“I’ll worry about you, though.” Beth took my hand. “At least until he proves he’s not a narcissistic rapist.”
“I think I’d know,” I replied slowly. “Declan, that’s the boy, he’d be different if he had a monster for a dad. Avery would abuse him, wouldn’t he? If Avery was that kind of man?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I never had kids. I much preferred to stay away from folks with testicles. Folks with boobs are more my type.”
That Beth liked girls never entered into our relationship. That she was lesbian and I straight never hindered our friendship. Unfortunately, in the small western town we both lived in, possible girlfriends were in short supply. Beth never complained about not finding a loving partner. Nor did she hit on me or try to turn me from liking men to liking girls.
“I think Declan wouldn’t be such an open and happy kid if Avery abused him, even emotionally,” I commented. “Narcissists emotionally abuse everyone in their lives.”
“Some physically,” Beth agreed. “Still, he could be a sociopath. Just be careful, love, okay? E-mail me every day to let me know how you are.”
I lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “You’re the sister I never had.”
“Ditto. I think I’ve heard of this guy. Avery Armstrong?”
“Yeah. What have you heard?”
“Mostly good stuff,” she answered. “That he works hard, has some bucks, came to town with a baby and no wife.” Beth suddenly frowned. “That started some rumors about why there’s no lady in the picture.”
“Yeah. What were they?”
“I don’t remember exactly. That he kidnapped the kid? Maybe? It was years ago, and time has moved on. I think at the time there was a big deal. Now, not so much.”
“If you remember what happened, will you tell me?”
“Nothing will keep me quiet.”
I leaned my head back against the sofa and breathed deeply. “I do love you.”
“I know. And ditto.”
***
My former employer never demanded a background check when I went to work for him. As I packed my clothes, my few possessions into suitcases in the tiny apartment, I sweated, fretting. What if Avery insisted upon a background check? What if he was doing it at this very moment? I quit my only job possibility to discover that Avery refuses to hire me after all when I show up to move in.
Lord, you can’t be that cruel,I plead to a God I’m not sure I believe in.Don’t let Avery discover I’m not truly Jacy Maxwell. I need this job desperately, you know that. Never let him find my secrets, I beg you.
Fully packed, my fear sweat hardly dry, I tucked my suitcases into the trunk of Beth’s little Ford, then joined her in the front seat. Always in tune with me, my emotions, Beth gripped my hand.
“Are you okay?”
I nodded, my mouth dry. “A little scared is all.”
She met my gaze firmly. “If things go south, come back. I don’t care if I have to support you for a time, you come back. Got it? I’ll take care of you.”
Her words, her sincere love, moved me to tears. My pent-up emotions, my terrors, gushed out in a torrent. I sobbed as Beth did her best to hold me with a console between us, my tearswetting her t-shirt. She kissed my brow, reminded me of how much she cared, caressed my hair back from my face.
“You don’t have to go,” she said. “Say the word.”
I sniffled, wiped my wet face with my palms. “No. I can do this.”
“You’re tough, girl,” Beth said in my ear. “You’re strong. Yeah, you can do this. The question isshouldyou do this?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I should. It’s a chance I can’t pass up. I just have a case of the willies, Beth. Once I’m there, start working, I’ll be okay.”
Beth smiled faintly, her fingers sliding down my cheek. “Just know you can come home anytime, love.”
Chapter Two
