Given (27 page)

Krista could accept the risks; she knew there were plenty of
them in America too. She hated leaving, but staying was just too unpredictable.
A tear trickled down her face. “I love Braxton.”

Her father glanced up at her in the rearview mirror. “I’m
sorry,” he said quietly.

“Me too,” she muttered. “I’m grateful, really I am. I know
you’re all risking your lives for me. Every state has instituted the death
penalty for what you’re doing for me, even Minnesota.”

“I sat in my cell, watching democracy die with a whimper
instead of a bang. This country represented freedom for hundreds of years, and
here we are now, escaping tyranny. I’m sorry you can’t have the man you love,
but you will find someone to care about again.”

His statement piqued her curiosity. “Did you remarry?”

“Yes, you’re sitting next to her,” he said, chuckling.

Krista glanced sharply at Mara. The woman wasn’t much older
than she was. “Huh, are you going to be an evil step-mother like in the fairy
tales?” Krista teased.

Mara rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I’ve never been a
step-mother so I have no idea, but the idea I’m a step-grandmother is really
freaking me out.”

A bubble of laughter rolled out of Krista. It felt good to
laugh. She hadn’t done it in far too long. “I guess we all get to feel freaky.
Belated congratulations to you both. How long have you been married?”

“Three years last week. I’m a lucky man.” He glanced up at
Mara in the mirror this time, grinning.

“You’ll be safe with us, Krista, I promise. We’ll protect
you both. May I?” Mara moved to put her hand on Krista’s belly. Krista nodded
and Mara rested her hand on the baby bump. A moment of feminine camaraderie
passed between them, and Krista realized how much she’d missed having a woman
in her life.

“Do you think I’ll be able to find my friend
Cina
? She fled to Canada months ago.”

“We’ll do our best to help you reconnect,” Mara replied.

For the first time since the ordeal in the hospital began,
Krista let herself feel true hope. Her heart filled and she bit her lip to keep
her tears at bay. Mara put her arm around her, and gave her a quick hug. “You
aren’t alone, Krista.”

Those words were the most perfect ones she could ask for.
“Thank you,” she whispered.

“
Aww
, you don’t have to thank me,
it’s what evil step-mothers do.”

Krista giggled until she snorted. She covered her mouth. Her
father and Mara exchange amused looks in the mirror.

“You people are making me sick with all this lovey-dovey
family reunion stuff, but for Todd I’ll deal,” Jonathan said. Krista could see he
was teasing from his expression, but his voice was serious.

“Thanks for helping me, Jonathan. What made you come with
them?” She was genuinely intrigued. He didn’t seem to be the self-sacrificing
type.

“Your dad saved my daughter from a man who was trying to
rape her. We’ve been buddies ever since. I tell you, this guy is one-of-a-kind.
I never thought I’d trust an ex-con, but hell, your dad is more of a man than
most.”

His words renewed her interest in her dad’s past again. “We
have time now. Tell me your story, Todd…
ahh
…Dad.”

He looked at her in the mirror again. She noticed sadness in
his eyes. Guilt made her look away. “Don’t worry about it, muffin,” he said, as
if he could read her mind. “This whole father-daughter bonding stuff will feel
right eventually
.” He paused
and took a deep breath. He wasn’t looking at her in the mirror anymore. “We
were young, your mother and I. Money was tight. You came along and it got
tighter, then I lost my job. I panicked and a friend of mine talked me into
making the biggest mistake of my life. I never should have participated in that
robbery. I wasn’t there for your mother when you two needed me. I sat in the
jail cell with another two years on my sentence worrying after news of what was
happening outside got out. Everything was a mess, my lawyer was a woman and she
died too. I ended up spending an extra eighteen months in there because of the
chaos. When I got out, you’d have been six. I immediately tried to find out
what happened to you and your mother. I had nothing. I stood next to a mass
grave a broken man.”

“Where am I from?” Krista asked, looking at him again.

His eyes widened. “You don’t remember?”

“No, and they never told me. I guess they didn’t want me to
have any ties to family or my past. Jared tried to help me by searching old
records, but they sealed everything about me up tight. I couldn’t even access
my own birth certificate.”

“Bastards.”
Todd growled. He huffed
out an exacerbated sigh. “I’m so sorry, muffin. Your mom and I were living in
the Wisconsin Dells area when you were born. We spent a lot of time on the
river. Those were some of the happiest days of my life. When we get home,
remind me to show you the few pictures I have. There’s a great one of you on a
little ride at one of the amusement parks. Your mom and I took you there a
month before I lost my job. It was our last family outing.”

“I’d love that. I had a scrapbook from my days at the
protection facility. I wish I could’ve brought it with me. I’d love to have
shown you the book.”

“Ask Mara about my fixation with cameras. We’ll never miss
another memory.”

Mara slapped her thigh. “Heaven help us! He’s terrible,
everything is photographed. I swear I can’t do the dishes without him taking my
picture. And he never gets my good side.”

“All your sides are your good side,” Todd said, and Krista
could see he meant it. She was glad her father had found someone to love again.
She knew how he felt. She wished she had a picture of
Brax
,
anything to hold on to her memories.

Krista turned and gave Mara a quick tight hug. She squeaked
with surprise. “Thank you,” she whispered in the other woman’s ear. They both
burst into tears. She saw Jonathan and her father exchange horrified looks,
Mara noticed too and they pulled away, trying to compose themselves.

“These rescues are always emotional, but this is just
ridiculous,” Jonathan grumbled.

“Music.
That’ll fix this road
trip,” Todd announced, and he flipped on the radio. Oldies rock from the 1990s
blared, and they all sang along to Nirvana. Krista loved classic
rock,
they just didn’t make music like that anymore.

Before long, her father pulled the SUV over. There was a car
parked on the road. Krista got out when directed, but she was confused. An
elderly man waited. He shook her father’s hand enthusiastically. “Thanks,
Stan,” Todd said as he exchanged keys with the stranger.

“You know you never have to thank me for this. I’m glad you
found her.” replied the man named Stan. He gave Krista a strange look. “You
have your mother’s eyes.”

“You knew my mother?” she asked.

The man looked at Todd, raising his eyebrow. Then he turned
back to look at Krista. “I knew her since the day she was born. I’m your
grandfather,
Kristannie
.”

She’d never imagined having a grandfather.

“I’ll come up north to see you, once everything is settled.
I’m glad your daddy kept his promise to me.” She saw the man wipe his eye
before rushing away toward the SUV without another word or another look.

They piled into the small sedan; Krista sat in the back
seat. She watched the SUV pulling away. “Why don’t I remember him?” she asked
Todd.

“He didn’t like me much when I married your mother. Our love
caused a major strain between them. He was right, I wasn’t good enough for
her,” her father said gruffly. He looked away. Mara made a disgruntled noise,
but said nothing. “They weren’t speaking when she died. I found him after I got
out. I expected you to be with your grandparents. They didn’t know your mother
had died. Your grandmother died shortly after your mother did, and with all the
tragedy, he never thought about the little girl he’d never met. When he
realized you’d survived, he tried to get you back, but the protection facility
had you and he was as shut out as I was.” Todd pulled the car onto the shoulder
of the road. “He regretted that your mother died alone and that you were lost.
He’s the one who helped me get on my feet, and when I found this underground
network of like-minded people, he supported my choice to work against the
government. We’ve developed an understanding over the years.”

She’d spent so many years feeling alone. The revelation she
had people who loved her and missed her felt strange. She didn’t know how to
feel about all this new family. “I feel better than I did in the hospital, but
I’m worried about my baby. How long will it be until we reach Winnipeg?” she
asked her father when he glanced up to look at her.

“About another hour.
I wouldn’t be
surprised to learn that the doctor was causing your issues so they’d have a
reason to change your placement. It’s well known, to most folks at least, that
they use this tactic to avoid couple bonds forming. Your doctor may have
noticed you had special feelings for your Braxton.”

Hearing his name sent a shaft of pain through her heart. The
idea that the doctor may have done something to cause her so much anxiety
filled her with white-hot rage.

They hadn’t seen any police, and she was both relieved and
worried. Everything seemed too easy. They remained silent. The radio played,
but much of the joviality had dissipated.

Suddenly, Krista heard sirens. She unhooked the seatbelt and
slid down to the car’s carpeted floorboards. Mara pulled her baseball cap lower
and touched the fake mustache, adjusting it quickly. Her father pulled over and
the police car sped past. Everyone let out audible sighs of relief.

“We’ll be going through a few towns soon. I hate to do this,
but I think you’ll need to ride in the hidden compartment in the hatch,
muffin.”

Krista hated the idea of it, and with her condition, she
feared what effect this journey was having on her baby. She and Todd got out.
The temperature was even colder than before. She reminded herself it was only
another hour or so and crawled into the gaping darkness with her father’s help.
They hadn’t brought the blankets from the SUV. Todd gave her an apologetic look
then shut the door carefully. Krista lay in the darkness as the car pulled away
from the side of the road. Her mind couldn’t help conjuring up an image of
Brax
. If things were different, she’d have him in her life,
and only him. Crushing loss weighed on her, and tears filled her eyes. A broken
sob escaped and before she realized it, she was crying harder than she’d ever
cried before.

Winnipeg, Canada. Three Years Later

Krista pushed
Addy
, Alicia Denyse,
her daughter, in the swing. Grandma Mara had traded for it recently. Krista
loved Winnipeg. The natural beauty wasn’t so different from home, but here she
could enjoy the world with relatively few restrictions. Her father hadn’t lied.
The community was amazingly protective, and any man who tried to kidnap or rape
a woman didn’t live very long, so she felt as safe here as she had in the
compound or the protection facility.

Addy
giggled. She was so
beautiful. Her dark hair was the exact same shade as her father’s.
Braxton.
Even after all this time, Krista missed him. She
couldn’t help wondering what kind of father he would have been. Her six
would’ve been good to
Addy
, and she’d probably have
had another baby already.

She’d resisted Mara’s many attempts to set her up with men.
She just wasn’t ready yet, maybe she never would be. She’d checked the email
account a few months after her flight from Minnesota and there were messages.
Hundreds of messages from Braxton, his soulful longings poured out day after
day. She still checked every single evening, but it’d been months since he’d
written. Krista never replied, not even once, out of fear. She wanted him to
know so many things, but she just didn’t know what to say or how to tell him
she hadn’t left because she didn’t love him. She missed those messages.

Her father and young stepmother were wonderful. She adored
them and so did
Addy
. She was glad she’d had the
courage to run, and knowing her daughter had a much brighter future than she’d
had as a child made her loneliness worthwhile.
Addy
was her life.

“Hello,
Kristannie
,” a deep, male
voice spoke quietly.

Krista froze, afraid to move. She feared her constant
longings had finally made her snap. It couldn’t be…
Brax
?

She turned to look in the direction the masculine voice had
originated from. A small gasp escaped her and she turned around toward her
daughter again. Momentum kept the giggling toddler moving, but Krista wasn’t
pushing her child because her hands were covering her own face. She wasn’t
willing to believe what she was seeing.
Great, now I’m going crazy and
seeing things.
Wonderful things.
She closed her
eyes and took a deep breath.
When I look back, if he’s not real he’ll be
gone
. Slowly, she turned and dropped her hands, but her eyes remained
tightly shut. Cautiously, she gathered the courage to open her eyes. As
beautiful and real as ever, Braxton Bray stood in her father’s backyard.

“
Brax
?”
She breathed the question quietly.

“She’s perfect,” he uttered, gazing with wonder at their
daughter. Then his eyes moved to Krista’s face. “I was so angry and scared. I
didn’t know if you’d gone by choice. I hated you for a little while.”

“I know. I read your messages,” she whispered, looking away.
The raw emotion on his face was too brutal and real. “How did you find me? I’m
not going back, and neither is
Addy
.”