My 6-year-old granddaughter phoned me in panic just after midnight. “Mommy says the baby is coming! Help!” I asked, “Where’s daddy?” She answered, “He k!cked mommy’s tummy and left.”…..

Most of all, Trent was the type of man who could kick a pregnant woman and run.

Harry’s headlights swept over the ambulance parked crookedly in Cassidy’s driveway. Red and white lights flashed across the porch, windows, and gravel, making the house look unreal and urgent. EMTs pushed a stretcher toward the open front door when Harry parked half on the lawn and hurried across the yard.

“Sir, you can’t—” one EMT began.

“That’s my daughter,” Harry said.

The man immediately stepped aside.

Cassidy lay on the stretcher, awake but pale, dark hair damp against her forehead, an oxygen mask covering half her face. Her nightgown was stained dark across the middle. The instant she saw Harry, tears filled her eyes so quickly it nearly shattered the control he still had left.