(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...
"Yeah, what's up?" Mike suspected it wasn't a social call.
"Things are hell. Schlosser is making a mess of everything. Is it true they asked you to leave?"
"What?" The shock hit him.
"The whole town, thinks you're on a disciplinary leave. The protesters are all walking around like they won."
"Won, what? Jesus, no. It's a family leave, my daughter needed me. I'll see about being back next week."
It was Friday, and he had a surprise planned for Mari the following night. He didn't want it to be goodbye, but it would be. If he drove all day Sunday, he could start sorting things out on Monday morning. He hated leaving Anna and Mari, but at least they would have each other. He felt the disappointment course through him at the thought of Mari.
As if his day couldn't get any worse, Shelby called him as he was walking back with their coffees. Why was everyone calling so early and ruining what should be a perfect summer day at the beach?
At least she cared since the purpose of her call was to check on Anna. "She's okay. She's busy with the whole milk business. She really wants to do this for the baby."
"And she won't change her mind?" Shelby sounded concerned.
"We signed the paperwork. She would never do that to Tim. Shel, he is so happy. It's amazing! Even with her being so tiny, they never stop smiling. Anna would never hurt them. She is back to being herself."
"When will she come home? George agreed to let her come back."
Mike didn't know if he felt relief or anger now they wanted her. "I don't know. She needs to stay close to the baby. She will probably have to start school here. The baby could be in the hospital for all of September. I'm driving back in a couple days. Things are going to shit at the firehouse."
He still didn't know if he wanted her returning to that same high school at least now the Catholic school would be an option. Maybe he'd look into it next week when he was home again.
Shelby surprised him when she said, "You know I miss her."
"You should call her and tell her then. Shel, I gotta go."
He said the last bit as he walked into the house and Mari was waiting for him. He rolled his eyes. "Just checking on Anna. Apparently, George will allow her to live with them now that she isn't pregnant." His words came out with a lot of pent up anger. He couldn't even deal with what he learned about his job. He should tell her he was leaving instead he let her hug him and help dissolve the anger.
Everything was happening so fast and he just wanted to enjoy the day. "Can you play hooky today so we can go to the beach?" He flashed his smile.
"I could arrange that."
Knowing he had to leave he felt a boulder in his gut, but said nothing. He just couldn't yet. Leaving this time seemed more permanent than ever.
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Anna woke to a phone call from Shelby. She needed to pump anyway. Every time she wondered why she was doing this torture she looked at her picture of her tiny cousin. She had seen her a few times when she went to bring the milk. One night, Tim and Amy took a drive to pick it up. Anna suspected that the nurses threw them out of the NICU. They were there all the time except to sleep.
Psycho Shelby was too happy. She went on about missing her and then she said, "With your dad coming home, you'll be on your own."
Alarm bells went off. She didn't know her dad was leaving. "Did he say when he planned to arrive in Turner?"
"He said something about leaving. When you are done with this milk stuff, you'll come and live with me again."
Alarm bells went off in her head. All she could think was, hell no!
She called Sam. "Do what you need to do. Now!"
"Are you sure? There will be no going back for you."
"I don't want to go back."
Sam laughed. "Dee thinks Mike should copy my dad. What does she mean?"
Anna had never told Sam, her dad and Mari were friendly. Apparently Dee was playing matchmaker. If her dad could find happiness with Mari, Anna would be happy, but her number one concern was to ensure she could never go back to Turner. She wanted to stay in Maine and be Cole's girlfriend.
Sam said, "Okay but I hope my dad doesn't kill me and his sister!"
Sam hung up, and she put the damn suction cup to her tit and turned on the machine.
