“First, we need to know why your mother keeps trying to get you to come see her. How long has it been since you’ve spoken to her?”
“The last time we spoke was at least two years ago. Which was also the last time I saw any of them.”
“Are your parents and siblings your only family? And what can you tell us about them?” Sebastiano asks.
“Yeah, my father, Steve, is in prison. He went in when I was ten, so he’s been in for fourteen years. I suppose he might be out now, I’ve never checked. And then there’s my mother, Martha, and my two sisters, Krystal and Brooke. They’re three and five years older than me.”
Francesco is taking notes as I talk.
“I wish there was a way to find out what she wants without having to see her.” I sigh.
“I’m thinking that maybe you need to actually meet with her and find out. Not alone, of course. You should take a few of the family and tell her where you want to meet. Maybe even the bakery. We can monitor things better there,” Sebastiano suggests.
“That sounds safer than going to her or having her pick a place,” Emerson adds.
“So should I unblock her? Or answer this last text?”
“I’d say answer this last text. Most people don’t know that they’ve been blocked. But it feels like she does, and I don’t understand that one. Unless she’s good with technology?” Francesco says.
“Not that I know of. She hated computers.”
“How about your sisters?”
“Krystal barely finished high school and Brooke got pregnant her senior year. Other than that I really don’t know much about any of them, I moved out when I was sixteen. At that point,Krystal was working at the grocery store near where we lived and Brooke lived next door with her kids and her current boyfriend.”
Emerson
Listening to Sawyer talk about her family makes me sad for her. I can’t imagine growing up with people like that. My da didn’t have to raise me the way he did. He could’ve treated me differently from my brothers and sister, he never once did did that. But my beautiful Sawyer, she’s had to feel that way every day of her life. I make a silent promise that she’ll never feel like that again.
“Why don’t you text that last number and tell them you’ll meet them at the bakery. We can do it today if you want. Or tomorrow,” Sebastiano says.
“I’d like to get it over with. I guess it’ll depend on what she says too.” Sawyer sighs.
I hold her as she sends the text. Her mother answers right away and agrees to meet in three hours. She even has the nerve to say she wants to see River.
“I refuse to bring River to the meeting,” Sawyer tells us.
“I agree, River stays here. I don’t want them anywhere near him.” I frown.
I can’t help myself, I don’t know if me speaking up will make Sawyer mad. But River is my son and I won’t let them near him. I look at Sawyer to see her reaction and she reaches up and kisses me. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“We can ask Mama if River can stay with her. And who should we have at the bakery?”
“First, let me call my mam and give her a heads up. The bakery’s open so I’m hoping that will make your mother be civil to you,” Sebastiano says as he gets on his phone.
“I think it should be Ares, Adonis, Celestino, Sebastiano and me. And we’ll have Seamus, Connor and Arturo as backup.”
In our family, every woman has a bodyguard. Because Sawyer is mine now, she will have one too. I don’t know who it’ll be yet, but I will be asking one of the family to be hers. This thing with her mom is making me want to get that done sooner rather than later. First, I need to tell Sawyer that she’s going to have one. I don’t think she knows about the other women having them.
“So I need to talk to you about something and I was going to wait. But now that it seems like your mother is trying to make trouble, I can’t wait.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, nothing’s wrong. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but every woman in the family has a bodyguard. And I need you to have one.”
“Are you serious? Why would I need one?”
“No matter what, you would’ve had one anyway.”
