Anything For Rachel

Chapter One.

I cannot be late again.  

I ran through my house in my bare feet, looking in every nook and cranny to find my black sandals. I needed to have left the house twenty minutes ago to get to the school in time to pick up Rose as soon as school let out. I sighed to myself, knowing she's going to give me that look again for making her wait on me again.

I was making good time today, I even wrapped up my latest chapter a whole hour earlier than usual, which only gave me false security in my ability to leave on time for once, but then my agent called to praise me for the new reviews my books had gotten online today. I didn't want to be rude, so I let her talk longer than I should have, and then now my freaking shoes are playing hide and seek.

I decided I just didn't care anymore at this point, I'm already late and it's not like I'm getting out of the car, so why do I even need my shoes? I grabbed my purse from the kitchen table, slinging it over my shoulder, and then I pulled my keys off of the hook beside the door and rushed down my front steps.

I ran for the driveway, burning my feet on the hot concrete, to get to my car when I saw a silver car pulling up the driveway. I stopped in my tracks, my smile spreading across my face.

The door to the backseat swung open and my beautiful little girl hopped out, her blue back pack hanging off of one of her t-shirt clad shoulders. "Momma!" She called, running to hug me. "Daddy picked me up from school!" She grinned up at me, her dimples on full display.

I pulled her into a hug. "I see that." I laughed, watching my handsome man get out of the driver's seat and coming towards us with a bouquet of flowers in one hand, and his other hand behind his back.

"Hey, baby." He winked at me, bringing his other hand out from behind his back. "I stole your shoes." He laughed, as he held up my black sandals that I had been looking for.

I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him gently, making Rose giggle. "Can I go watch TV?" She asked sweetly.

We both looked down at her. "Homework first." I told her and she sighed, but then skipped up the stairs to the front door.

"I missed you today." I whispered, and his smile blew me away as usual.

"I missed you."

Logan has been my savior.

When I met him almost three years ago, I had finally come to terms with my life. I was sure that I'd never love anyone again the way that I loved...him. I thought for sure it would just be me and Rose, but then Logan walked into that coffee shop, and he wouldn't take no as an answer. He has such an easy confidence, and as soon as I saw how he accepted Rose and how she clung to him, I knew I'd found someone special.

After six months of dating, we moved in together, and then a year more and we were engaged. "I can't wait to call you my wife." He grinned down at me with his perfect smile. "I don't know how I got so lucky." He said, then slapped me playfully on the butt, making me laugh. "I'm going to go get dinner ready."

As if being gorgeous and so accepting wasn't enough to make him perfect, he is also a fantastic cook and he spoils me every chance he gets. He never ceases to amaze me.

He only asked about Rose's father once, and of course I felt bad lying to him, but the truth would have certainly sent even as good a man as Logan running for the hills. He thinks that Rose's dad died before she was born, and that he came from a wealthy family that sends me money every month.

I've never admitted the truth to anyone, not even my mother before she died last year. The reality of the fact that I was kidnapped, forced to live in a boarding school where I was brainwashed for years, and then somehow ended up falling in love and marrying the king of the vampires and bore his child, was just a little more truth than I think anyone would be capable of accepting.