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Swiping the tears away with her sleeve, Phoebe looked at Lainey. “You think I’m crying because my father is going to prison?” She scowled. “Hell, no. I’m relieved he can never hurt me again.”
Her heart ached for this young woman she already loved. Phoebe had been betrayed by the father who was supposed to love and protect her. “No. He can’t. You never have to see your father again if you don’t want to.”
Lainey pulled her close, rubbing her hand over Phoebe’s back. The girl’s shoulders shook, tears dripping onto Lainey’s shirt. Phoebe wrapped both arms around Lainey and clung tightly.
Her tears stopped eventually, and she swiped her arm over her face again, sniffling as she did so. “So what happens to me? Do I have to go into one of those group homes?”
“No,” Brody said emphatically. “We won’t let that happen.”
Lainey sent him a warning look, and he nodded, apparently getting the message. Don’t talk about your experiences right now.
“What happens next is up to you, Phoebe.” Lainey took the girl’s hand. “I’d like to become your legal guardian. We’ll have to talk to DCFS, but I think that would be a formality. I have a friend who works there, and she can tell me what we need to do. You’re old enough to decide for yourself who you want to live with, so that shouldn’t be an issue. We’d have to talk to a judge, but, again, I think that would be a formality if that’s what you want.”
Phoebe stared at Lainey, her eyes wide. Lainey couldn’t read her expression, and the longer Phoebe didn’t speak, the more nervous Lainey got. “If there’s someone else you’d like to live with, a relative, maybe, we can do that, too. It’s up to you.” Lainey’s throat closed, and she clamped her teeth together to keep from crying in front of Phoebe and Brody.
Phoebe shook her head slowly, and Lainey’s heart sunk. Everything hurt. She wanted to wrap her arms around herself to hold the hurt in, but she didn’t want to let go of Phoebe. “Okay,” Lainey sighed after a long moment. “Tells us who we should contact.”
Phoebe frowned. “No. I don’t want to live somewhere else. I want to live with you. I’ve been hoping you’d make it official, but you never said anything.”
“I didn’t want to pressure you, Phoebe. Didn’t want you to say yes because you didn’t know what else to say.” Lainey closed her eyes, saying a quick prayer of thanks that Phoebe wanted this, too. Opened her eyes to smile at Phoebe. “I really want to become your guardian. Maybe adopt you eventually. But I didn’t think it was fair to push it. To take advantage of your situation. You didn’t really have any other place else to live.”
“You think inviting me to live with you would be taking advantage of me?” Phoebe stared at her with an incredulous expression. “Are you nuts? Of course I want to live with you. And with Brody. But I didn’t want to ask. Didn’t want to put you on the spot.”
Lainey took a deep breath. Let it out. Didn’t look over at Brody. Phoebe had said she wanted to live with both of them, but Lainey wasn’t sure that was possible anymore. She’d need to talk to Brody, and she wasn’t going to do that in front of the girl.
“Since we’re all on the same page here, let’s go back to the house,” Brody said, standing up and extending his hands to pull Lainey and Phoebe upright. “We’ll get in touch with Lainey’s friend tomorrow and find out what we need to do. But we’ll have to put any other discussion of this on hold tonight. We have company, so we’ll talk more about this tomorrow.”
He walked between Lainey and Phoebe, dropping his arms over their shoulders. “The two people who were at the compound when this all went down are here -- the woman I met earlier, and her partner. They’re having dinner with us. I want to find out what they plan to do with that compound. And I’m sure they’re curious about what was going on with your father.”
“Okay,” Phoebe said. She looked from Brody to Lainey. “Is this one of those adults only conversations?”
“Absolutely not,” Lainey said immediately. “You can stay if you’d like. Up to you.”
Phoebe nodded slowly. “Since I was staying at that compound, I’m curious what they’re going to do with it.” She glanced at Lainey. “And I want to know what my father did.”
Brody slowed down. Tugged Phoebe around to face him. “Are you sure?”
Phoebe nodded, her chin lifted stubbornly. Lainey took her hand. Held it tightly.
Brody put his hands on her shoulders. “Okay, you have the right to know. Your father murdered other people besides Ron Madsen. I’m not comfortable going into detail right now, because I’m not sure what the sheriff wants public.” He held up his hand as Phoebe tried to speak. “I know you wouldn’t tell anyone else. I trust you. And I’ll tell you eventually, if you want to know the details. But I need to talk to Pete Jacobs first. I don’t want to do anything that would affect the trial.”
Phoebe stared at him for a long moment, then switched her gaze to Lainey. “Those pictures my father wanted -- are they pictures of him murdering these other people?”
“Yes,” Lainey said. “They were in my husband’s belongings, which we assume is why your father killed Ron. Brody and I found them this morning, and the sheriff has them now. They’ll be evidence at your father’s trial.”
“If he murdered other people, maybe I don’t want to know the details,” Phoebe said in a small voice.
“Up to you, Phoebe,” Brody answered. “We won’t tell our guests, either.” As they neared the house, he nodded at Brett’s truck. “Why don’t you get your things, then put all your stuff away. We’ll be in the living room when you’re done.”
When they entered the house, they heard the sound of voices and laughter coming from the kitchen. When they reached the kitchen door, Lainey saw Brett and Vi talking to Mel and Devlin over coffee. All four of them turned when she and Brody appeared in the doorway. Phoebe trailed behind them with her duffel and sleeping bag.
“This your girl?” Mel asked.
“Yeah, this is Phoebe,” Lainey said without elaborating. She was their girl. And hopefully, it would soon be legal. “Phoebs, this is Mel and Devlin.”
After saying hello, Phoebe edged out of the room. “I’m going to put my stuff away,” she said. “Then I need to call Ashley.”
“Go ahead,” Lainey said easily. “I’ll let you know when it’s time for dinner.” Then she turned back to Mel and Devlin, bracing herself for an uncomfortable conversation.
