(Complete) Michael Bassett will do anything to protect his daughter even if it means sending her away. Soon he finds his trips east mean more than just seeing his daughter, because with each one he gets closer to the mysterious woman he wants to sav...
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Michael Bassett sat across the table from Anna, his sixteen-year-old daughter. When he looked at her, he saw a little girl with blonde hair and brown eyes which were almost too big for her face. She always had a smile and a hug for her dad even after he had moved out of the house and they passed her between him and Shelby on a schedule. The schedule was still in place and it was his night.
Her hair had darkened to a light brown was between her mother's blonde and his. He had a color which Anna called chestnut. He didn't know what it was, but she commented she wished she had it. Shelby had paid for streaks in Anna's hair which he hated because it made her look too grown up. She was always trying to look older than she was.
Her face had long since grown into her brown orbs and the roundness was gone. If he really looked at her, he would see she was beautiful, but the thought made his gut clench. He hated the idea of horny teenage boys pawing at his baby girl.
Anna was smiling as they finished their dinner, because she had just passed her driving test and had her license. It was one more thing that made Mike's gut tighten. He had been called to more accidents involving inexperienced teen driver than he could count over the years. Some were minor, but he witnessed a few fatals that had shaken his typically steady nerves.
Mike had been fire chief in their small town of Turner, Ohio for two years, ever since his best friend deserted him and moved to Maine. He would move too if he found a woman to love him like Bryan had with Alison. Every time they spoke Mike was reminded his friend was too damn happy.
Meanwhile, Mike was feeling old for his thirty-five years, as he looked at his daughter who just yesterday was a baby.
"So Daddy, I'm gonna go out, 'kay?"
"Are you driving?" He felt a pressure in his temples.
"Yeah, that's why Mom bought me a car, so I could go where I need to go."
Mike's small house was in town and Anna could walk to the diner or the movie theater, but there wasn't much else to do. He knew firsthand the boredom of small towns caused kids to get into trouble. Case in point was the fact he became a father at nineteen. He thought he was just having fun the summer after he graduated high school before he planned to go to Ohio State. Instead, he ended up stuck in Turner and marrying Shelby who was hot as hell. Getting along while hanging around drinking by the lake with friends and screwing was a lot different from building a life and a lasting commitment.
