Loving Her (28 page)

I rushed into the bedroom and started throwing on clothes. Once I had enough layers, we headed out to the Gator. “What the hell is going on? Where would she go?”

I didn’t expect Miranda, who was clearly frantic, to have answers. “I don’t know.” She started crying.

“Okay, we need to stay calm until we find her. I’m sure she’s not far. It’s too dark out here.”

“She’s so upset Ty. We should have known this would happen. We should have paid more attention.”

We started yelling her name as soon as we pulled away from the house. “Where’s Colt?”

“He and Noah are searching the barns. We need to stick to the woods and surrounding areas.” She was determined and suddenly nothing else mattered except our need to find our daughter.

With all other issues aside, her life could be in danger. We’d been in this type of situation once before and it didn’t come without injury.

We continued yelling her name out into the dark night.

Nothing.

No crying or screaming, just sounds of bugs and wildlife.

“Jesus Christ. Where would she go, Ty?”

I tried to stop worrying for a second and think about where Iz would go if she was upset. I thought about all the spots that we’d played hiding-go-seek and every place that someone her size would feel safe. Since my arms would have sufficed before all this drama happened, I stopped the Gator and realized one place that nobody had checked.

“I know where she’s at.”

“Where?” she asked.

“Hang on, I’ll show you.” The truth was, I wasn’t sure she would be there, but if I had to take a guess, and put myself in her shoes, I knew where I would go.

We pulled back up at the guest house and I knew my wife was confused. She stayed seated as I walked over to my truck. “Ty, were wastin’ time.”

I peeked in the window of the passenger side and saw Izzy sprawled across the seat. She had her ear buds in her ear, which would explain why she hadn’t heard Miranda pull up or us calling her.

Miranda started to run up to the truck, but I motioned for her to stop. I
opened the door slowly and startled her when I touched her leg. She pulled out the ear buds and looked at me with tear filled eyes. “You said you were goin’ to leave me.”

I stood there, speechless that I’d been able to find her. It was like I was meant to be the one that was able to
,out of everyone that was looking. “I thought that’s what you wanted?”

She shook her head. “It’s not. I was coming here to hide and saw your truck. I figured you wouldn’t be able to leave without me if I stayed in it.”

“Sweetie, I wasn’t leaving until the morning.”

“I’m sorry for everything I said to you. I’m sorry for being a bad daughter.”

I pulled her into my arms and held her tightly. “You’ve never been a bad daughter, Iz. You were just upset. We should have told you the truth from the beginning. It’s our fault.”

She pulled away and looked right into my eyes. Her little bottom lip was quivering. “I wish I didn’t know. I wish I never heard about it.”

“He can’t ever hurt you. None of those people can. I made sure of it. You’re safe and you always will be.”

She cried harder and fell into my arms. “I was so scared. I just kept runnin’. I wanted to go home.” I picked her up and carried her into the house, where I continued holding her even after I’d sat down.

Miranda sat down beside me and Izzy finally realized that she was there with us. She smiled at her mother, while keeping her head against my chest. Honestly, I felt like if I let go of her, for even a second, I’d lose her again. “I love you so much, Iz.”

“I love you, too Daddy.”

That was it, the moment of impact where everything else that had gone on was simply forgotten about. Izzy may have been lost, confused and wanting to know the truth, but what she learned only proved to her that I was the only father she’d ever want or need. “Can you say that again?”

She laughed and looked up at me. “I said I love you, too.”

“The other part.”

“Daddy.”

I finally exhaled, hearing that beautiful word coming out of her mouth. “Are you sure you’re okay with that?” Miranda was in full-blown tears next to me.

“I’m eleven, not a baby
. I know you’re my dad and I know I’m a Mitchell.”

“You always will be, Iz.”

We cuddled up together on the couch until Colt came barging in. He saw the three of us there and left without saying anything. I think he knew that whatever had happened had brought us back to where we needed to be.

Life got back to normal after tha
t. After we finally got Izzy tucked into bed, we retreated to the master bedroom and plopped down on the mattress. I couldn’t remember the last time where my heart felt full.

Miranda climbed on top of my back and started massaging it. “It’s been a long day.”

“It’s been a long two months.”

She kept rubbing on my shoulders. “I bet your glad it’s over.”

“I’m speechless. For a while there, I thought she’d disowned me. You don’t know what it meant to find her in that truck, waiting for me. I still can’t believe it.”

“I still don’t know how you knew. That’s the thing with the two of you. You share somethin’ that nobody could ever explain. Even when you both are at your worst, it’s always been there.”

“Maybe.” There was something there between me and Iz. I didn’t know if it was fate, God, or just the fact that I’d raised her, but it was something.

I turned over and flipped Miranda on my lap. “I’m glad I came. Being here and seein’ the two of you reconnect like that was beautiful. It’s all I ever wanted.”

“Me too.”

“I guess Van really messed with her head.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I was in the room with them. It was ugly. Izzy called her liar and walked out. I really thought it made things worse.”

A voice in the doorway scared us both. We turned to find Izzy there, in her nightgown. “When Aunt Van said that stuff I went upstairs and looked it up. I know you told me not to, but it was all there, on the front page of a paper and everything. It talked about him bein’ in jail and what he did to her and her unborn child. All I had to do was search both of their names.”

We motioned for her to join us on the bed and Miranda scooted her body to the other side of me. We shuffled until Iz was between us. “You know you weren’t supposed to do that anymore.”

She shrugged again.
“I had to know the truth. Then when I read it, I felt embarrassed.” She looked really sad for a second. “Then I got sad because I knew I made dad leave. I made everybody hate me.”

“Nobody hates you,” I reminded her.

“It felt like they did. That’s why I ran. I wanted to go where I couldn’t hurt anyone else. I just wanted to be alone.”

“Then you found me,” I added.

She smiled. “When I saw your truck, I knew you couldn’t leave me if I was in there waitin’.”

We both hugged our daughter. “We never wanted you to come here. We just wanted you to be at home where you belong.”

She held both of our hands, and as much as I enjoyed cuddling with my wife, I think neither of us would have traded her sleeping between us.

The three of us drove home the next morning, after Izzy apologized to her aunt and uncle for scaring them. I think Noah was the only one upset that she wasn’t coming to stay with them.

I didn’t know about Miranda, but I couldn’t stop smiling. She cuddled next to me the whole way home, letting me sing the wrong words to all of her favorite songs.

Maybe we should have just given her space. Maybe she needed to hear everything.

We may not ever know exactly what brought her back to me, but she was there and I wasn’t going to ever let her go again.

Everything got back to normal once we arrived in North Carolina. Izzy went to school as if nothing had ever happened. Her brothers welcomed her home by leaving fecal matter on their shared toilet seat and hitting her with a flying video game paddle.

After a black-eye and a huge welcome home dinner from her Mimi, we could tell that things were finally going to settle down. It had been so long since I was able to tuck her in at night. I almost hesitated before walking into her room.

She was sitting there waiting for me in her bed when I walked in. I tucked the covers around her and kissed her on the cheek. “You know, if you think you’re too old for this, I’ll be okay.”

She laughed. “As long as you don’t tell my friends, you can still do it.”

We pinky promised.

When I turned off her light and started walking out, I heard one last thing that warmed my heart. “Dad, I love you.”

I leaned against the doorframe, smiling. “Love you, too Iz.

Miranda was on the couch, waiting for a blow by blow of how it had went. I told her about our pinky promise and what Iz had said to me. She was so happy to hear it, after so much drama that kept us apart. She stood up and took my hand. “I know what you need, Mr. Mitchell.”

“Oh really? I raised my brow and seemed interested. “What are you offering?”

“How about we get naked and get a nice hot bath, that may or may not lead to something more in the bed tonight.”

I couldn’t help myself. “Anal sex?”

She hit me up side the head. “Seriously?” Then she laughed. “I always know things are good with you when you start talkin’ about bangin’ me in the butt. Some things will never change.”

I followed after her. “Baby, it’s all in fun.”

She turned and took off her top as we entered into the bathroom. “You let me do it to you first, and then I’ll let you do it to me.”

I shook my head, after considering it for less than two seconds. “Okay, missionary it is.”

Epilogue

Isabella

6 1/2 years later

I looked around at the crowd of people, letting my eyes coast the audience until I found them. Getting tickets for everyone would have been hard, had I not been the valedictorian of my graduating class.

There they were, sitting right in the middle, where I should have known they’d be. My mother looked so proud and having all of my aunts and uncles there was pretty amazing too. I gave them a quick wave before adjusting the microphone.

My hands were shaking as I finally spotted the one person who could calm my heart and make everything disappear. Just before taking the stage, he’d pulled me to the side and told me to picture everyone in the audience, except for him, naked. It was hard to look out and not laugh, because obviously it was all I could think about.

“Thank you all for coming today. I feel truly
blessed to be here, speaking on behalf of this year’s graduating class. I’ve been advised by my peers to keep this short and sweet, so here it goes.” I cleared my throat and then continued.

“As a child, I always enjoyed school and making new friends. I strived to do my best to make my family and myself proud. For most of my life, I’ve considered myself pretty adventurous. Without faith and family, most of us wouldn’t be here today.
After twelve years, maybe more for others, we’ve finally come to the end where some of us will go onto college and some find jobs immediately. From what I’ve been told, when we leave this celebration today, we’re officially adults. I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve been assuming I was an adult since I was a little girl. Just ask my family, who had to deal with me.”

The crowd began to laugh and I paused, looking over at my dad, who was standing to the side giving me a thumbs up. I smiled and turned my attention back to the crowd.

“I’ve been thinking about what to say today, contemplating the funny over the serious. The last thing I want to do is stand here and bore you all to death, before you get to experience what’s out there waiting for each and every one of you. I suppose I’m expected to offer advice, but your paths are up to each of you to decide.”

I looked over at my dad, who put down the camera and wondered what I was stalling for. I folded the piece of paper and
decided to wing it.

“Before I came out here today to give this speech, my dad pulled me to the side and told me to picture all of you naked, so excuse me for the moment of silence.”

More people began to laugh and my dad winked.

“
Look, whether you leave here today and get knocked up, or knock someone up, whether you go to college, or rob a liquor store, it’s your decisions that will guide you to who you become. Make the right choices the first time and if you don’t, learn from your mistakes. Follow your heart and be true to yourself. You’ve already accomplished something great by receiving your diploma today. Keep up the good work and good luck.”

Before I could even finish, the crowd of students began flipping their caps into the air, celebrating that high school was officially over.

I left the stage heading over to the person closest to me. My dad put his camera in his pocket and pulled me into his arms. “That wasn’t the speech you’ve been practicing for the past month.”