As she pulled in the driveway, her eyes fell upon her home, the place she had been a wife, loving step-mother, friend, and organizer who had the strong capacity to maintain that Southern charm. It was the place she wanted to spend the rest of her life at, where she could wake up each morning and look out the window at the beautiful horses scattered throughout the land they owned and watch over things. Placing the car in park, she turned off the ignition and sat for a moment with her hands folded in her lap, contemplating whether or not she should open the manilla envelope that was sitting in the passenger seat beside her. She had received it earlier that day from her ex-husband, a man she swore multiple times she would never lay eyes on again after their divorce had been finalized. However, with the unpredictability of life, she found herself forced into going to the poor excuse for a man for the help that she knew only he would be able to give her. 'It's for my family.' is what kept going through her mind as she came face to face with Harris Ryland, but Ann could feel it draining the closer she got to him. The man had hurt her so badly in the past, both emotionally and physically, and she knew she would never fully be able to get over all of the things that he had put her through over the years. But Ann was headstrong, and she would go up against anyone who was trying to hurt her family and do anything to make sure that they were protected. It also helped knowing how to use almost every gun ever made, but she mostly preferred shotguns. Her fingers traced lightly over the smooth paper, the tips bumping against the metal clasp that held the opening flap down, her heart dropping down into her stomach. Was he lying to her just so he could get out of the hold she had on him? Blackmail was one thing, but when you messed with a mother's child, that was something on a whole other level. That was her child. Her baby.
Looking towards the house, she silently prayed Bobby had not noticed she was there yet. The last thing she wanted him to do was come out and find her like this. Taking in a sharp inhale, she brought the envelope over into her lap and opened it slowly, as if it were fragile and could crumble in her hands at any given moment, and gasped as she saw the picture fall out. She felt the manilla colored holder fall from her hands into her lap as she picked up the picture and let her eyes fixate upon it. Nothing was one hundred percent, but a mother's intuition was almost always right. The blonde was the spitting image of her when she was younger. There was such an obvious mixture of both her features and Harris'. Tears began to sting at her eyes as she traced over every feature she could from the photograph of the girl standing next to her horse after receiving an award. That was her daughter, it had to be. As her eyes fell shut, flashbacks of the horrible, life changing day flooded her mind. The baby had been born just a few months earlier, and Ann was having the time of her life being a mother. After a short encounter with getting addicted with tranquilizers to deal with the depression that came after labor, she was clean. She was finally getting her life back together, not only for herself but also her child. Having the baby was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She had so much love for this tiny human being that she never knew she could obtain. She was this child's protector, provider, nurturer, everything and anything. She wanted to be the best parent possible, and she had planned on doing everything to make sure she could achieve that, no matter what. As she pushed the elegant stroller around the grounds that carried the sleeping baby, who was wrapped up in pink blankets with a adorable knitted hat with a flower that she had made while carrying her daughter, she said hello to all the people she knew and made small talk. She had been walking around the state fair for hours it seemed and was in desperate need of something to quench her thirst. As she trekked her way over to the concession stand, she could hear the little girl begin to stir, obviously not happy to still be out in the hot, bright sun. Sighing, she sat down on a bench near her destination and picked the baby up, holding her close as she pressed soft kisses against her forehead, "Emma..." She whispered out as she bounced her a bit, her fingers rubbing up and down against her back.
"It's okay, Darlin'..." Her small words of reassurance were obviously not working, seeing as how the baby was continuing to cry more and more with each bounce. Making random baby noises as she pressed more kisses upon the rosy red cheek, she continued to cradle her, "Why you cryin', huh?" Her accent drew, "Momma's here, there is nothing wrong, precious." Her eyes glanced over the baby, making sure there really was nothing wrong, "Oh, you're so sleepy." She whispered, getting the goo out of her eyes as she pressed another kiss to her forehead. Patting her back, she continued to hold her until the baby had managed to fall back asleep and smiled to herself as she slowly and cautiously placed Emma back in her stroller. Digging around her designer purse, she pulled out some loose cash and made her way over to the concession stand, parking the stroller right beside her. After ordering her favorite diet soda, she began to make out perfect change as she waited for the worker to bring her cup over. Thanking him once he did, she paid the man and stuck the straw in the lid and took a sip of the liquid, letting it run down her dry throat. And as she turned around, she had never felt so much pain as she did in that moment. Her child was gone. Her precious little baby was suddenly nowhere in sight. Ann's eyes hastily scanned and scanned the entire area, while she screamed at the top of her lungs for her missing child.
Ann rubbed at her throat, still perfectly remembering that day twenty-two years ago like it was only yesterday. She could hardly speak for the next few days because she had screamed so much, and when the memories began to become too overwhelming for her, she began to weep. Still sitting inside of the car, she held the picture close to her chest, right over her broken heart, and laid her head on the steering wheel, gasping for air. Her daughter was still alive. She could feel it in her heart, and she didn't think Harris would lie to her about something so serious. Taking in a deep breath after calming herself down, she looked over the picture once more and smiled brightly. Her sweet girl was alive, and Ann was going to stop at nothing to find her and let her know how much she loved her. Now all she had to do was tell Bobby.