Emma's Secret: A Novel

stairs.
    Just putting kids to bed. What’s up?
    He stood at the top of the stairs and waited for Sam to respond. Something must be wrong for her to text him this late.
    Emma’s door was directly on his left. Peter glanced in and saw her lying on the floor beside her bed, coloring. On the other side of the hall was Alex’s room. She was sitting in her bed, earphones on, swaying to a song. She glanced up and waved at him. He held his hand up, fingers splayed.
Five minutes
, he mouthed to her. She nodded before blowing him a kiss. He reached out his hand, pretending to capture the kiss in his hand and holding it to his heart.
    “Hey, Dad?” Alexis unplugged her earphones. “When can we go golfing?”
    “Soon, hon. I promise.”
    “You said that last time I asked.” A pout formed on her face. “You’re never going to take me, are you?”
    Peter shook his head. “What? Of course I am.”
    “When?”
    He wasn’t sure he liked her tone or the defiant look in her eyes.
    “You promised once school was over. You even said you’d take some afternoons off and we could go out, just you and me.”
    She was right. He did promise that.
    “Let me see what I can do to rearrange some meetings, okay?”
    She must have been trying to read the honesty in his eyes, because she didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she nodded and put the earphones back in before giving him the thumbs-up.
    Okay, then. He returned the gesture and blew her another kiss good night before walking to Hannah’s door. He knocked softly, and when she called out to him, he peeked inside.
    “Hey, I love you,” he said as he watched her fluff her pillows behind her head. The beaming smile on her face lit his heart.
    “I love you, too, Dad. It was nice to have you home tonight.”
    The honesty in her gaze hit him hard. He stepped into the room and sat on the edge of her bed. He reached for her hand and raised it to his lips for a kiss. She giggled, and it brought him back to when she was only a little girl, maybe three years old, who loved pretending she was a princess.
    “You’ll always be my little princess, you know.” She was growing up so fast.
    Her head tilted to the side as she gazed at him.
    “What are you thinking?” He gently squeezed her hand.
    She fiddled with her blanket. “Just wondering if you’re happy.” She dropped her gaze.
    Peter rubbed his chin as he thought about her remark. Was he happy?
    “Right here, right now, I’m more than happy, love. Do you know why?”
    Hannah shook her head.
    Peter leaned forward. “Because I’m with you.”
    He wasn’t prepared for her leap as she threw her arms around his neck and held on tight.
    “I love you, Daddy,” Hannah whispered in his ear. Peter stroked her hair and tried to speak through the lump in his throat. His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he ignored it.
    “I love you more, princess. I love you more.”

    Closing Hannah’s door behind him, Peter checked the message on his phone.
    I’ve given a lot of thought to what’s been happening. We need to talk.
    Peter hesitated for a moment.
This is not the time. Can’t it wait?
He waited for her response. But it was the sound of Emma’s quiet voice that forced him to replace the phone in his pocket and move forward.
    He knew what Samantha wanted to talk about, but it wasn’t a topic for tonight.
    Peter pushed any thoughts of Sam out of his mind the moment he stood at Emma’s door. He still couldn’t believe she was home. There had been so many sleepless nights when he’d find himself in Emma’s room, trying to remember her laughter. He’d almost forgotten. He shook his head. Who was he kidding? He had forgotten. And for some reason, he had a feeling Emma knew he had.
    “What are you drawing?” He sat on her bed while she still lay on the floor.
    If there was one thing he was learning about his youngest daughter, it was that she loved to draw. Megan had bought a folder last week for all the pictures she’d drawn, and every night when he came home late from work, he’d find something special from Emma on his desk. He liked to consider them her letters to him. Almost like the journal he’d kept for her while she’d been missing.
    “A picture for Mommy.”
    He leaned down to look at her picture and smiled. Megan, a woman who hated to wear dresses, was dressed in a bright-red dress with a yellow apron. Emma stood beside her holding a very large circle in her hands.
    “What’s that circle?”
    Emma looked at