“Did you stay together for my sake?” Emma asked. “If you did, neither of you did a very good job.”
“I know that, too.” Wyatt nodded. “I didn’t know how to be a father, especially with Victoria griping about everything I did, so I gave up too easily and let her have her way. You know how she is.”
“Oh, yeah, I do.” She sighed and was beginning to feel comfortable enough to pick up a cookie and take a bite. “Think she’ll ever change?”
“Not really. She’d have to want to change, and in her eyes, she’s perfect the way she is. I wish her the best, but I can’t spend the rest of my life with her, so Betsy and I are going to Belize to live. We’ve signed all the divorce papers, and an agreement has been reached. Your mother isn’t happy with it, but I am.” Wyatt laid a folder on Emma’s lap.
Betsy? The name seemed to come out of thin air. Why hadn’t she seen his dissatisfaction before now?
“These are your bank accounts with a pad of checks and a debit card. I set it all up in a bank in Dallas, but you can change it to one in this area if you want.”
“How . . . what . . . ,” Emma stammered. “Mother said . . .”
“I know what she told you, but the only way I would agree to let her have my part of the house was if she gave you back what was rightfully yours. She has been throwing a fit about Sophie hiring a lawyer, and this gives her a way out that makes her feel like it’s not her fault. She’s giving you the money to get me out of her life. She can blow the money from the sale of the company if she wants, but we’ve caused you enough pain without leaving you penniless, and for that I’m truly sorry. I should have been a better father,” Wyatt said.
“Thank you.” Emma ran a finger over the folder. Now she was financially independent. That was one step in the right direction.
“Do you want to know about Betsy?” The smile on his face when he said her name spoke volumes.
“I would think that she’s your new friend or girlfriend, right?”
Wyatt nodded. “She’s a waitress at the café where I go for coffee every morning. That’s where I met her, and we fell in love. I’ve invested my paycheck the past thirty years, and we are retiring to Belize because I don’t want to live anywhere near Victoria. I’m sorry if that disappoints you. God knows that you deserve so much more than I’ve ever given you. Maybe someday you’ll come and visit me, especially if you have children. I’d like to think maybe Betsy and I would be better grandparents than I was a father.”
“She doesn’t have children?” Emma asked.
“She had a miscarriage when she was just a teenager, and there were complications,” Wyatt answered.
“Did Mother tell you about”—she stumbled over the words—“the rape?”
Wyatt’s brow furrowed into deep wrinkles. “What rape?”
Emma took a deep breath. If she could tell Josh such a private thing about herself, then she could tell her father. “I buried the memory of it for a long time, but I’m getting better every day out here in this wilderness.” She went on to tell him the story, ending with how Sophie had rescued her.
“My God!” Wyatt tucked his chin down to his chest. “I’m so, so sorry that I made things so hard that you couldn’t trust me with this. When did you tell Victoria?”
“After I remembered what had happened and Sophie helped me sort through some of it. She asked me what I did to cause it,” Emma answered. “But I’m past what Mother thinks, and to tell the truth, part of me knew she’d say exactly what she did. The only thing I regret right now is that I didn’t face the whole situation sooner. I wanted her to love me like Rebel loves Sophie so badly that . . . well, you know.” She shrugged.
Wyatt raised his head and wiped at his wet cheeks.
Emma left her chair and knelt in front of him. “Don’t cry, Daddy. It happened. I’m learning to deal with the problems Mother caused right along with that. I’ve got a wonderful therapist who is helping me so much.”
Wyatt wrapped her up in his arms. “You have to forgive her, Emma. Not for her sake. She doesn’t deserve it. But for your sake, so that you don’t become bitter like she is. I told her for years that she wasn’t doing the right thing by you, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“Maybe someday.” Emma moved out of his embrace and got to her feet. The happiness in her heart had nothing to do with the bank accounts and everything to do with the fact that at least one of her parents could be a part of her life.
“I should be going now. A word of advice, even though I don’t have the right to give it.” Wyatt stood up. “If you ever marry, make sure it’s for love. If it’s not, then you’ll be miserable.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for coming to see me, and for what you’ve done about my finances,” Emma said. “I think I’m ready to manage my own life now.”
“I can see that, and if you ever need anything—and I mean anything at all—will you call me?” Wyatt took a step off the porch.
Emma stood up. “I’ll text you right now so you have my number. Will you keep in touch with me?”
“I’d love to do that,” Wyatt said as he looked down at the text on his phone. “Are you never going back to Dallas?”
“Not right now, Daddy. My plans at this time are to live right here in this trailer park.”
“Good for you. I haven’t seen you this happy in years. Not since you were a little girl and Sophie used to come to the house.”
“I’d love to hear that you and Betsy made it all right to Belize,” Emma said.
Could it be that she and her father might build a father-daughter relationship in the future? She hoped so. Having a parent in her life, and maybe someday a grandfather for her children, would be nice.
“I’ll do that. I think you’ve got a good life here with these people.” He turned around, stepped back up on the porch, and gave her another hug. “Take care of yourself.”
“I will,” Emma promised.
Wyatt’s smile was bittersweet, as if he wanted to say more, and the words wouldn’t come. “This isn’t goodbye.”
“No, it’s not,” Emma agreed. “And thanks again for standing up for me where my money is concerned.”
He just waved over his shoulder as he hurried away. In the blink of an eye, Josh was sitting beside her in the other chair. “Are you okay? We weren’t sure what was going on. He said goodbye to everyone real proper like and then got in his car and left. Can I do something for you? Do you need anything? I’m here.” His words tumbled out like a gush of water.
“I’m fine.” Emma reached over and took his hand in hers. “And for the first time in my life, I really mean that I’m fine. I couldn’t be better than I am right now. I’m home. You are right here beside me. Sophie has been rescued. The sun is shining, and my life is finally good.”
“So, you had a good visit with your father?” Josh asked.
“I really did, and there’s hope for something better between us in the future. Speaking of the immediate future, as in tonight. Are Teddy and Sophie making up?”