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Maggie sighed, stomping her foot slightly, annoyed with his questions.
“I don’t know everything about him. I know he came from Mexico City about five years ago, and he has actually lost family members to the cartels. He’s the youngest son of a businessman in Mexico City. I believe it’s a family restaurant. He was sent to mission school, which was the only option for him since they were very poor growing up. I don’t know exactly why, but he is trying to help women and children get out from under the yoke of the cartels. And he’s had friends who’ve lost loved ones, pressured to release family members on pain of death. I met him briefly when I was down there before. In fact, I believe he leaked some of the information about my whereabouts to our state department. In a way, Brady, you owe him a debt of gratitude.”
“But I can’t talk to him, Maggie. That bothers me.”
“I’m sorry. Again, this is not negotiable. Please understand me, if I felt it was unsafe, I wouldn’t go. But he needs me. He needs my knowledge of what the cartels were running when they had held me captive. He needs to know who he can trust and who he shouldn’t trust. He also thinks that the community would trust an American doctor, a nurse, and he said they are sorely in need of someone with neonatal capabilities. Many of the girls who are having babies are young and forced to give up their children for their freedom. He wants me to help him identify especially those girls.”
“One more time, Maggie, I just want his full name. Would you honor that? At least that?”
“His full name is Salvador Esquivera Ronaldo Salazar. But the locals call him Father Salvador. I’m not sure how long he has been a priest, but I know he’s been in San Felipe about five years. He’s approximately thirty-five, he’s very well-respected in the community, and I’ve read articles he’s written in a Catholic magazine printed in Mexico City. I don’t think he would be writing those articles if he was in fear for his life. But he is like a small beacon of light in a very dark world, and for this limited period of time, while I can train other women to help with the clinic, the birthing, and help him identify some of the signs that I noticed, my job will be complete. I’m not going to run the place. I’m going to train other people to run it.”
“But he could hire someone to run it, to train them.”
“He cannot afford to hire anybody for this training. It has to be volunteer. I want to do it, Brady, I want to be helping shine light on that dark world.”
As the girls readied themselves for dinner, Brady was tending the steaks on the barbecue. He pulled out his notepad and wrote down the priest’s name. He was going to have to give Charlie a call tonight, after the house was asleep. But he needed her to get started on the research. He hoped he’d be able to find something further in Maggie’s things but wasn’t looking forward to it. He felt like a heel.
Emma was tired and went to bed after watching one of her television programs on her computer. Tate slipped next to her on the bed and settled down, staring back at Brady. They closed the door to her bedroom, and then he brought out the wine and two glasses so they could sit on the back deck and watch the orange sunset reflected in the valley. The sun was behind them, but the resultant glow in the clouds made the whole sky look bright orange. It reminded him of some of the sunsets he’d seen when he’d been in Mexico himself.
He poured a glass for each of them, handing Maggie hers. Then he clinked glass to glass, and they both took a sip.
“I just had to throw in one more thing you’re going to miss. I hope you don’t think I’m being unfair,” he said to her.
She smiled, swirled the red liquid in her glass, held it up to the light of the sky, and then took another sip. “I will think of this evening when I’m down there, Brady. I will miss you both terribly. But I’m doing the right thing. I know there are always risks in life. But I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least try. You understand, don’t you?”
He nodded.
“I was so looking forward to spending years and years here, getting my fingers dirty, hiking, helping you build things, raise animals, and raise a family. I’d like to have more children, if you’re game for it, Brady.”
“Absolutely. I was expecting that would be one of the first things we’d work on. I never thought I’d be saying bye to you so soon. I respect you, Maggie. I respect how strongly you feel for the causes in your life. I just want you to make sure that you think of me and Emma. We’re important, too, and life would not be the same without you. Please, you have to promise me, if anything begins to go sideways or you get a whiff of something you don’t like, you will give me a call or text or send me your location, and I’ll be there as fast as I can. Will you promise me that?”
“Of course, Brady.”
“I think by the time you’re back in a month or perhaps less, notice I keep saying less, because I’d like you back sooner not later.”
“I get it. I do.”
“Anyway, while you’re gone, I’m going turn Emma into a world-class master gardener. She has such an aptitude for all living things. She loves her chickens, she loves the plants and seeds, and she loves Tate. I think sometimes she feels like she’s creating some magical world of special objects that talk to her, that she’s somehow mothering and responsible for. She’s a protector as well. All three of us, Maggie, are the same that way. It’s almost like it’s in our DNA, and we passed it on to her. Do you know what I mean?”
“I do. I think you’re right.”
She stood, finishing her wine and taking his empty glass. “Come on, Sailor. I need some goodnight kisses and a little extra attention right about now, if you don’t mind.”
Of course, Brady didn’t mind one bit. This part he could play. He would make her wish she’d reconsidered and brought him along with her. He was going to make it his mission tonight to make sure she missed him so bad she wanted to return in a week. Maggie was the most valuable thing in his life, outside of Emma. And the wonderful thing about her was that the more he loved her, the more he felt she gave him back. Just having her in his world had brought him back to life.
He was going to show her how far he could go and remind her what she’d be missing.
