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“Rafe’s Abuela? Yeah, sure.”
“You remember how she was sick for a while before that?”
“Yes.”
“She wasn’t the greatest grandparent in the world. It didn’t seem, to me at least, that she cared very much about Rafe. But she took him in when her daughter died and the very least we can say is that she did the right thing by him in that regard.”
“Right.”
“But he was only fifteen when she got sick, and once she knew it was terminal, arrangements had to be made.”
“What sort of arrangements?”
“Care arrangements, Mikayla. He was too young to be left on his own. So, the authorities tracked his father down. Not hard to do, he’s pretty much always in prison or on parole.”
“Right,” Mikayla said again.
“So, he rolled into town and a bigger bastard I have never laid eyes on, let me tell you.”
“I can believe that.”
“He dropped in on Sophia briefly, for money. She didn’t have any. He wasn’t much interested in Rafe, either, since he didn’t have much of anything to offer a grifter like Roger McKenzie. But, for reasons I cannot fathom, he decided to take Rafe out. To the pub.”
“Huh? When he was fifteen?”
“Yep. Now, I don’t know all the exact details, but Roger being Roger, got into a bar fight. It started because Rafe caught him out the back lot of the pub, trying to assault a young girl. Not knowing what else to do, he ran back into the pub, calling for help. The girl, thankfully, wasn’t too badly hurt, thanks to Rafe. But, as you can imagine, the blokes in the pub were none too happy about it, which they let Roger know, in no uncertain terms.”
“Poor Rafe,” Mikayla said in a low voice, her heart aching for him.
“Yes. He called your father, very, very distressed. John went and picked him up, brought him back here.”
“Where was I?”
“Youth camp.”
“Oh.”
“By the time you came back, Roger was long gone. Rafe begged us not to tell you, so we didn’t.”
“Why would he do that? I’m his best friend.”
Nora sighed. “Think it through, darling. Fifteen years old, almost completely alone in the world, with the world’s shittiest father. Your best friend is a beautiful, kind, generous girl from a stable, loving home. I imagine he didn’t want you tainted by that.”
Mikayla felt hot tears sting her eyes. “I wouldn’t have felt tainted by that.”
Nora reached across the table, rubbing Mikayla’s hand. “I know. You’ve done nothing but love that boy since the moment you met him. But there was no way we could tell him that. He was too ashamed of his father.”
Mikayla wiped at her tears. “What happened after that?”
“He was pretty messed up, so we sent him camping. With Callum. He was much better when they got back.”
“I love Callum.”
Nora smiled. “Me too.”
Mikayla let out a deep, shuddering sigh. “Poor Rafe,” she said again.
“Indeed.”
