing would happen anyway, so I did my best to finish the lasagna and take it downstairs. Rudd’s truck was there when I got home and it was still there when I headed down stairs.
***
“Who are you?” I blurted out when Rudd’s door opened and it wasn’t Rudd.
I watched her pop out her hip and set a hand on it. “Who are you?” she shot right back, oozing sass.
I shifted my weight because I was still holding the pan of food. “Adalyn,” I said looking past her and into the house. “Where’s Rudd?”
“Adalyn who?” she asked and I looked back down at her. She was just a little girl; super skinny and my guess would be five or six-years-old.
“Uh.”
“Adalyn Uh?”
My mouth dropped open at her tone.
“Adalyn Anderson. Now, who are you?” I said nicely with a smile on my face.
“Your full name please.”
I huffed. “Adalyn Rose Anderson.”
“I’m Bailey Ann Davis. Archer. I mean, Bailey Ann Archer, after I get my name changed.”
Oh my. What was going on?
I looked into her green eyes. The same color as the ones that started me down at Madi’s house. Her hair was just as black as Rudd’s also. It was really long and looked thick and heavy, and was currently in one long, messy braid. She was a beautiful girl.
“How old are you?”
“How old are you, Adalyn Anderson?” She crossed her arms on her chest and seemed very inconvenienced I was here. I rested the pan on my forearm and answered, “I’m twenty-one.”
She straightens herself trying to stand a little taller, “I’m eight.”
Madi would have told me something this important. I would have seen her or heard about her. She said he didn’t date. I needed to set down the pan and leave, but was afraid she couldn’t hold this heavy of a pan, or at this rate, even let me set one foot passed the door.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Bailey, but this pan I’m holding is kind of heavy. Do you think I could come in and set it down?”
She glanced behind her shoulder into the house.
“My dad’s in the shower and technically you’re a stranger.”
I didn’t notice the shower running or I would have stayed upstairs.
“I live upstairs.”
Her eyebrows pinched together. “Upstairs?”
“If you let me come in and set this heavy pan down … I’ll tell you about upstairs.” The longer I held it the heavier it felt.
“Fine. But I’m watching you.” She pointed to her eyes, and flicked her fingers to me, then quickly repeated the motion. Sassy, sassy little girl.
She moved to the side, I walked in and waited for her to shut the door.
“Follow me, Adalyn Anderson.”
I wasn’t sure if I should leave or stay. I wanted to stay, I told her I’d tell her about my upstairs apartment, but it didn’t mean I had to. I sat the pan on the counter and turned around. Bailey was sitting at the table and I heard the chair across from her scrape against the flooring. She pushed the chair out with her foot and she now pointed to the chair across from her. I walked over and sat down. She folded her hands together on the top of the table and eyed me.
Why the hell do I feel like I’m about to be interrogated?
“What’s upstairs?”
I swallow. God, she looks so much like her dad.
“The upstairs is a separate apartment,” I began. “
My door’s in the back, your dad parks off to the side so you might not have seen it.”
“How long have you lived up there?”
“A week or two,” I said still confused. “Do you live here?”
She sat up straighter in her chair. “I do now. I have my own room and bathroom.”
“Shit.”
I saw Bailey smile at that word and I twisted my head to the left, just enough to see Rudd standing behind me. No shirt, no shoes, just a pair of low hanging blue jeans covered his body. My cheeks started to burn.
He rubbed the back of his neck and stared at me. “I forgot.”
“Uh.” I turned and looked at Bailey and she just kept smiling at him.
“Hi, Daddy.” Gone was the sass from earlier, and in its place, a sugary sweet voice little girls reserve for their daddies.
“I’ll just be going now.” I had to leave. I felt too unwelcomed and needed to call Madi. I was in over my head. “The lasagna is on the counter.” I turned and walked as fast as I could. Before I could open the door, his hand was on my arm. “You can stay.”
“I owed you the dinner.” He let go of my arm. “I hope you like.” I bolted out the door. I ran around the house to my door and flew up the stairs. I changed into my PJ’s, washed my face, pulled my hair up in a ponytail, and opened my patio doors. The sun had already set but I still enjoyed the view. I needed to be somewhat relaxed when I called Madi.
“What. The. Fuck,” Madi said after I told her what happened.
“I know.”
Madi had no idea Rudd had a daughter. That was good to know; I could cross strangling Madi off my list of things to do.
“She doesn’t like me,” I whisper.
“Everyone likes you.”
“Not her.”
“I need to find out what’s going on. How old did she say she was?”
“Eight.”
“Hmmm,” she trailed off and we were both silent, lost in our own jumbled thoughts.
“I can’t process this shit. Let’s sleep on this; we’ll chat tomorrow at work.”