Would Be Daughter Becomes Girlfriend
Important Notice - Any references to any character in this work of fiction under the age of 18 are not engaged in any sexual activity and is not implied, inferred, or suggested.
Also, if you're expecting a wham bam, thank you ma'am story, this won't be for you. This story requires a lot of build up and I spent two months deciding how I wanted the storyline to go.
Characters -
Olivia - 26 years old, 5'10", 135 lbs., brown hair, blue eyes.
Joe - 38 years old, 6'1", 195 lbs., jet black hair, brown eyes.
It was a typical hot summer Saturday afternoon around 3 PM and I was finishing up mowing my front lawn when a car I had never seen in the neighborhood before pulled into the driveway. Out stepped a young brunette, I assumed her to be in her mid 20's and she was dressed in a pair of blue slacks, white dress shirt, a blue blazer, dress heels, and her hair was pulled back in a French roll hairstyle. I killed the switch on my push mower and made my way over to find out why she was here and how could I be of service to her.
"How are you doing ma'am? What can I do for you?"
She asked "Are you Joseph Reid, owner of JReid Construction here in Destin, Florida?"
Taken aback by her directness I said "Yes I am."
She continued. "Do you recall a relationship you had with a lady by the name of Janice Morgan some 20 years ago? She had a daughter by the name of Olivia. Sound familiar?"
My mind started racing. Who was this woman? How did she know Janice and Olivia? Was she a cop? A social worker? A relative? I was trying to figure out where she was going with this line of questioning so I asked "Are you a cop? Am I suspected of something bad? Am I allegedly in some sort of trouble?"
Then, without warning, tears began to stream down her face and she looked at me with piercing blue eyes and said "No, But my mother is for walking out on you 20 years ago."
I got a big lump in my throat, looked at her, and said "Olivia? Is that you?"
She pulled out a tissue to wipe away the tears and smeared eye liner and said "Yes. It's me. Right here. In the flesh. And I have a request. You may think it's bizarre but can I please hug you?"
It was my turn to become a crying mess. "Yes, yes, yes, by all means yes."
She ran into my arms and put her arms around my neck and I reached around her and pulled her into my arms. I was all hot and sweaty from the yard work but I don't think, at that moment, either of us cared. We both had a lot of questions for the other and I was hoping and praying that we would be able to answer all of them in due time. Reluctantly, we broke our embrace and I looked at her and said "Let me put the mower up and let's go inside. It's quite warm out here and I would rather we continue this conversation in the comfort of my air conditioned home. The rest of the yard work can wait until tomorrow."
I put the mower up in the garage and invited her inside and inquired "Sweet tea? Lemonade? Water?"
"Lemonade would be nice Joe.....uh Joseph......I mean Mr. Reid.........er.........I mean Sir."
"Please call me Joe. Have a seat at the kitchen counter while I get it ready for you."
She sat down while I listened to her begin to tell me about what happened 20 years ago when she and her mom disappeared out of the blue.
"Joe, you and mom met when she was 21 and you were 18 and I had just turned 5. The guy who got mom pregnant at 18 was some "boy" who was an immature 23 and heavy into the drug scene. After she got pregnant, she rarely ever saw him again until I turned 6. That's when our whole world turned upside down. Mom really admired and respected you because you were so good to her and I thought that you were so awesome because you spent so much time with me. I remember playing hide and go seek and freeze tag and how we would dance when you and mom were in the kitchen cooking. I remember you reading to me and tucking me in to bed and I also remember falling asleep on your chest when we were watching TV. Here. There is something I want to show you."
She reached into her purse and pulled out a 3"x5" photo in a wooden frame. In the photo were Olivia and me on horseback on an Appaloosa horse at Baker Farms in Baker, Florida. I turned to hand her the lemonade and I froze in my tracks looking at the photo.
"Olivia, come with me. Bring that photo with you. I have something to show you." She followed me down the hallway to my office.
I told her "Olivia, walk around to the chair behind my desk and look at the photo you see next to the computer."
She walked around to where she could see the photo and it was a copy of the same exact photo taken 20 years ago. Through tears, Olivia smiled and said "Joe, I don't know what to say. Does this mean?"
"Yes Olivia, it does. I never gave up hope of ever seeing you again and there is something else I need to show you. Look in the top two drawers of the filing cabinet in the corner over there."
She walked over to the filing cabinet and opened the top drawer and there were envelopes, lots of envelopes with her name on every one of them. She closed the top drawer and opened the second drawer. More of the same. "What is all this?" she asked.
"After you and your mom disappeared, I vowed to find you. Every single birthday, Christmas, and Valentines Day, I bought you a card, wrote a personal message to you in each, and I put a $50 bill in each card for you. You see Olivia. I never stopped loving you. I was going to ask your mom to marry me and I was going to ask her if she would have been ok with me adopting you as my daughter. I had everything all set up with the help of my parents. When I got off from work that afternoon, I went home, showered, put on my best suit and drove to your house. When I got there, my heart sank because I could see the house was empty. I was dumbfounded, devastated, hurt, crushed. I didn't know what to say or do. So, I asked my Dad for help. He made some calls to some of his law enforcement and private investigator friends but every trail came up empty. I did every sort of internet search I could think of in order to find you and her but I came up with nothing. For months, I searched and searched and it wasn't until three years later when I ran across an obituary from Dallas, Texas for the guy who was your Dad."
She chimed in "Yeah, he was gunned down in a drug deal gone bad and Mom took us to California to my Aunt Judy's house in Sacramento. I kept telling Mom over and over that we needed to come back to you. She refused because she didn't want any danger coming to you in case anyone ever made the connection between you and her. Fast forward to my senior high school. I made the decision that I was going to join the Air Force to become a dental hygienist. Mom was really excited for me and I was excited to finally be out on my own. I joined the Air Force and, right after I graduated from Basic, Mom and Aunt Judy were both arrested for several felonies related to drugs, murder, money laundering, and a whole bunch of other charges. They won't ever see the walls outside of prison again. After I got to my first duty station at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, I decided it was time to to dedicate my efforts into finding you. I didn't know if you still lived in Atlanta or not but that is where I started my search."
I told Olivia "I moved to Destin four years ago. I decided this is where I wanted to eventually retire and it's where I wanted my home to be. But please continue."
Olivia continued "After I finished my assignment in Texas, I was then assigned to Wheeler Air Base in Hawaii and that's how I came to discover where you were."
"You did? How so?" I asked.