Her gaze took in the condition of his wet suit, and her face went pale. “You have to be careful, Daddy. I only have you and Gram and Grandpa.”
“And God,” he reminded her. “He was with me today like he always is. I don’t like you to worry.”
Her green eyes clouded. “God wasn’t with Mommy.”
“He was, honey. He was right there with her and took her in his arms.”
This was the first time she’d voiced the questions he’d seen in her eyes lately. How did he explain the unexplainable? Joe didn’t even understand why God had taken Julie, so how did he tell Hailey?
* * *
Had she even eaten today? Judging from the empty feel in her stomach, Torie didn’t think she’d put anything in it since breakfast with her dad that morning, and it was nearly seven. Thankfully, she hadn’t run into Matthew all day either. Of course she’d been holed up in her office all day.
She stretched out the kinks in her back and stood. It was past time to figure out where she was sleeping. For all her bravado with Joe last night, the thought of spending the night alone in her cottage made her chest squeeze. So that idea was clearly out. She supposed she’d have to beg a storeroom from her aunt. The suite was still off-limits until the police were done and it had been cleaned.
The police had taken the recordings from the security cameras all over the hotel before she had a chance to review them, so she still had no idea who had been in her hotel room. Being in the dark like this didn’t bring much assurance of her safety. Was this how Lisbeth had felt as things closed in on her? According to her journal, she had been aware she was in danger.
The journal.
Those missing pages gnawed at her. Where could her friend have hidden them? Or maybe someone else had taken them.
The phone on her desk rang, and she sighed before answering it. “IT, Torie here.”
“There’s a gentleman here to see you, Torie. Joe Abbott.”
Her pulse gave a kick at his name. “I’ll be right there.”
She replaced the phone and grabbed her purse, then locked the door behind her. Kyle hadn’t been around at all today so that had been a huge blessing.
Joe was waiting with Hailey in comfortable armchairs in front of the fireplace. He rose when he saw her. “I hope you don’t mind me stopping in here.”
“Why didn’t you text me or call?”
Hailey jumped up and came to Torie’s side. “Daddy’s boat sank today. It took his phone down with it.”
“Sank? What happened?”
He put his finger to his lips. “Later. Hailey is spending the night with my parents. They should be here any minute, and we can grab some dinner. Where do you want to go?”
She smiled. “Tortuga Jack’s.”
He groaned. “You’re as bad as Hailey. I need to stop by the cellular store and get a new phone.”
Torie slipped her arm around the little girl. “I looked at their menu today to see what I needed to try next.”
“I’m doomed,” Joe said in a tragic voice. “Two women with insatiable appetites for fish tacos.”
Hailey giggled. “You’re funny, Daddy.”
The brooding mood Torie had been in vanished, and she felt better than she had since finding Bella’s body. While everything seemed murky right now, she was going to find her way through this. She had friends here already—good friends. People she could count on when things got hard. Joe wasn’t the kind to cut and run when faced with trouble.
She held Hailey’s hand as they walked toward the seating area to wait on her grandparents. The little girl was prattling on about the Jurassic World exhibit in Jacksonville the next day, and Joe promised he’d take her in the afternoon following the dive excursion.
He nudged Torie. “You want to go too?”
“Where?”
“Jurassic World after diving tomorrow morning.”
“Sure.”
A TV was airing the evening news, and she stared at the headline of a boat explosion. Was that Joe’s boat in the picture?
Hailey pulled her hand from Torie’s. “Daddy, that’s your boat, isn’t it? Did it blow up?”
Joe’s smile faded. “I don’t want you to worry, Peanut, but yes.”
“You didn’t tell me! You just said it sank. Did someone try to hurt you?”
His gaze met Torie’s before he squatted in front of Hailey and cupped her face in his hands. “We don’t know what happened yet. The Navy is investigating. You know I work with a lot of very important defense ships and submarines. No one was trying to hurt us deliberately, but someone could want to get to one of the subs or a Trident missile.”
Hailey blinked back tears. “I don’t want you to work with Simon anymore. You need to stay home with me where it’s safe.”
“Life isn’t always safe, Hailey. It’s an adventure God gives us, and we never know exactly what will happen. But what do we know for sure?”
“That God is in control,” she parroted. “But I don’t want him to be in control! I don’t want him to let bad things happen like he did with Mommy. I want to be safe, and he’s not always safe.”
“That’s because he can see things we can’t. What do we do when we’re afraid?”
“We trust God.” She yanked her face away from his hands and folded her arms over her chest. “But I don’t trust him! I can’t. Not when he let Mommy die.”
His helpless gaze met Torie’s, and she wanted to throw her hands up and agree with Hailey, but she forced a smile. “I’ll spare you the Latin since it’s long, but one of my favorite St. Augustine quotes is, ‘God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist.’”
“I don’t know what that means,” Hailey said.
“It’s hard to understand even for adults. But evil things happen to all of us, honey. Hard things, bad things. We don’t understand, and a lot of the time, we can’t understand because we aren’t God. When those times come—and they come to everyone—all we can do is trust that God loves us.”
Hailey absorbed the words. “Okay.”
That was it—okay? Oh to be like a child and be able to accept. Torie wasn’t good at it. Maybe she never would be.
Hailey waved wildly toward a blonde entering the hotel. “Grammy!” She darted off to throw her arms around the woman.
Joe’s mother’s smile faltered as she came toward them. “Well, hello.” Her gaze took in her son. “I heard the news. You’re okay?”
He nodded. “I’m fine, Mom. Hailey can’t wait for the sleepover.”
“Your dad is parked outside.” Her quizzical look landed back on Torie, and she held out her hand. “I’m Joe’s mom, Carol.”
Torie took her hand. “Torie Berg. I work here at the hotel, and your son has been kind enough to befriend me.”
The older woman’s smile widened. “Nice to meet you, Torie. I hope we see more of you.” She released Torie’s hand, then turned her granddaughter toward the door. “Let’s go, kiddo. See you tomorrow, Joe. I’ll have her back around noon.”
Joe grinned as his mother walked away. “See that spring in her step? She’s been nagging me to date for over a year.”