Chad knew that his response to her question might be the most crucial moment of his life. Not only his destiny but perhaps hers and their daughter's rested upon his answer. He needed to convince this woman that he wanted, needed, to be a part of this situation.
The problem was he had never been all that good with those fancy words. Sure, his grandmother made certain he knew them, but knowing them and being able to share what was inside your head and heart were two different things. But that was what he had to do now.
He nodded, took a deep breath, and did his best, "Yes, I want you and Callie to stay. I don't know what I would have done if I knew that she was mine before. But now that I do, I know that I want a chance to get to know her."
"Right now, you need a safe place to go. Not just safe from whoever might try to harm you, but I'm guessing a place where no one knows you, knows the story. No one is judging you. A place to heal and get your life back together."
He looked around, realized how very different this place was from where she or their daughter had grown up. "I know it ain't fancy, but it is quiet."
He paused and frowned as he considered her argument with her husband. "I don't want ya'll feeling like prisoners here, though. I don't go into town much myself, just when I need something. But I'll do whatever I can to make it as comfortable for you as I can."
He knew that his words were probably not enough, not what she wanted to hear. They certainly had not adequately expressed how very much he wanted and needed this opportunity to protect and care for her and their child. But if she knew that, it might do more to scare her off than reassure her.
She looked from him to her husband, then out the window to where their daughter was slowly making her way back here, her head down. "Okay, but I want your word that you'll teach us both how to defend ourselves. Guns and hand-to-hand."
He nodded, "That's a damned fine idea."
"So, what are we going to tell her?"
Gerald spoke up, "The truth."
The look that passed between the couple was lethal. Then the man chuckled, "Not all of it, of course. But I was going to tell her that Buford was an old friend of yours. A man that I knew could do a good job of protecting you. So, I made arrangements for ya'll to stay with him for a bit. Until things settle down."
She sighed and nodded, "That seems reasonable enough. But we don't have anything, Gerald. Not clothes or toiletries. Books, personal items. The only thing Callie brought with her is her tablet."
"And that has to go. All your emails, social media, everything has to go dark. From this moment. As if you had both just dropped off the face of the Earth, had died," he added.
Cassie shook her head, "That ain't happening with a teenager. She'll have trouble enough adjusting to the country after a lifetime living in Houston. You know how she has been moping around the house without her friends and after school activities. You can't ask her to give up gaming, YouTube, and all the rest."
"Not give it up. Just start over. A new identity. New accounts. New passwords. Ones that have nothing to do with our old life. Since you won't be putting her in school, you shouldn't need birth certificates or anything. At least not right away."
He shook his head, "Hopefully, well, maybe in a couple of years, things might blow over. Or maybe you can get forged documents. But right now, we need to focus on the immediate problem of keeping you both safe. And this is the best option for that. Trust me; I have spent weeks thinking all the options through."
The man looked at him, eye to eye, he had to respect him for that much at least. "And I figure, he's the only one I can truly trust right now. Like I said before, he has a vested interest in keeping that girl safe. You, too, unless I miss my guess."
"You have my word. I'll do whatever is necessary," Chad ignored the man's final comment.
She sighed and looked out the window again. He noticed that the girl was almost to the house, but she had stopped. She had turned and was staring off across the field. His heart broke at the turmoil this was causing her. "So, how do we do this?"
The man passed him the wad of cash, but he shook his head, "I don't want your money."
"They'll need things. Like she said, clothes, make-up, hair dye, glasses, I don't know what all. And trust me them tablets ain't cheap. Laptops, either."
Chad pushed the money back at him, "I might not be rich, but I can take care of my... Of them." He had come so close to saying family. But that was not right. At least not yet. Maybe one day. If he played his cards right.
She covered their battling hands with hers, reaching out and taking the money from her husband. "I'll take it. It'll be my Plan B. Something to fall back on if I need to."
The man nodded and released it. "I might have underestimated you."
She folded the bills and stuffed them in her jean pocket. "Damned straight, you did, Gerald. You and Daddy both did."
She turned to look at him and spoke, "But no more. That's my daughter, my life. I make the decisions from now on. Understood? No keeping secrets or protecting us from the truth. You tell me everything, like it is. And we decide together. Full partners."
He nodded and smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
She nodded back; her smile was tight, stressed. Those tiny lines around her mouth more pronounced.
Gerald spoke up, "Glad that is settled. Cassandra, give the man a list of things you and the girl will need for the next few days. He'll need to get those somewhere. You can't be seen on surveillance cameras."
He turned to Chad, "Maybe give her a bit of a tour of the house, where she and the girl will sleep. She can get them settled a bit. I've discovered she's a surprisingly good cook."
The man sighed as his daughter rounded the corner of the house and disappeared out of sight. "I'll talk to the girl. Explain things to her. Take the hit for this decision, so at least she won't be too mad at either of you." They heard the front door open.
"Her name is Callie." Chad said, irritated at the way this man always referred to her as 'the girl.'
Cassie shook her head, "Not anymore. Her name is Grace."
Chad could barely stand. It seemed Fate, almost right somehow that his daughter bore his grandmother's name. But how? "Grace? Why, Grace?"
Cassie shrugged, "It's her middle name. So, it shouldn't be too big an adjustment for her. She always preferred it to Calypso anyway. Callie, she doesn't mind. But Calypso, she's hated ever since she read the story in English class and learned what it meant in Greek."
"To cover or conceal," she said, looking at her husband. "I guess now I understand why you insisted we name her that. But no more. Neither of us is without sin in this one. But she's a child. None of this is her fault."
The man nodded, "I know, Cassandra. And I know I can never make any of it up to you. But I did care - for you both, in my own way."
She shook her head and sighed as if the weight of the world rested on her tiny shoulders. It tore at Chad's heart, and he swore he would do whatever he could to take some of that weight from her. Perhaps too little, too late. But sometimes Fate was a funny thing. He had always thought that.
He smiled as he remembered his earlier thoughts. Seemed Fate had pulled a fast one; his cousins might be shit out of luck this time. Cause as of an hour ago, he had someone to leave this place to. Of course, whether she would come to love it as much as he did or see it as money in the bank, the way his cousins did, was undecided.
"Hey, Mom, are we leaving soon? I'm kinda bored just hanging out in a field. There's not even internet out here."
Okay, another thing to add to his list. A few of those little boxes that boosted his signal. He might even have to call tomorrow and upgrade to that faster package they'd been trying to sell him for years.
***
"You aren't leaving, Calypso." At least, Gerald was true to his word. Too little, too late. But still, if he took the heat for this one, that would perhaps make things easier for Callie, no, Grace, Cassie had to start thinking of her daughter as Grace. It had, after all, been the name that she had chosen for her.
She was not naïve enough to think this was going to be easy. Some perfect solution. Her chance to start life afresh as that 'good ole' boy's girl.' This man might feel obligated to her daughter, maybe even have fond memories, as she did, of that one night.
