Second Chance by Rachel Hanna Page B

started planning. Lucy had plenty of private investigator contacts as well as officials in law enforcement. She felt sure she could get them on the case immediately and track Tina down.
     
    We ended our call, and I went back in the house. Tanner was busy preparing dinner, so I called Denise to tell her I was staying there. At home. With Tanner.
     
    All evening, we talked about what had happened, about Courtney, about Emmy. We shared our hearts, our hurts and our plans for the future. I never felt so whole. We spent the night wrapped in each other’s arms. We didn’t make love that night. I wasn’t ready to feel that intensity yet. I just wanted his strong arms around me.
     
    At 8am the next morning, my cell rang. My heart sank with the memory of my phone ringing that morning at 2am when Courtney died. Tanner didn’t stir. He was exhausted. I slipped out of the room to answer it.
     
    “Hello?”
     
    “Shannon? It’s Lucy…” she was whispering.
     
    “Lucy? What’s wrong?”
     
    “They found her, Shannon. They found her!” Lucy yelled into the phone just about busting my eardrum.
     
    “Where?” I asked trying to contain myself.
     
    “Well, it seems Miss Tina was just about to go over the border into Mexico with Emmy. They caught her in Texas around 5am this morning. She’s in the process of being booked into jail. Emmy is with the investigators being de-briefed,” Lucy said.
     
    “Emmy is okay, right?”
     
    “From what I can gather, she is fine. And she is coming back to her Daddy!” Lucy said giddy with her involvement in the situation.
     
    “Oh, my God… When? Can they bring her here to the farm?” I asked looking behind me to make sure that Tanner wasn’t hearing this conversation.
     
    “Yes, I have instructed them to bring her home to the farm,” Lucy said.
     
    “I can’t believe this happened so fast…” I said.
     
    “I know. It just all lined up quickly when they figured out where she was. In these cases, you have to strike while the iron is hot, as they say. Well, gotta get back to work. Tanner should see Emmy sometime today!”
     
    All day long, I kept the secret that Emmy was coming home. I wanted to see Tanner’s face. Watch him hug her. Watch him hold her and love her like a Daddy should.
     
    Tanner worked with the horses for much of the day while I went through old photos, made some phone calls and tried to pass the time. I didn’t want him to see my anxiety. I was excited and nervous all at the same time. The gift I was about to give him was life-changing. Even if I couldn’t hold my Courtney again, I could give him this gift of holding his little blond haired daughter.
     
    I went outside to see what Tanner was doing. He was feeding the horses when I heard the car pull up. He couldn’t see the police officers walking toward us or the little blond haired angel, holding a teddy bear, following them up the path to the barn. Time seemed to stand still as I turned and touched his arm. He turned around and the color drained from his face, his mouth dropped and he just ran.
     
    “Emmy! Emmy! Emmy! My baby!” he screamed as he ran toward her.
     
    “Daddy!” she yelled as she began to cry. She ran toward him, dropping her teddy bear. He swooped her up in his arms, sobbing as he squeezed her tight. She was crying and giggling at the same time.
     
    “Let me look at you, beautiful girl…” he crouched on the ground with Emmy sitting on his knee. “You are even prettier than I remembered…” he said smiling at her and touching her face.
     
    “Daddy, I missed you so much!” Emmy said grinning from ear to ear as she hugged his neck again. “I don’t know why Mommy took me away from you. I love you so much! Where is Nana?”
     
    “Nana is at the diner. We’ll go see her soon. I need to talk to those nice police officers, okay? Can you hang out with my good friend for a minute?” he said pointing to me. “Emmy, this is my friend, Shannon.”
     
    “Hi