Page 8 of Bliss, Part 2

Owen

There were still ten days left before we opened The Old again. But as excited as I was to go back to work, I couldn’t think about it too much. Not today.

Today was the day I’d been waiting for, even if part of me dreaded it. Earlier this morning, my phone rang. Officer Holloway was on the other end, asking if I had time to come down to the station. I knew right away what it was about.

I didn’t say a word to anyone in the house. I just grabbed my keys, walked out, and drove into town. My chest felt heavy the whole way. Holloway had the updates I’d been desperate for.

They had found him.

The asshole who raped my daughter.

I wasn’t ready to hear his name. I wasn’t ready to picture his face, or worse, see it. But I needed to know. I needed the closure that came with facts, even if those facts left me shaking with rage. I needed to hear what they planned to do with him now that they finally had him in custody.

When I got to the station, I signed my name in at the front desk and took a seat in the waiting area. A clock on the wall ticked loud enough to get on my nerves. I sat there, hands clasped so tight my knuckles ached, until Holloway’s voice called me into her office.

She gestured for me to sit across from her desk.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” she said.

“Yeah,”

I answered, my shoulders stiff.

“I was glad to get the news.”

She gave me a small smile, then looked at her computer screen.

“There are a few things I need to go over with you before we take the next step in this case. But first, I want to make sure I answer all your questions. I’m sure you want to know his name?”

“Yeah. Not that I care about the bastard.”

She lifted a brow, waiting for me to choose different wording.

“Sorry. Yeah, I’d like to know who the man is.”

She straightened in her chair and cleared her throat before speaking. Her tone was careful, but her words landed like a punch. They had been piecing together details for days. His name was Dillon Toller. He was my age. He’d been working carnivals since he was a teenager. Never had a stable home or family. His life was the carnival.

Over the past ten years, he had raped six girls. My daughter was one of them. Six girls before they caught him. That fact alone made me sick enough to grip the arms of the chair so I wouldn’t put my fist through her desk.

Holloway turned the screen so I could see his picture. He looked exactly how I’d imagined—dirty in a way that had nothing to do with a lack of soap, with eyes that made my skin crawl. Knowing those hands had been on my daughter made something inside me twist with anger. I wanted to walk into the holding cell where they were keeping him and kill him with my bare hands.

But I couldn’t. I sat there, forcing the rage down, reminding myself that he was caught, that he couldn’t hurt her or anyone else again. For now, that had to be enough.

“Is there anything else you’d like to know? Any other questions?”

Holloway asked, her voice softer now, her expression sympathetic but professional.

I ran a hand over my face.

“Yeah. How am I supposed to tell her? Should I even? I don’t want to drag her back into those memories. I don’t want her to hurt all over again.”

Holloway’s smile was warm.

“I’d suggest taking it slow. Ask her if she’s ready to talk. If she is, let her lead. Answer only the questions she asks, instead of giving her everything at once.”

It was good advice. Maybe the only way this wouldn’t break her all over again. I nodded, rubbing my palms against my thighs.

“Alright. I’ll try that. Thanks.”

“Of course.”

She turned back to her computer and began typing.

“Now, about the paperwork.”

I stayed in that chair for another half hour, answering more questions, signing my name in more places than I could keep track of, before she finally let me go.

I didn’t drive straight home. I knew I wasn’t going to talk to Bliss today, but I wanted to be ready when I did. I wanted something to soften the weight of the words. I ended up at the grocery store. I grabbed milk and eggs, deciding I’d make her a homemade chocolate cake for when I told her. Maybe it would be a small gesture, a way to mark the fact that the man who hurt her couldn’t hurt anyone else ever again.

Maybe she’d see it as a celebration. Maybe not. I didn’t know. All I knew was I wanted to make it just a little more bearable for her.

Later that night, I went looking for the kids. I hadn’t seen them since breakfast, and I wanted to make sure they were alright. The barn was the most likely place, because I couldn’t hear them anywhere else in the house. They’d been spending a lot of time in the barn lately, which they had turned into a cozy place to hang out. Just as I reached for the door to head outside, Odin’s voice stopped me.

“You don’t want to go over there right now,”

he said from the couch.

I turned toward him, my hand still on the doorknob, and raised a brow. “Why?”

He mirrored my expression.

“Do I have to say it out loud?”

Right. I didn’t need him to explain.

“No, you don’t.”

I let out a slow sigh, let go of the door, and kicked off my shoes by the mat. The urge to see the kids was still there, but they wouldn’t want me walking in on them. I crossed the room instead and dropped down onto the couch beside him.

“Just wanted to check on them.”

“They’re doing okay. Bliss is doing okay. Let them be,”

he said, his voice quieter this time as he reached for my hand.

I nodded, looking down at our fingers laced together. I stayed quiet for a moment. My mind felt crowded. Too many thoughts pressing in from different angles, making it hard to pull a single one into focus. It’s been a long fucking couple of days.

“You wanna tell me where you went today?”

I turned my head toward him, met his eyes, and gave a slow nod.

“Yeah. I went to the police station. They got him.”

It took him a second to process.

“They found him? Shit…why didn’t you tell us?”

I shrugged.

“I didn’t want to make a big thing out of it. For Bliss’ sake. Didn’t want the whole house buzzing with it, didn’t want it to overwhelm her.”

He understood, but there was still a flicker of disappointment there. He wished I had told him when I found out.

“Is it worth knowing who the bastard is?”

he asked after a moment.

I shook my head quickly.

“No. Not worth it. He’s a sad, lonely asshole. Did that shit to six girls in total.”

Odin’s disbelief was immediate.

“And he’s never been caught before now?”

“No.”

“Shit…”

He sat back, exhaling hard through his nose.

“Glad they got him now.”

I nodded again.

“He’s being held in a police station over in Darly.”

“Mm.”

We both went quiet after that.

Then he asked something that caught me off guard.

“You think things will ever happen naturally between Bliss and us?”

I turned to look at him, unsure why that question would come now of all times.

“Do you want it to?”

I asked instead of answering.

He shrugged.

“I’m not sure.”

“Right…”

I looked back down at our hands, my thumb brushing absently over the back of his.

“You?” he asked.

This time I was the one to shrug.

“To be honest…I don’t think it will. She has the boys. They’re enough for her. And we’ve got each other, which, honestly, is already a lot for me to take in too.”

“Why, do you regret going there with me after all these years? Was the sex bad?”

His tone was serious but with just enough teasing to make it feel like he was testing me.

I laughed, shaking my head.

“Shit, no…the sex wasn’t bad. And I don’t regret it. You know I don’t. It’s just…everything’s coming back lately, you know? I’m not sure how to process it. Back then…we did all that because we had to. Because we were all we had, and it was what we needed to survive. But now…”

I drew in a long breath.

“Now we’re doing it because…hell, I don’t even know why.”

“Because we love each other. Because we have this bond.”

His voice was steady. He wasn’t afraid to speak the truth.

“Yeah…”

I inhaled again.

“And you think it’s okay?”

He studied me, his gaze unflinching.

“Yeah, I think it is. It’s just love. We’re not hurting anyone. Why shouldn’t we be allowed to have what we want when we’re not hurting anyone?”

His words made sense, even if I wasn’t ready to admit that out loud. I needed time to sit with it.

“We raised them right,”

I said finally.

“That’s what matters.”

“Yeah, we did. They’re beautiful people. All five of them. And that’s something we can be proud of, Owen.”

Yeah…we fucking can.

***

The next morning, I was in the kitchen early, measuring flour and sugar into a mixing bowl when I heard footsteps behind me.

“What are you doing, Dad?”

Tripp asked as he stepped inside.

I didn’t turn right away, just kept working the whisk through the dry ingredients.

“Baking a cake for Bliss.”

“That’s nice.”

He crossed the room to the fridge.

“What for, though?”

I glanced over my shoulder at him.

“I, uh…went to the police station yesterday afternoon. They found the guy. I thought maybe a cake would make telling her a little easier. Something to make the news a bit more bearable.”

He froze for a moment with the fridge door still open, then took out the milk before closing it. His expression shifted, his voice quieter now.

“I see. So…she doesn’t know yet?”

“No.”

I kept my eyes on the bowl as I spoke.

“I was hoping to sit down with her later. Alone.”

“Good idea,”

he said after a moment.

“Can I know about him?”

I stopped whisking. I set the utensil down on the counter beside the bowl. I didn’t want to speak the man’s name more than I had to. But Tripp had a right to know, and the others deserved to know too. This wasn’t something I could keep from them.

“His name is Dillon Toller,”

I said finally, turning to face him.

“He’s being held over in Darly.”

Tripp watched me for a long moment without saying anything. Then he nodded, his throat working as he swallowed.

“Good. That’s good.”

His gaze dropped for a second before meeting mine again.

“Do you want us to be there when you tell her?”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“I’ll tell her alone. That’s probably best.”

He nodded again.

“Alright. Yeah.”

I turned back to the counter, pouring the milk into the bowl and working it into the batter. Tripp poured himself a glass from the carton and sat down at the table. For a while, neither of us spoke. But even in the silence, I could feel the weight of his thoughts matching my own, both of us hoping that bastard would get exactly what he deserved.

After a few minutes, Tripp broke the quiet.

“Will…uh…will this go to court? I mean, will Bliss have to testify?”

I let the whisk rest against the rim of the bowl.

“If she agrees to it, yes. That’s something I’ll have to ask her.”

I hated that reality. Hated the idea of her sitting in a courtroom, having to explain what had been done to her while the man who did it sat only feet away. No one should ever have to live through that again just to get justice.

“Officer Holloway told me that in serious crimes like this, prosecutors will sometimes push forward even without the victim’s consent,”

I continued, my voice low.

“They do it to prevent further harm. Either way, the motherfucker’s going to be locked up. They’ve got all the evidence they need.”

Tripp nodded slowly.

“That’s good. Well, you just ask her, and whatever she decides…that’ll be the right choice for her.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I managed a tight smile.

“Either way, she’ll get through this. She’s stronger than she knows.”

***

I knocked on Bliss’s bedroom door later that evening and opened it just enough to lean my head inside. She was on her bed, her legs crossed, a book resting in her hands. Ashby sat beside her, also holding a book. They looked comfortable, and I hated to interrupt them when they were doing something that made them happy.

“Hi, Daddy,”

she said, her smile easy and bright, as if nothing bad had ever touched her life.

“Hey, kid.”

I stepped in a little farther.

“You got a bit of time for me? I need to talk to you about something.”

Her smile faded almost instantly. She glanced at Ashby, her expression tightening. He gave her a small, encouraging smile in return, and I had the strong feeling Tripp had already told him and probably the others too about what I needed to say. Bliss was the only one still in the dark.

“Sure.”

She set her book aside and rose from the bed.

“In here or…?”

“Downstairs, please.”

She looked at Ashby again, and he gave her a small nod.

“I’ll be here,”

he told her softly.

“Okay.”

She followed me downstairs, quiet the whole way, and we sat together on the couch.

Her gaze landed immediately on the cake I’d left on the coffee table.

“I thought I smelled something sweet. You made this?”

I nodded, picking up the knife and cutting a slice for her. I set it on a paper plate and handed it over. “Here.”

“Thanks, Dad. I was already missing the leftover birthday cake.”

We’d gone through that cake faster than anyone expected. It had been huge, but somehow it didn’t last more than a couple of days. Tia had refused to take a slice home, saying it was Bliss’s cake and she didn’t want to take it away from her. None of us argued. Bliss deserved to enjoy every bite.

This one was smaller, but I’d put the same care into making it. It wouldn’t erase what I had to tell her, but maybe it could soften the moment.

She took a bite, then smiled.

“It’s delicious. Thank you.”

“Of course.”

I let her eat without rushing, watching her take her time. When she was finished, she leaned back against the couch and looked at me expectantly.

“So…what did you want to talk to me about?”

I drew in a deep breath and rubbed my hands together before speaking.

“I went to the police station yesterday.”

Her head tilted slightly. “You did?”

“Yes. They found the guy.”

I let that sit between us for a moment, watching her face carefully. Her expression was neutral when she said, “Okay.”

Her reaction made me pause.

“Do you have questions? I’m not going to tell you anything unless you want to know. I don’t want to overwhelm you, so…I’m giving you time to think about it.”

She bit the inside of her cheek and lowered her gaze to her hands, her fingers pulling at the skin around her nails. She swallowed before speaking again.

“What’s his name?”

I didn’t look away from her.

“Dillon Toller.”

I hoped that would be the last time I’d ever have to say it out loud.

She went quiet again, her shoulders starting to tense, the picking at her skin becoming more frantic. I reached out and gently took her hands, stopping her from hurting herself. I didn’t say anything right away, letting her have the space to decide if she wanted to ask more.

“Is he…uhm, is he going to jail?”

“Officer Holloway said that because of the evidence—”

I stopped myself before telling her he’d done the same thing to five other girls. She didn’t need that detail. It would only add to the weight she already carried.

“They’ll probably prosecute him with or without you testifying in court. But if you would like to—”

“No.”

She shook her head quickly, her voice breaking as tears began to well in her eyes.

“No, I don’t want to go to court and see him. I don’t want to see him ever again.”

“You don’t have to, sweetheart,”

I told her, my voice low but firm as I pulled her into my arms.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. This is in your hands. It’s all up to you.”

She leaned against my chest, her body trembling, and I cupped the side of her head, holding her close. It was the first time she’d let herself cry since the hospital, and I held her until her breathing started to slow again.

I knew the conversation had to happen, but I also knew this would be the last time we talked about it unless she asked me to.

She had gone through enough, and she was free to live her life without ever having to remember that man.