Emma's Secret: A Novel

Riley stopped by the house to let them know about Dorothy. He would never forget the look on Emma’s face when Megan said, “Thank God,” to the news. How would she have heard it from Jack?
    “At the hospital, don’t you remember?”
    Emma was looking at him now in confusion. He didn’t remember this, though. When at the hospital? The only time she’d been there was at the beginning, when she was getting checked out. Shortly after…actually, it was right after Detective Riley’s visit. Those first few weeks were a blurry memory, so many appointments and meetings and interviews because of the kidnapping. He’d hated every one of them, too, and what everyone insinuated, that their daughter might have been abused. Thank God, Emma had been okay, treated like a granddaughter instead of…Peter clenched his fist at how his daughter could have been treated.
    Surely, he would remember seeing Jack. He’d remember if his daughter saw the man who took her from him. He knew he would.
    Peter shook his head. “No, honey, I don’t. When did you see him?”
    Emma leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands. “Daddy, you do remember. Papa was crying, and I gave him a hug.”
    Peter closed his eyes. He vaguely remembered the last time they had been at the hospital. A kids’ section had been set up in a sitting area off to the side. Alexis had sat at a table and was doodling on some paper while Emma curled up on a couch, Hannah by her side, and watched a cartoon on a wall-mounted television. He’d sat with Megan in the doctor’s office just across the hallway. The sitting area had been empty, though, and Megan positioned her chair so that she could watch the girls. From the very beginning, Megan refused to take her eyes off Emma.
    “Remember, Daddy? Mommy was in the restroom, and we were in the hallway?”
    At her words, the scene played out in his head. Megan went with Hannah to the restroom while he stayed with Emma and Alexis. They’d left the sitting area and were standing in the foyer of the hospital when his phone had rung. Samantha needed to clarify some contract points, and he’d briefly taken his eyes off the girls. One moment Emma had been there, and the next moment she was at the main doors standing beside an older man with a hunched back and a sluggish step. Peter remembered that walk. He also remembered the instant panic of losing Emma, and making a mental note not to let Megan know he’d lost sight of their daughter for a minute or two. But that older man couldn’t have been Jack. Peter would have known right away if it had been him.
    “Are you sure that was your Papa?”
    Emma nodded. “Uh-huh. Papa was crying. Grandma just died, he said. Because she was sad. I told Papa not to be sad, that I didn’t want him to die too.” She bit her lip and blinked.
    “And what did he say?”
    Something like a smile played over his daughter’s lips as she thought about the words. He could see the happiness build in her face, the way her eyes brightened and sparkled, the way she relaxed her fingers and kicked her legs.
    “That he loved me more than Grandma’s apple pie. And that is pretty tough to beat.” Peace settled upon his daughter, and she jumped out of the car seat. “Come on, Daddy. Let’s go.” She tugged on the door handle.
    The moment they stepped into the store, Emma stopped in her tracks. “Are all these for me?” Her eyes widened and her mouth hung open as she gazed at the racks of donuts behind the counter and the window display of cookies and pastries beneath it.
    Peter bent down and scooped Emma up in his arms. He’d forgotten she said she’d never been inside the store before. “No, silly. But you can choose one donut to eat now and six others that we can take home and share with your sisters.”
    Emma entwined her hands around his neck and squeezed tight. “I love you, Daddy,” she whispered into his ear.
    Peter tightened his hold on her. For two years, he’d ached to hear those words, words he never thought he’d hear again from his youngest daughter. It almost killed him to know Megan might have had their baby girl in her sights and that he had refused to believe it was possible. “I love you more,” he whispered back.
    They waited for an older man at the counter to grab his tray and slowly shuffle his way to the side, where he waited for his coffee. He glanced behind him and nodded his head in greeting to Emma.Emma only smiled and burrowed her head into the crook of