“You mean she knows you are here?” I asked, surprised.
“Well, no,” he said slowly. “But I’m sure she would all the same.”
He didn’t seem sorry that Julia, nor anyone else for that matter, didn’t know I was here.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be away,” I answered. “I want to keep the baby. I can’t be like my parents, either set of them. I can’t stand by and let someone raise my child.” My vision clouded with tears, but I forced them away. I had to stop crying over everything.
“You’ll need a job,” Kent hinted.
“I know,” I sighed. I knew I had to get myself in order to search for a job, a place to stay, and everything else I needed.
“Taylor will help you out,” Kent went on. “Do you know who he is to you?”
“Since she’s been in the bedroom pretty much the entire time she’s been here, not really. We haven’t really talked,” Taylor answered. “She knows that we are related.”
“Eavesdropping?” I laughed.
Taylor simply shrugged, not sorry for doing so. “It’s my house.” He paused, thinking something over. Finally, after a full minute, he spoke. His voice was softer, almost like he was afraid to say what he was saying. “You are welcome to stay here, Avidya. There is more than enough room. At least until you know for sure what you want to do. Carlos entrusted me to keep you safe, and I will do that by any means necessary.”
“You will be safe here,” Kent agreed. “No one comes to this little town.”
“Haven’t had any issues all the years I’ve been here,” Taylor mused.
“The reason I came here,” Kent said after a moment. “Is because I have these bank cards and IDs for you, Avidya. Can’t go by your known last name.” He motioned to an envelope that sat on the table. “I’ll transfer some funds into the bank account monthly, so you can get what you need.”
“Then why does she need a job?” Taylor asked, taking a seat on the couch.
“To give her purpose. To make friends. To get out of the house,” Kent shrugged. “Why do you have a job, Taylor? Would it be the same reasons?”
Taylor grunted some sort of reply, and Kent shook his head.
“Sorry, you were left with this meathead. Really not sure what my son was thinking, but at least you won’t be known here,” Kent laughed.
“I just don’t like people,” Taylor grunted out, eyeing the man.
Yeah, I didn’t much care for people either. I liked it here so far. So that had to be a plus, right?
I did have to wonder what the history between these two men was. They seemed to only tolerate each other because they had no other choice. And that could be the whole reason Taylor wasn’t too happy about the Melendez family.
Chapter 6
Avidya
Fully awake now that Kent had left as quickly as he had shown up, I took a seat on the other side of the couch. My mind was reeling with questions once more. None of which I was willing to ask out loud. I didn’t want to know the answers to my questions. I was more than happy to not have answers that would no doubt lead to even more questions that wouldn’t be answered any time soon.
What was I going to do? Could I really stay here that long with this man?Whowas this man to me? Would we both be safe here, even after the baby came? And what would become of me after that? Would I be able to just go back like nothing had happened with a baby in tow? Would everyone just accept us both as if nothing had happened?
“You okay?” Taylor asked, glancing my way.
“Yeah,” I muttered, shaking myself away from the thoughts that began to plague me. It didn’t seem that my husband was faring all that much better than me. He was depressed and wanted to find me. Kent said he’d do whatever he could to make sure that Zachariah would stay as far away as possible, keeping him busy with business and family stuff.
How long would that last?
I wasn’t sure if Zachariah feeling as horrible about my choices as I was was a good thing or not. I was happy to know that he wasn’t pissed off at me, but instead worried. Would we both be able to get past this and move on; to keep on living as though we never knew each other? Or would fate somehow bring us both back together one random day?
We were both heartbroken, and only I held the power to fix that. Now was not the time to try. That was for sure.
“So, who are you, exactly?” I finally asked, not sure if I wanted to know that answer. I raised my eyes to meet his, the same eyes that I had seen countless of times on another man I refused to really think about here and now.
