Smiling weakly, I nod.
“Before I leave, I wanted to talk to you about something,” he says, making me tense.
“What is it?”
“I talked to my pres, Smoke. We have an auto shop, and we could use some help. He would be willing to let you work there off the books. That way, you can have some income to take care of yourself and the kids.”
“Are you serious?” I ask as disbelief rushes through me.
“Yes.” He nods.
“What’s the catch?” I ask as I cross my arms.
He shakes his head and frowns. “No catch. I promise.”
This man. This is too good to be true, right? Men like this don’t actually exist in real life.
Or maybe they do.
“Look, you don’t have to decide right now. You can take your time, but we both know that what little money you have will run out eventually. You can find another place to work now with all of that, but at least at the shop, I would know you are safe.”
He’s not wrong. Still, this whole situation is hard to wrap my head around.
“The kids…”
“Can go to school now that they have documents with their new names. There is a bus that can drop them off in front of the garage. We can make it work,” he says gently.
He keeps mentioning school. It’s the same thing that has been on my mind. I’m afraid they are already two months behind. What if they can’t catch up?
It’s not even just that. I can’t even let them out of the yard. How am I going to let them go to school?
“I don’t know if I can be away from them,” I admit softly.
He reaches out to touch my shoulder, but I flinch. He drops his hand, an apology in his eyes.
“You can’t shelter them forever. Would it make you feel better if I station someone at the schools? We even have a teen at the high school who could do a work study at the elementary school. Whichever you prefer,” he urges.
I take a deep breath, looking over at Tanner and Emily, who are listening to every word of our conversation. Emily looks hopeful. She has always wanted to go to school. This was going to be her year to officially attend as a kindergartner. I hate that she lost that.
“I’ll think about the school thing. As for the job…well, I’ve never done work like that before,” I confess.
“That’s okay. We can teach you. It’s office work. Honestly, it’s not overly complicated. It’s just time-consuming, and none of us has the time or the desire to do it. You would be a big help, and you would be safe. No one will mess with you when you’re on club property,” he tells me.
“We?”
I don’t know why, but that word sticks out to me like a neon light.
“Yeah, I work there too.”
“Oh.”
“I can’t tell if that’s a good oh or a bad one.” He smiles, trying to lighten the moment.
I ignore his comment and ask the one thought that keeps going through my mind.
“Why are you helping me?” I ask again.
Mac’s eyes soften. “Because that’s what a good person would do.”
