Chapter 21
The storm had left a lot of damage and the snowplows were doing their best, but it was going to take time to get through the worst of it. Chay felt a twinge of anxiety thinking about Gracie and Ava at home by themselves, wishing he was with them. That was new.
As he did routine safety checks on the elderly and people with disabilities, he sat in the feelings.
Let them surround him, realizing that his world had grown by two.
It was nice. He had food and blankets and medical supplies.
All of the officers had made it in, and they had divided up the town and were taking quadrants to inspect.
He’d gotten the one where his grandmother was; they all had people they wanted to check in on.
All of the vehicles at the tribal police office were fitted with snowplows, so they were able to get into places that the town’s plows hadn’t reached yet.
He cleared his grandmother’s street and then started at the end to help shovel out a path from the doorway of each house to their vehicle.
Grandmother was happy to see him. She looked tired but well.
“How was it?” she asked him. Her friend who lived next door was getting her stuff together so that Chay could get her back to her home.
“Not too bad. We lost power about midnight, I’d guess. You?”
“Same. I told Fiona that you had a generator set up for me. We fiddled with it, but decided the fire and candles were enough for us at first. Then it got really cold, so we went out there to try again,” she said.
Chay wished he’d been with his grandmother. “Next time you both come and stay with me. I have plenty of space. Did you get it working?”
“I did. I even made sure to ventilate. Just a bit—the snow is coming in the garage when I went to outside to check on it,” she warned him. “Not much.”
“I’ll take care of it after I get Fiona home,” he said, hugging his grandmother tightly.
She always seemed so indomitable, but she was getting older and would need more help from him.
Something he knew he had to factor into raising Gracie.
If he decided to apply to be her adoptive father, he needed to be aware that his grandmother was going to need more time as well.
Could he handle raising a child and caring for an elderly relative?
He knew that was a question that many dealt with.
He thought he’d be able to handle it. Especially with Ava by his side.
But he had to be sure on his own. Life didn’t come with guarantees.
Plus, he liked contingencies, where he knew he’d be okay without anyone else.
“I’m ready. I’m leaving my loom for now,” Fiona said.
“I’ll bring it over once we get you settled. Grandmother, you wait inside.”
Aponi gave him the side-eye. “Like I was going to wait out here.”
He ignored her sass, offering Fiona his arm.
He’d already shoveled out her house. He took her bag from her, putting it over his shoulder as he walked at her pace back to her home.
Fiona’s house was cold, but Chay got her heat working and made sure the appliances were all good as well.
Then made two more trips, bringing her lap loom and some food that his grandmother wanted Fiona to have.
He worked at his grandmother’s house getting the snow out of the garage and making sure the generator was turned off properly and stowed away.
“Were you alone during the blizzard?” she asked while they sat at her table with a cup of coffee.
“You know I wasn’t,” he said. She was fishing for information, and while he had no issues telling her about himself and Ava, the fact that she was being cagey made him want to do the same.
“You’re hardheaded.”
“So are you. We were good. Gracie dealt with it pretty well,” he said. Then realized he wanted to talk about the baby. Ask the questions he had been trying to answer on his own. “Grandmother, I’m thinking about filing to adopt her. I know I’m probably the last man you’d expect to do that.”
“You’re not. I’ve seen the way you are with her. You love her. What did Ava say?” Grandmother asked.
“She’s the one pushing for it. I haven’t told her yet.
I don’t want to make a mistake that will affect Gracie.
She’s already had so much tragedy in her short life.
We don’t know who her father is, and the way her mom was found dead—that’s going to impact her.
” Chay stated all of his fears. Wanted to make sure that his grandma knew he wasn’t taking this decision lightly.
“Sounds like you’d be the best man to be her father. You understand that situation better than most. And I’ll be here to help you, as will Ava, I’m sure,” Grandmother said.
“Yeah, she will be, but that’s complicated, too. I really like her. But will I crack under all this? It’s a baby, a girlfriend, commitment…”
“I bet you get even stronger, Chay. I’ve never met another person who handles adversity like you do. You get stronger, quieter sometimes, but always stronger. Those two will be lucky to have you and me if you decide to adopt. But I think you already know that. Why are you asking me about this?”
“Never hurts to get a second opinion from one of the wisest women I know,” Chay admitted.
“I thought I was the wisest,” she said smartly, but her smile beamed at him.
“Well…there is Ava. She’s pretty smart—in a different way than you. She’s pushy like you as well.”
“That’s why I like her,” Grandmother said.
They laughed at that. His radio crackled.
“Benally. Jacob Colton is trying to raise you. Got to channel six to speak to him.”
He switched channels.
“Benally here.”
“Is Ava with you?”
“Yeah. She’s at my place. What’s up?”
“That’s a relief. I just found out that Daniel Wayne is out on parole.”
“Since when?”
“Two weeks ago. But you’re with her, so that’s good.”
“She’s at my place. I’m in town helping with the aftermath of the storm,” Chay said. A rising sense of panic filled him. “I’ve got to go.”
Fear and panic drove her to try to get away from him. Her mind was trying to make sense of the fact that he was here. He was coming after her.
Daniel Wayne.
How was that possible?
She struggled to get back into the house, her hands clawing at the door as she heard him behind her.
His hand was on her wrist, grabbing her, knocking her off her feet.
She hit the patio hard, pain shooting up her tailbone into her neck.
She bit her lip to keep from crying out, not wanting to disturb Gracie.
Fear was coursing through her, and all the self-defense training she’d had after Daniel had started stalking her was a distant memory. She couldn’t remember a single thing.
Panicking, she kicked out hard, but her foot bounced off his thigh. He grabbed her ankle and twisted it as he pushed her again. The strength in his push told her physically she was no match for him, but she wasn’t just going to go meekly with him.
“Good to see you remember me,” Daniel said. His voice was still so calm and warmly modulated. He’d never sounded like a monster, which she thought he should have.
“Who are you?” she asked. “I mean, you look familiar.” She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she’d never be able to forget him or the terror he evoked in her.
He kicked her hard in the stomach.
“Keep it up. I’ve been watching you and your…he’s not your husband, but you two have a kid…I thought you were waiting for marriage,” he said, dragging her to her feet by gripping her upper arm.
“When I was eighteen,” she said. “Life was still so new. I didn’t want to take a chance on having a child before I was ready.”
“You are mine. You were always mine,” he said, hitting her hard across the face. Her head flew back, and she hit the side of the house.
Pain exploded in her head; she saw stars. Daniel was in a rage.
“If I was yours, than why did you start seeing that other woman?” she asked. Her mind was frantically trying to come up with anything that would distract him enough that she could get away. Get inside the house and lock the door until Chay got here.
“You went to the cops. And they were making it difficult for me to see you,” he said. “She understood what I was going through at first. I told her what a bitch you were. How you came onto me and then when I got serious, you pushed me away.”
“Then she pushed you away?” Ava asked. “Maybe it’s not her or me who were the problem.”
He grabbed her hair in his hand, yanking her head back as he got in her face. His hot breath brushing her cheek. “Oh, it’s you bitches. All that damned feminism making you think you don’t need a man…but you know the truth. That’s why you’re shacked up with your baby daddy.”
“I’m not shacked up with anyone,” she pointed out. “I don’t need a man.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said. “In time you’ll change your mind. You’re going to need me more than ever.”
Fear washed over her and she started struggling in earnest to get away from him, but he wasn’t letting up. She had to talk him down. Distract. Acknowledge his pain and then get him to move around it.
“I was too young when we met, Daniel. I didn’t know what I was looking for in a relationship. We had some good times,” she said. “Remember the fall festival?”
All the truth, but also there had been something about Daniel that hadn’t felt right. She hadn’t really had an inkling of how off he was, but she knew that he wasn’t the kind of man she wanted a future with.
“You were so young,” he said. “The fall festival…I won you that stuffed—what was it?”
“A unicorn,” she said.
“Do you still have it?”
“No,” she admitted. “I didn’t keep anything from those years.”
“Too painful,” he said, watching her like a hawk.