“Something to do with your dad? I’m sure you living in this area of town just thrilled him.”
“How’d you guess?” She looked away from him. Time to be honest. “But it wasn’t just him. I let him and—even Caden—believe it was, but the truth is, I had other reasons too.”
“And Caden’s okay with this?”
She scowled. “Caden didn’t have any say in the matter.”
“I’m surprised he’s not camping out in his car every night.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, sorry, but I’m serious.”
He totally was.
A rap on the window made her blink. A man in his early thirties, wearing a Stetson over dirty blond hair, stood outside the car. His green eyes were serious. “I’m going to check the perimeter while you stay with her.” He reached across Gavin and held out a hand for her to shake. “I’m Travis Walker. Nice to finally meet you, Sarah.”
“You too. Thank you.”
He clapped Gavin on the shoulder. “Asher’s watching you while I check the place out. Sit tight until I give the all clear.”
“Will do.”
He left and she watched him go. “He’s wearing boots and a cowboy hat.”
“He’s from Texas. He doesn’t feel dressed without them.”
“Interesting.” She turned her attention from the cowboy and narrowed her eyes at Gavin, picking up where they’d left off. “You think I can’t take care of myself? That, in normal circumstances, I need Caden to babysit? Or you think that I need you to set up a job interview? You really think that little of me?”
“It’s not that, Sarah. I actually think very highly of you. I’ve apologized for the whole job thing—and I really meant that I was trying to help. But this is a situation where it’s about watching out for someone you love. Someone who’s deliberately put themselves in a dangerous circumstance when they didn’t have to. You’re seriously telling me this is all you could afford?”
“Of course not, but I just said I had reasons to move in here, other than just pushing my dad’s buttons. That was just a bonus.”
“Other reasons? Like what?”
“My mom used to live here.”
His lips snapped together. “Oh. What? When?”
“Before she and the general met. Mom didn’t have anything but her beauty and brains and the desire to make something of herself. She rented this crummy apartment—which wasn’t quite so crummy at the time but is definitely worse now—so she could afford to pay for classes to get her degree. I’d just turned fourteen when she brought me here and told me her story. I didn’t know it at the time, but she’d been diagnosed recently. Later, she said she didn’t want me to associate my birthday with her cancer. Nine months ago, when I was on leave, I saw the apartment was available and I signed a lease. It’s up in three months and I’m trying to decide what to do. At the time, though, it was an impulse thing. Something that made me feel closer to her.”
“I know she died when you were young.”
“She had ovarian cancer. Four months after she brought me here, she died.”
“I’m so sorry, Sarah.”
“I am too. And neither she nor the general said a word about her illness until two weeks before she died. They didn’t tell us. Can you believe it? Our mother was dying and they didn’t tell us.” She cleared her throat to fight the surge of tears. “That’s the real reason I chose this apartment. At least that’s what I tell myself.”
“And the fact that it made your father mad was just gravy.”
“Yes.” She swallowed and looked at him. “I wanted to make him mad. I’ve been making him mad since the day my mother died.”
“Why?”
“Anger. I was so very angry.”
“Didn’t you suspect something was wrong when she was so sick?”
Sarah shrugged. “I thought she had the flu for a while, and truthfully, I wasn’t home a lot. Caden was four years older and already in his first year of college. Dustin was ten and oblivious. The general was overseas.” She shrugged. “And you have to understand, Mom was a master makeup artist and actor. I didn’t notice anything was terribly wrong until she passed out and I couldn’t wake her up. I had to call 911. That’s when she finally told us what was going on. I was devastated.”
“And angry.”
“Yes.” She paused. “I think I’m still angry about that.” She nodded at the building. “That helps for some reason.”
His fingers squeezed hers. “Your father didn’t understand why you wanted to live