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He nodded once.
"Your gargoyle protector, and Miss Rory's, too. I told her this some days ago, but the timing never seemed right to introduce myself to you until today."
Some days ago...like the night after the summoning when Rory had come home from visiting Mum? "The imaginary monster in her cupboard, the one she gave her sword to because she said it was a good monster...that was YOU?"
"Yes."
"And you promised to protect her?"
Another nod.
Tacey's shoulders slumped in relief. "So you're here to stop Matt from taking her. To protect her from him."
"Is Matt the man who came to the café today? The one claiming to be her father?"
"He is her father." It might not be written on her birth certificate, but Tacey knew it was true.
The gargoyle looked troubled. "I am sworn to protect her from harm, but I cannot, in good conscience, keep a child away from her rightful father. Or a wife from her husband. Perhaps if you merely went to him and apologised for running away from him with his child, he would forgive you and you could be a family again." His eyes turned wistful. Like he wished his family would do that, whoever and wherever they were.
Huh. Gargoyle families. She guessed they had to exist. Well, if gargoyles existed, then little gargoyles had to come from somewhere, and...
"Why do you not simply ask for his forgiveness?"
Tacey coughed out a laugh. "You think I should beg Matt to forgive me for him trying to kill us before Rory was born? Uh, no. I didn't run. He's the one who went to prison for trying to kill us. I just tried to get on with my life, and bringing up Rory. Until he got out of prison this week, because some fancy lawyer and likely a corrupt judge got together and released him."
Wystan's eyes widened. "He tried to kill you? How did you manage to survive?"
Well, that was a fair question. Even before he went to prison, Matt had been a big guy. And strong, like all swimmers. Nothing like the muscles he'd bulked on since, but still...
"Well, I suppose I survived because I both loved and hated his car..." she began.
Wystan only looked confused.
"You know my car, the one I drive to work in?" she asked.
He nodded.
"Well, he had an old classic Holden. Big and beautiful, but no safety features to speak of, not like mine. So when it's in a crash, no airbags come out to cushion you so you don't get hurt. Anyway, he took my car to work one day, making some excuse about how he didn't want to park his outside with the bad weather forecast, because he'd just had one of the panels repainted. So when I needed to go to the shop to get something, I had to borrow his car. What I didn't know was that he'd cut the brakes...the things that make the car slow down or stop...so when you pressed them, instead of stopping, the car just kept on going until it crashed. Only I was really nervous driving it, so I reversed out onto the lawn instead of the street, and when I tried to stop reversing so I could go forward, it wouldn't stop, until the back bumped into the fence and broke the lights. I was too scared to drive it at that point, so I called a tow truck to take it to the mechanic to get the lights fixed before Matt came home and saw what I'd done, only the mechanic saw the damage to the brakes, which he'd replaced only a few months beforehand, and reported it to the police.
"At first, they started investigating people who might want to kill Matt, because they thought he was the target. Then they started talking to the neighbours, and a few of them had seen him working on the car. Then one of them accidentally opened a letter they thought was for them, but it turned out to have been addressed to me, with a life insurance policy Matt had taken out on me...and suddenly I was the target, and Matt was their main suspect..."
Wystan looked horrified. "Your husband tried to kill you?"
Tacey laughed shakily. "Oh, he's not my husband. We were engaged, because his family was Catholic and he didn't want Rory to be born out of wedlock or whatever, but then they died in a car crash...like Matt, his dad also drove a classic car with no safety features, and they hit a kangaroo that came out of nowhere, so his parents just had no chance...so we agreed to postpone the wedding until after Rory was born. Anyway, Matt was their only child, so he inherited everything, including their superannuation and life insurance, so he went from struggling to work and study and save for a deposit to buy a cheap house for us, to owning his parents' riverfront mansion and never having to work again. He insisted I move in with him there, so I did, but then he got kind of distant. I figured it was just grief over losing his parents, but it turned out he was plotting to kill me so he could have more money from my life insurance." She had a sudden, terrible thought. "You know, he probably still has that policy, too. I mean, as long as he still had the money to pay it...if anything happened to me, he'd be even richer. If he's taken out a policy on Rory, too...that's why I can't let him have her. I can't trust him. The bastard tried to kill us, and a whole jury convicted him of the crime, so whatever that corrupt judge says, I won't believe he's innocent. I can't."
Wystan nodded gravely. "I'm sworn to protect both you and Miss Rory. If this man is a danger to you, then that is what I shall do. I will watch over you both at night, but...during the day, when you are at work and she goes to school, what would you have me do?"
Well, there was one bright spot, at least. "Today's the first day of the school holidays, so she can come to work with me. That way, you could watch over both of us in the café during the day." She frowned. "Though you'll need some clothes on if you're going to be out in public. You can't just let everything hang out like that. At the very least, you'll need pants." She felt her face redden as she did her best not to look down.
"I assure you, no one will see me unless I wish them to. I have grown quite skilled at hiding, even in your café. But clothing seems like a sensible idea, in case I do need to show myself. Where might I find something suitable?"
Tacey thought for a moment. "Well, I don't think anything of mine will fit you, and the other girls wear...well, ladies' clothes, most of the time. There might be some men's clothes up in the attic, though, from people who've lived here before us. You could take anything you like from up there."
"I shall watch over you as you sleep tonight, and in the morning, I shall be ready and properly attired, as you wish."
As you wish. Those three words did things to her insides that she'd thought only happened in romance books. Or the Princess Bride, of course.
"Don't make me regret this," she warned him.
