Thank you all for your continued support.

Chapter 12

Four Years Ago (The Day it All Fell Apart)

Anna laid alone in their bed. Her face was still wet with the tears she had cried with John. Eventually, he had gotten up and went into their bathroom to take a shower. She just laid there now, feeling numb.

She sat herself up and grabbed the robe that sat on the floor. As she brought it over her shoulders, she let out a low sigh. She didn't know how she would make it through today. Wiping away the wetness from her cheeks, she stood and went to walk over to the bench by their large window. She sat down and rested her head against the cold window, glancing down at her overrun garden. There had been a time when that was her special hobby, her pride and joy (outside of Emmy, of course). But the garden hadn't received any love in over a year. John had cut down the overgrown areas that threatened to go into the neighbor's yard when he was mowing the lawn, but that was all that it had received.

Anna then stood, knowing that she should do something about it. She remained in her robe, no shoes on her feet and walked outside.

It was a chilly October day and her nose went pink, but she didn't seem to care. Instead, she fell to her knees and began to pull the weeds from the ground, tossing them into a pile beside her. As she tugged at the earth, her body shivered against the cold.

"Anna?" John's voice asked from their sliding glass door. "What are you doing? You're going to catch a chill."

Anna ignored him. An old rose bush nicked her skin, as she pulled it roughly from the dirt, making her arm bleed. Her eyes fell to the blood, transfixed.

"Jesus, Anna," John said, now behind her, grasping at her shoulders. He guided her up and turned to face her, brushing the dirt off her robe. Then his hands grasped at her arm and he eyed the superficial cut. "We should take you inside and clean this up."

There was no protest from Anna. She allowed John to take her into their house. He sat her down at the kitchen table and then went to the sink to get a paper towel and some water. As he worked on cleaning her up, Anna just sat there.

"I think it's time, Anna," John calmly began, he went to wipe her cheeks with the wet cloth. "It's time we start over, move from here."

This perked up Anna's ears. The hair on her neck stood up, like it always did whenever he brought up the possibility of moving.

"No," she uttered. "This is Emmy's home. We can't…."

She heard John let out a loud sigh. He didn't say anything, though. He stood from his chair and walked into the living room, sitting down and turning on the television. Anna remained in her seat, breathing heavily.

"Today marks the anniversary of the tragic disappearance of Emmeline Bates. You may remember the stories: a young girl disappears while on a trip with her parents to a local pumpkin patch. Watch more to see what you can do to protect your children."

Anna stood. She clutched her robe shut and walked over toward the living room. Her eyes fell on the screen where they had a photo of Emmy. Her breath hitched in her throat. John angrily got up and turned off the television, making Emmy's face disappear.

"Those bastards," he seethed. "They use our daughter for ratings!"

Anna only inhaled sharply. She watched as John walked over to the window and opened the blinds, peeking outside.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked.

"Seeing if any of those bastards are outside ready to take pictures of us today," he angrily stated.

"We'll…we'll just stay inside today, is all," Anna tried, but John was shaking his head.

"This is why we have to leave Anna! They won't leave us alone to mourn in peace!"

"I can't leave," Anna cried.

"Do you remember what they said? How they said we were horrible parents because we turned our backs for one second!?" He yelled. Anna just started to cry. She did remember. It would start up again as the story would be reposted on the social media news sites. It had nearly killed John, who already harbored so much of the blame on his shoulders, even though it had been the both of them who had turned around.

"But if Emmy comes back…."

"She's not coming back, Anna! She's not coming back!"

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Now

They remained quiet on the ride back to the house. Being called after by a reporter took them both back to the worst time in their lives. Over the years, it had died out. Only once a year, Anna would see the reminder about drownings and her daughter being used as the warning. She had learned to ignore those postings for her own mental health. But now they would be following them again, asking them questions, not leaving them alone. There would be more judgements.

When they reached the house, Anna got out of the car and walked around to the back. It was empty. She was surprised not to find Emmy playing with Butler. But she checked on her garden. With the cold weather, it was dying, but it would come back in the spring. Over the past couple of years, she had returned to caring for the garden. It had been one of her only joys in life.

She walked into the house through the back door and saw John entering from the front. Her father was sitting on the couch, with Emmy beside him, reading her a book. Her eyes were wide, as she took the story in.

"Hello," Charlie said to his daughter, giving her a warm smile. "Did everything go well?"

"I think so," Anna replied, crossing her arms around her chest to warm herself up. "What are you two reading?"

"The Secret Garden," Charlie answered, lifting up the book to show Anna.

"Ah, you read that to me when I was around Emmy's age." Emmy glanced up, curious.

"Mary is a bit contrary," she stated. "Kind of like your friend." At that, Anna laughed.

"That's a big word," John added, stepping into the room. Anna noticed as her father's face fell slightly, realizing he was in the room.

"Grandpapa taught it to me," Emmy said proudly.

"Very good," Anna replied with a small smile. But Emmy's face fell and she glanced down, making Anna's chest restrict. Whenever she thought she was making headway with her daughter, she would inch away from her.

"Why don't we go get Butler and take him for a walk," John offered. Emmy's face brightened. She jumped up from the couch, but then turned to Charlie.

"You'll read more later, right?"

"Of course I will, Emmy. Now, go on with your father."

Emmy bounced off in the direction of John. As she did, Charlie made a face and rolled his eyes. Anna immediately picked up on it. She went to sit next to her father and placed her hand on his knee. His hand came over hers and gave it a loving squeeze. When John and Emmy were gone and out of earshot, Anna turned to face her father.

"You need to be kinder to John," she began. Her father knitted his brows.

"I am civil with him," he stated. "I haven't been ugly to him since he's arrived."

"But you are visibly unhappy when he's in the same room as you," Anna said. "Emmy can pick up on that."

"I'll try better to mask my feelings," Charlie answered, begrudgingly. "But…"

"Dad, there's a lot you don't know about when John left."

"He left you when you were at your lowest. I know all I need to know," Charlie cut in. "We were left to pick up the pieces. If Mary hadn't shown up at your house that day…" His words faded, his eyes glazing over with the awful memory and fear that had filled him.

"We were both so incredibly unhappy. We had lost our hearts, our everything. For a year, John had tried everything to keep me from fading away. We fought constantly. He was drowning. He had lost his daughter and was losing his wife. He couldn't survive here anymore. It was killing him."

"But…"

"I pushed him away," Anna said, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Everyone expected him to be the strong one. It wasn't fair."

"But Anna…."

"I refused to let Mary call him that day. I didn't want her to call you, either. I had to decide to change. It was no one else's fault, but my own."

Anna met her father's eyes. He inhaled sharply, but nodded.

"I'll be kinder to him, fairer."

"That's all I ask," Anna replied, before bending forward and hugging her father. "I love you, Dad."

"Oh, I love you so much, Anna."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

John and Emmy turned down the path with Butler. The dog was full of energy and kept tugging Emmy slightly, so John had to change the leash so that he could hold on to it, as well. The last thing they needed was Butler pulling Emmy out into the street.

Walking along the path, Emmy chattered away about the new book her grandpapa was reading to her. He was familiar with the story, but it brought him joy to hear how much his daughter enjoyed it.

"Emmeline Bates! Is that you!?" A voice called from across the street. John jerked his head to the side and saw a reporter rushing toward them, lifting a camera to her face. He stepped in front of his daughter and narrowed his lips into a thin line. "May I get a statement?"

"Get away from my daughter," John growled, his voice low and threatening. The woman's face faltered for a moment, but she didn't back down.

"Emmeline Bates, what is it like being back home? Do you like your parents? Do you miss where you were?"

John turned, bending over to lift Emmy into his arms and then he gently tugged at Butler's collar to get him to follow them down a different path. He walked into a neighbor's yard, cutting through the back, so that the reporter wouldn't follow them. Emmy sat up slightly in his arms, confused.

"Why was that lady asking so many questions?"

"Because she doesn't respect our privacy," he informed her. "We ignore people like that, Emmy."

"You seem angry," Emmy observed. John paused his steps, his face softening and he met his daughter's eyes.

"I'm angry at her for being rude, but I am not angry with you, never you." Emmy smiled.

"I know!" She stated, giggling. John let out a relieved breath, glad he hadn't frightened his daughter. Then they continued to make their way back to the house.

As they stepped inside, John made sure Butler was in and then closed the door, locking it and checking through the blinds to see if anyone else had followed them home.

"What's going on?" Anna asked.

"Daddy told off a lady for following us!" Emmy said to her, still giggling. John's heart skipped a beat. She called him daddy. He gave Emmy a smile and shifted her in his arms, so that he didn't drop her.

"Oh did he?" Anna questioned, her voice tight. He wasn't looking at her, so he couldn't tell how she felt about her saying daddy. He was sure it was a mixture of excitement of her connecting with him and disappointment that she still hadn't said mum. "What happened?"

John turned toward Anna.

"A reporter ambushed us on our walk," John explained with a loud sigh. "I don't know how we'll handle this. It was different when it was just us, but now they are trying to talk to Emmy."

Anna's face darkened. She wasn't happy about it either.

"What if you went to our beach house for a little while? Give the reporters some time to die down," Elsie suggested from the living room. John glanced over Anna's shoulder to see her mother, who must have come upstairs after he left.

"Mum, I'm not sure…" Anna began, but Elsie shook her head and walked toward the both of them.

"We don't mind. It doesn't have any rental bookings over the next few weeks. You could go and stay."

"But Emmy needs to start school and…." Anna disagreed.

"You could homeschool her for a little while. You were a teacher."

"Perhaps…"

"We'll think about it," John interrupted. "That's a very kind offer."

"You'd come with us, right?" Anna asked her mother. John could see the wheels turning in her head, the two of them without her parents as a buffer alone in their beach house.

"Oh no, love. We have work to do at the library, but you can take Butler with you."

"Yay!" Emmy clapped her hands. "I've never been to a beach before."

"Well, it'll be cold," John informed her. "But we could still make the best of it." He looked to Anna. "What do you say?"

She shifted slightly, hiding her emotions on her face. Her mother gave her an encouraging nod and she sighed.

"Yeah, it might be nice to get away where no one knows us for a little bit."

To be continued...

Off to the beach they go. How will John and Anna do alone without her parents as a buffer? More soon!