Fire in Her Eyes

Mr. Miller was on the phone with his son, Marshall, when the doorbell rang. It had been a long day, and he really didn’t want to deal with unexpected company. But it was what it was. The Millers had always been hospitable, and that wasn’t likely to change any time soon. Mr. Miller sighed. “Son, I’m gonna have to call you back. Someone’s at the door.” He wondered who would be here at this hour. Maybe someone had broken down close by and needed a hand. When he opened the door, his mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe his eyes. She was dangerously thin, and covered in marks and bruises, but there was no mistaking those eyes. They looked exactly the way they had all those years ago when he had first met her, scared and hurt and certain he would send her away. “Hi, Mr. Miller.” She said quietly. “Mr. Miller?” He repeated, wrapping his arms around her. “Baby girl, you stopped calling me that a long time ago. I told you, you’ll always be my daughter.” “Even after how I left?” “Of course, sweetheart. Come inside, your mother will be ecstatic!” He said, pulling her inside. “Elaine, come quick! It’s Val!” He called up the stairs to his wife. A short, stout woman with chocolate hair and hazel eyes quickly appeared with a confused look on her face. “Honey, I was sure you said —“ She stopped short when she saw their adopted daughter standing there next to her husband. “Val…” She murmured in disbelief. “You’re here.” She stared at the younger woman in astonishment, tears pricking both their eyes. Soon, she pulled her daughter in for a hug of her own. “Where were you? It’s been over a year! We didn’t even know if you were still alive!” “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Val apologized, tears streaming down her face. After a long moment, Mrs. Miller, pulled back and looked Val over, frowning. “What happened, honey? Did Ev do this?” Mr. Miller also looked on with a hardened expression. This was exactly what he had said would happen, but no father ever wants to be right about something like this. Val nodded. “I should have listened.” She said, hanging her head. “I’m so sorry. You were right about everything.” She said, looking over at Mr. Miller. “I’ve never hoped so hard to be wrong.” He said in a low voice, trying to keep his anger in check. “But you’re here now. You’re safe now. That’s what matters. We’ll get you to a doctor in the morning and get you checked out. It’ll be ok.” He assured her. Mrs. Miller hurried to the kitchen to warm up some food. Mr. Miller suddenly pulled back. “Marsh! We need to call Marsh. He’ll want to know you’re home. He’s been as worried as we have.” “Marsh?” She asked, her voice squeaking. “He’ll hate me after all this.” “Honey, your brother loves you. You know that.” Mrs. Miller says gently, returning with a plate for Val, which she took hesitantly. “When he declared his major, he chose law, for you. He wants to be able to help people in your situation. He doesn’t blame you. None of us do. That man took advantage of you and he hurt you. I just wish we had been able to protect you better.” Mr. Miller was already pulling out his phone, but he waited for Val’s quiet “Ok” before dialing. Marshall picked up on the second ring. “When you said you’d call back, I thought you meant tomorrow.” Marsh said with a chuckle. “So, about that tractor part—“ “Forget the tractor! Val’s home!” Mr. Miller said excitedly. “What?” Surely he had misheard, but as soon as what his father had said fully registered, he started in, matching his father’s excitement. “Are you serious? She’s there, right now? Is she ok? Is Ev with her?” Mr. Miller laughed. “Slow down, son! She’s here. Ev isn’t, thankfully; she’s done with him. But he did quite a number on her. We’re taking her to urgent care tomorrow to get checked out.” “Change of plans, I’m headed to the farm.” Marshall called out to his roommate. Mr. Miller heard Mark respond in the background. “Oooh, can I tag along? I have been craving your mom’s banana bread so hard the last few days.” “Whatever, just be quick. The truck pulls out as soon as I’m in it.” Marshall told him. Mr. Miller chuckled. “Drive safe. With Val back, Mark will have to either share your room or take the couch.” “Will do, see you in a couple of hours.” “See you soon.” Mr. Miller said, hanging up the phone. He had his suspicions the drive from Wichita would not take the two hours it normally did, but it wouldn’t do any good to reiterate to drive safely. “Your brother’s on his way. His roommate, Mark Slessor, is coming with him.” Mr. Miller said. “His roommate?” Val repeated with a nervous look. Mr. Miller’s face fell. Had that man really undone all the hard work and healing of eight years, for her to be nervous about someone her brother was so close with? “Honey, Mark is a good man. You know Marsh wouldn’t be friends with him if he wasn’t. You’ll like Mark.” Mrs. Miller said. Mr. Miller chuckled. “Your mother certainly does.” He teased. “Oh, hush. Sweetie, Mark has become like a second son to us. He comes over with Marsh when he can to help around here, and he’s always very polite.” “Polite? That boy could charm a fly right off the wall.” Mr. Miller agreed. Val looked like she wanted to believe them and relax, but it was hard. “Honey, do we need to call back and tell him to leave Mark behind this time?” Mrs. Miller asked. “No… no, that’s ok. I trust you, and I trust Marsh. He wouldn’t bring someone here who would be a problem.” Val answered, trying to reassure herself. Her parents smiled. Ev hadn’t managed to completely break her back down. “So… sweetie… How bad is it?” Mrs. Miller asked hesitantly. They could see bruises and scrapes along her arms and on her face, some in the shape of a hand, others not. But they had no way of knowing what her clothing hid. Val looked down at her hands. “He was pretty rough.” She said, somewhat sidestepping the question. “Honey… what else did he do other than what we can see?” She shook her head. She didn’t want to relive the things he had done. “It doesn’t matter now.” She said quietly, her hand resting absently on her stomach. “Sweetheart… you have no idea how glad we are that you’re home, how hard we’ve prayed this last year.” Mr. Miller told her. Her eyes glistened as she looked up at him, putting her hand back in her lap. “Dad… there is something else.” She said. “I… I didn’t know what Ev would do if he found out, so I had to get out.” “If he found out what?” Mrs. Miller asked. “Please don’t send me away.” She said in a small voice. Her parents shared a confused look before Mrs. Miller spoke up again. “That’ll never happen, Val. You’re our daughter. You will always have a place here.” She said firmly. “W-what about if… if it wasn’t just me?” “Honey, your mother is right. You will always have a home with us.” Mr. Miller agreed. Val slowly moved her hand back to her stomach. “I’m pregnant.” She said, so quietly they barely heard her. Val’s parents were stunned. This wasn’t how they had envisioned becoming grandparents. Mrs. Miller reached over to cup Val’s cheek. “Sweetheart, it’s going to be ok.” She said after a moment. “We’ll get you both checked out in the morning and go from there.” “You’re not mad?” She asked, her voice a combination of hope and surprise. “Not at you, and not at the baby.” Her mother assured her. “Is this why you left Ev? You were afraid of what he would do to the baby?” Her father asked. Val just nodded. Elaine put her other hand on her husband’s knee, silently pleading with him to stay calm. She knew her husband was furious not only that Ev had gotten their teenage daughter pregnant, but that he had her afraid for not only her own, but also her child’s life. But the last thing Val needed right now was to see his anger. “Why don’t you head upstairs and get a shower? I’ll put some pajamas in your room and some clothes for tomorrow, then after we see the doctor, we can get some of your own.” Mrs. Miller suggested. “Thank you.” Val said quietly, handing back her empty plate and standing to go upstairs. Just over an hour later, Marshall walked in the front door with Mark in tow. “Your son is a madman!” Mark exclaimed to Mr. Miller. “I didn’t know that old pickup could go that fast.” Mr. Miller looked at his son. “What happened to driving safe?” He asked. “I was safe. We got here in one piece, didn’t we? Where is she?” Marshall asked, looking around for Val. “Sleeping. Or at least she was before you two came in bellowing.” He said with a stern look. “Sorry.” They both said sheepishly. Marshall started for the stairs. “Let her sleep. She’s been through a lot this past year. She’ll still be here in the morning.” Mr. Miller said. Marshall looked like he was contemplating going up and waking her anyway, but he thought better of it. “Son… you should know that he beat her up pretty good. There are a lot of bruises and some cuts. She wouldn’t tell us if there were any more serious injuries, which makes me suspect there might be. And she’s pregnant.” He said, deciding to rip the bandaid off all at once.