Chapter One
"Hope dear, come over and have some lunch," I called to my three-year-old daughter. She stood up and waddled over to the picnic table on the lakeshore.
Roberta, our cook had made a grilled cheese with ketchup for her. That was her favourite meal. I watched my sweet daughter eat. Her dark brown hair fell in soft waves to her shoulders. I had it in pigtails held up with little green elastics. Her eyes were hazel, just like her fathers. She had her father's mouth, eyes and nose. She had my hair.
When I was pregnant with her I was worried that she might not me Derek's. But when she was born and I saw those beautiful hazel eyes, I knew that she was definitely Derek's child.
"Where's Daddy?" Hope asked in her sweet little voice.
"He's at work dear," I answered.
Derek and I still lived in the house I had bought with my inheritance from Michael Jamieson, my Grandfather. I had never known him but he had set up a trust fund for a substantial amount of money for all of my father Zack's children. I was the one and only. There was enough money in the trust fund for me to live off of for a lifetime and then some. Derek had gone to law school and he was now the only lawyer in the small town of Duncan. We were very happy with our life.
My former husband, Anthony lived in town with his wife, my half sister, Erin and their son Greg. They seemed happy enough to anyone looking in from the outside, but truly they didn't get along very well. Anthony was bitter towards Erin for ruining his marriage with me. He didn't think any of it was his own fault. Anthony had always been a little selfish and condescending. For this reason I felt sorry for Erin who had given up everything for Anthony. I believed that she had only done what she did to punish me for leaving her so many years ago. But now I thought she really did love Anthony. It was he who didn't return that love.
Anthony despised my husband, Derek Brooks. He thought that Derek stole me from him. That was so far from the truth. I had loved Derek since I was seventeen years old. We were soul mates.
Hope and Greg played together once in awhile. They were half cousins, after all. Other then Derek and I, Erin and Greg were Hope's only other family in Duncan. Everyone else was either dead or lived far away.
They would go to the same school next year and I suspected they would be good friends.
I took my daughter upstairs and put her in bed for her afternoon nap. She rolled over and fell asleep almost instantly. She had always been a very obedient baby. She rarely cried or whined. She slept through the night when she was only one month old.
I went downstairs and had some lunch myself. Tonight was Derek's and my wedding anniversary. We were going to go to a restaurant and then stay in a hotel. Our maid Rachel was going to watch Hope for us. Rachel was married to our butler, Wesley. They hadn't had any kids and they both adored Hope.
My half brother, Tyler also loved her to no end. He spent as much time as possible with her. He was sixteen years old and had already been in two skateboarding competitions. He won first place in one and third place in the other. Skateboarding was Tyler's passion. He practiced every day. There weren't many skaters in Duncan so Tyler went to the city on the weekends when Wesley would drive him to skate at a skate park.
He didn't have many friends at school. He just didn't have anything in common with them. He had been very shy when he first came to live here three years ago. Skateboarding had brought him out of his shell a great deal. He even had a girlfriend, Keely Macintyre who he had been friends with since he was thirteen and just started to date this year.
I was so proud of how far Tyler had come since he arrived here, a scared little boy clutching his sister's shirt. Tyler would never leave Erin's side before and now he actually refused to go other to her house when I took Hope over to see Greg.
"Skye," Rachel called to me.
I went over to see what she wanted.
"This just came for you," she said and handed me a brown envelope.
"Thank you Rachel," I said. I went into the den and ripped open the envelope. I wondered what it could be.
I gasped after reading the white letter inside.
"No," I breathed.
Fred Emerson had a bail hearing next week. Fred had been my father for fifteen years until I found out he was really my uncle. My father was his brother, Zack. Fred had been very abusive towards all of us. Anthony, Tyler, Erin and I. He had been sent to jail for kidnapping Anthony when he was only one year old. He had changed his name from Jamieson to Emerson so it would be harder to find him.
I didn't know what he would if he got out of jail. I hadn't seen him in thirteen years and I had no desire to see him.
The letter said I had to go to his bail hearing and a hearing about Tyler and who would get legal custody of him.
Was it possible that Fred could take Tyler away from me? I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let Tyler live with a monster like Fred Emerson.
I sat in the den until Derek got home an hour later.
"Derek, I need to talk to you," I said pulling him into the den.
He kissed me and put his strong arms around my waist. He always made me feel safe. But I didn't know if he could protect me from my stepfather.
I showed him the letter and his smile fell from his face.
"Don't worry Skye, no court system will give custody to a convict over us," Derek reassured me. He pushed his wavy blond hair out of his face and squeezed my hand.
"And you can get a restraining order if you are worried about him coming here," he told me.
"I can't go to the hearing Derek," I said. MY heart was beating hard. What would I do if I had to go to it? I don't know if I would be able to stand seeing that man again.
"You have to or the courts will wonder about Tyler," Derek told me softly.
I took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I can do it, as long as you are there with me,"
"I will be there for you," Derek told me.
I hugged my husband tightly.
"I can't wait until we get dinner over with tonight," I said smiling suggestively at him. He laughed and kissed me gently.
"Why should we wait until then!" he said grinning.
I fell back on the couch as he kissed my passionately. I giggled into his mouth and ran my hands through his soft hair. Just then I heard the front door open and close. Tyler was home from school.
I stood up quickly and smoothed out my clothes.
"I guess we'll just have to be patient," I told him. I was a little disappointed and I could tell he was too.
We hadn't made love in awhile because we had both been busy.
I left the den with Derek trailing behind me. "How was school Tyler?" I asked.
"It was okay," he answered. His straw coloured hair was a little long for my taste but that was how he wanted it. His gray eyes always looked sad and forlorn but since Derek and I had gotten married those eyes had gotten brighter.
I debated for a moment whether to tell Tyler about the possible custody battle. But when I saw how happy he looked, I decided against it. Tyler had always gotten the worst of the beatings from Fred. I knew it would terrify him to think that he might have to go back to him.
So I kept the secret until I absolutely had to tell him. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to do, but it was the easy way at the time. I sometimes tended to take to easy road, but that would change soon enough.
"Hope dear, come over and have some lunch," I called to my three-year-old daughter. She stood up and waddled over to the picnic table on the lakeshore.
Roberta, our cook had made a grilled cheese with ketchup for her. That was her favourite meal. I watched my sweet daughter eat. Her dark brown hair fell in soft waves to her shoulders. I had it in pigtails held up with little green elastics. Her eyes were hazel, just like her fathers. She had her father's mouth, eyes and nose. She had my hair.
When I was pregnant with her I was worried that she might not me Derek's. But when she was born and I saw those beautiful hazel eyes, I knew that she was definitely Derek's child.
"Where's Daddy?" Hope asked in her sweet little voice.
"He's at work dear," I answered.
Derek and I still lived in the house I had bought with my inheritance from Michael Jamieson, my Grandfather. I had never known him but he had set up a trust fund for a substantial amount of money for all of my father Zack's children. I was the one and only. There was enough money in the trust fund for me to live off of for a lifetime and then some. Derek had gone to law school and he was now the only lawyer in the small town of Duncan. We were very happy with our life.
My former husband, Anthony lived in town with his wife, my half sister, Erin and their son Greg. They seemed happy enough to anyone looking in from the outside, but truly they didn't get along very well. Anthony was bitter towards Erin for ruining his marriage with me. He didn't think any of it was his own fault. Anthony had always been a little selfish and condescending. For this reason I felt sorry for Erin who had given up everything for Anthony. I believed that she had only done what she did to punish me for leaving her so many years ago. But now I thought she really did love Anthony. It was he who didn't return that love.
Anthony despised my husband, Derek Brooks. He thought that Derek stole me from him. That was so far from the truth. I had loved Derek since I was seventeen years old. We were soul mates.
Hope and Greg played together once in awhile. They were half cousins, after all. Other then Derek and I, Erin and Greg were Hope's only other family in Duncan. Everyone else was either dead or lived far away.
They would go to the same school next year and I suspected they would be good friends.
I took my daughter upstairs and put her in bed for her afternoon nap. She rolled over and fell asleep almost instantly. She had always been a very obedient baby. She rarely cried or whined. She slept through the night when she was only one month old.
I went downstairs and had some lunch myself. Tonight was Derek's and my wedding anniversary. We were going to go to a restaurant and then stay in a hotel. Our maid Rachel was going to watch Hope for us. Rachel was married to our butler, Wesley. They hadn't had any kids and they both adored Hope.
My half brother, Tyler also loved her to no end. He spent as much time as possible with her. He was sixteen years old and had already been in two skateboarding competitions. He won first place in one and third place in the other. Skateboarding was Tyler's passion. He practiced every day. There weren't many skaters in Duncan so Tyler went to the city on the weekends when Wesley would drive him to skate at a skate park.
He didn't have many friends at school. He just didn't have anything in common with them. He had been very shy when he first came to live here three years ago. Skateboarding had brought him out of his shell a great deal. He even had a girlfriend, Keely Macintyre who he had been friends with since he was thirteen and just started to date this year.
I was so proud of how far Tyler had come since he arrived here, a scared little boy clutching his sister's shirt. Tyler would never leave Erin's side before and now he actually refused to go other to her house when I took Hope over to see Greg.
"Skye," Rachel called to me.
I went over to see what she wanted.
"This just came for you," she said and handed me a brown envelope.
"Thank you Rachel," I said. I went into the den and ripped open the envelope. I wondered what it could be.
I gasped after reading the white letter inside.
"No," I breathed.
Fred Emerson had a bail hearing next week. Fred had been my father for fifteen years until I found out he was really my uncle. My father was his brother, Zack. Fred had been very abusive towards all of us. Anthony, Tyler, Erin and I. He had been sent to jail for kidnapping Anthony when he was only one year old. He had changed his name from Jamieson to Emerson so it would be harder to find him.
I didn't know what he would if he got out of jail. I hadn't seen him in thirteen years and I had no desire to see him.
The letter said I had to go to his bail hearing and a hearing about Tyler and who would get legal custody of him.
Was it possible that Fred could take Tyler away from me? I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let Tyler live with a monster like Fred Emerson.
I sat in the den until Derek got home an hour later.
"Derek, I need to talk to you," I said pulling him into the den.
He kissed me and put his strong arms around my waist. He always made me feel safe. But I didn't know if he could protect me from my stepfather.
I showed him the letter and his smile fell from his face.
"Don't worry Skye, no court system will give custody to a convict over us," Derek reassured me. He pushed his wavy blond hair out of his face and squeezed my hand.
"And you can get a restraining order if you are worried about him coming here," he told me.
"I can't go to the hearing Derek," I said. MY heart was beating hard. What would I do if I had to go to it? I don't know if I would be able to stand seeing that man again.
"You have to or the courts will wonder about Tyler," Derek told me softly.
I took a deep breath and said, "Okay, I can do it, as long as you are there with me,"
"I will be there for you," Derek told me.
I hugged my husband tightly.
"I can't wait until we get dinner over with tonight," I said smiling suggestively at him. He laughed and kissed me gently.
"Why should we wait until then!" he said grinning.
I fell back on the couch as he kissed my passionately. I giggled into his mouth and ran my hands through his soft hair. Just then I heard the front door open and close. Tyler was home from school.
I stood up quickly and smoothed out my clothes.
"I guess we'll just have to be patient," I told him. I was a little disappointed and I could tell he was too.
We hadn't made love in awhile because we had both been busy.
I left the den with Derek trailing behind me. "How was school Tyler?" I asked.
"It was okay," he answered. His straw coloured hair was a little long for my taste but that was how he wanted it. His gray eyes always looked sad and forlorn but since Derek and I had gotten married those eyes had gotten brighter.
I debated for a moment whether to tell Tyler about the possible custody battle. But when I saw how happy he looked, I decided against it. Tyler had always gotten the worst of the beatings from Fred. I knew it would terrify him to think that he might have to go back to him.
So I kept the secret until I absolutely had to tell him. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to do, but it was the easy way at the time. I sometimes tended to take to easy road, but that would change soon enough.