Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
S am sat at Kelly’s small kitchen table playing solitaire. The irony wasn’t lost on her that he was playing a game meant for one. When they’d been together, they’d played a version where they each contributed to the other’s game. It had been fun, and she’d forgotten all about quiet moments like those until his subtle, and probably unintended, reminder.
She’d given up her watch the day before and Sam had never given it back, but he also hadn’t given her more than a few hours on her own. Even that morning, he’d knocked on her door at 5 A.M. to make sure she was there and safe. If staying apart meant that she had to get up early every day, she wasn’t so sure she couldn’t bear making that happen. Even Zeus looked grumpy over the wake-up.
The dog loved her. Even now, with the choice between her and Sam, he laid at her feet. His head rested atop her left foot and every once in a while, he’d shift his gaze up to hers as if to ask if she was all right. As she’d suspected, dogs were the most loyal of God’s creation. Zeus barely let her use the bathroom without putting up a fuss if she stayed in too long.
Kelly cleared her throat to break the uncomfortable silence that hung in the room. There were words between them that needed to be said, but her mouth had a serious blockage when it came to talking with him. What she had to say would bring him pain and he’d been hurt enough. She’d already told him that she’d been trafficked while they were together. Any other details would only tear the wound deeper.
“Is something wrong?” Sam glanced up from his game.
“Sort of. I had planned to call my bank today and figure out if there’s a way to get Nathan off it.” She rolled her shoulders to relieve the tension, but it was fruitless.
“What bank?” Sam tapped the stack of cards in his hand to the table.
“West Central Savings and Loan, but I don’t bank locally. I’ve never been to Piper’s Ridge before now.” Her bank wasn’t even a big chain.
“Let me look on my phone and see if they’re connected to any bank in Cheyenne. I know you’re not supposed to go all over the place, but with Nathan supposedly hanging around here, going there might be a little reprieve.” He tugged his phone free of his flannel shirt pocket and laid it on the table.
With a few taps of the screen, he pulled something up, then started scrolling. Kelly knew nothing about cell phones. She hadn’t been able to afford one when she’d bought her house and, after that, she hadn’t been allowed to have any communication with the outside world, though she hadn’t ever wanted any.
“Looks like they’re connected to a bank in Cheyenne. Let me text Connor so he knows where we’re going. He may ask me to take someone else along, like Edwyn. Just warning you.”
Kelly couldn’t hold back her flinch. Outside of the one time he’d been nice, Edwyn just rubbed her the wrong way. It was like the actions he did naturally just were not compatible with how she lived. Oil and water. “I’d prefer not. If there’s anyone else on the team, I’d prefer them over Edwyn.”
Sam glanced at her with an out-of-character wide eyed look. “You don’t want Edwyn?”
She slowly shook her head. “Between what I perceived as your abandonment at church and his glares, I was super uncomfortable. I’ve already talked to you about that and know that you didn’t really abandon me. But Edwyn . . . I simply can’t get along with him. We’re too different. He’s a rule follower, gruff, loud . . .”
“And you used to be the girl who loved a party, bent the rules—but not because you thought you were outside of them—and generally lived to see others and yourself happy.”
Kelly tucked her chin to hide her face. That had been what she was like then. Not so much now. Though he was right, she had been a rule bender. Maybe that’s part of the reason her grandmother had thought she was such a bad girl. Grandma would’ve gotten along wonderfully with Edwyn. “That was a long time ago. Now that you say all that though, I can see why Edwyn doesn’t like me. I’m forcing Connor to rethink his rules.”
Sam made a dismissive gesture. “Don’t put that on your shoulders. That was a long time coming. Brendon has been pushing for years for Connor to change those. It’s not that he disagrees with the ideas. No one welcomes lying or spouting profanity. But if we’re going to profess Christ, even a little, in what we do then using a paraphrased version of something from the Bible is like saying the original isn’t good enough.”
“So, the rules would’ve been in contention anyway?” She hoped so. It seemed like everything about her had caused upheaval at Wayside. Between her former relationship with Sam breaking one of Connor’s big rules and the drone activity slipping past their security, she was a lesson in what Wayside needed to change.
Sam picked up his phone and used his thumbs to type out a text, then she heard the swoosh as he sent it. “It would’ve come to a head sooner or later. If you have anything you need to do before we leave, you should do it. He won’t tell us not to go, so you can get ready if you need to. I’m going to take Zeus back to the kennels.”
She gripped her knees, then reached for her new companion. “Can’t we take him along? Please? Maybe instead of Edwyn.”
Zeus, as if he knew exactly what she was asking, looked right at Sam and whined. Kelly scratched him behind the ear. “Good boy.”
Sam laughed, bringing a little light to her, just a single beam she could feel deep inside. Laughter was like medicine to her torn and abused soul. She tried to laugh with him but couldn’t remember how and gave up after a second. The voice inside her head that sounded like her grandmother snarled at her. You sound fake. Just like everything about you. You can’t even laugh right.
“I don’t think I’ve heard you laugh in years.” Sam stood and came over to her, then rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I hope I get to hear it more.” He whistled for Zeus. “We can take him along, but he still needs to go outside first. There’s nowhere to get off the road easily if he would need to get out of the truck before we get there. He also won’t be allowed in the bank, so we’ll have to lock him in the truck.”
She wished he could, but he wasn’t really her support animal in any other sense than that he was helping her feel human again. He wasn’t trained for that purpose, so he could be a risk to other dogs who were trained. “Are you okay with that?”
“He will be fine in the truck for a little visit, but let’s plan to go to a wide-open park area after the bank so he can run a little. That will make the trip worth it for him. Not that he won’t love a ride, anyway.”
That one word, ‘ride’ made the huge dog not only get up but start acting like a puppy. Kelly wanted to laugh at his wild antics as he lunged forward, his long legs splaying out in front of him, then popping back to his feet. He gave a deep “woof”, then ran for her door.
“I guess that settles it. I’ll get ready and meet you outside.”
As soon as the door closed, leaving her without the two who made her feel safe, she felt watched once again. She’d already checked the room for cameras and there hadn’t been any, but after living under scrutiny for years, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her every move was on camera and being relayed to Nathan in some way.
Kelly shook her arms and hands to physically shake away the feeling, but it didn’t help. After using the bathroom and brushing her hair, she grabbed her small, almost empty purse and headed outside. Her new driver’s license had finally arrived the day before, so for the first time in years, she had real identification with the right name on it. Praise God, she was who she said she was again.
Sam waited on her porch while Zeus sniffed around her yard. “Ready?” He pushed away from the wall and waited for her to answer.
“I am. I hope we can get this fixed. With him on my account, I’ll never be able to make money again. He’ll take it all. He promised to pay me . . .” She knew the promise was most likely a lie, but she needed that money to start over.
The ride in the truck was more enjoyable than she’d thought it would be. Zeus sat at her feet with his nose pressed to the window, gently fogging up the lower half. The thing she enjoyed the most though was that there was nothing about the ride that reminded her of her past. Like riding the horse, it was blessedly free of memories and open to feelings that were outside of her norm.
She opened the window slightly to clear the fog and the blast of cold air hit her in the face. She blinked away the sudden tears from the cold. “I keep forgetting how freezing cold it really is here.”
Sam snorted as he adjusted the country station on the radio. “After a while, it becomes second nature. Cold is just cold, warm is just warm. The only thing that’s semi constant here is the wind. It blows right off the mountains and just keeps rolling all the way to Nebraska.”
Funny how her world had felt so small for so long and Sam thought in terms of whole states. “Do you travel a lot?” She needed the distraction of conversation that had nothing to do with the purpose of their trip. That made her nervous enough.
“I do. Connor allows me to go look at dogs who are about to be euthanized in shelters. I’d like to save more than I do, but in order to work for Wayside, they have to meet certain criteria. Unfortunately, the abused ones rarely fit.” His voice lowered slightly. “I wish I could do more.”
Saving abused animals. She could picture Sam doing that and loving it. He was so calm and patient. Sam was like the Sam from the Lord of the Rings, about as opposite from the usual hero as possible, yet that made him all the more her hero. He’d rescued her, just like she’d hoped for originally. If they hadn’t had the relationship they’d had then, she would have no one at Wayside to trust now.
“The fact that you care at all and save some says a lot.” She said the words nearly without thinking. When had she started giving compliments again?
“Thanks.” He grinned. “I do my best. I understand Connor’s worries. We always have to consider the guests and their safety. I’ll be glad though when Haven, the ranch next door, is finished and we can move in. I plan to put a kennel over there too so the dogs who are in danger and don’t fit at Wayside have somewhere to go. I still can’t save them all, but what else can I spend my money on?”
True, he didn’t have a family or wife. His lodging and meals were completely paid for. “You’ve been saving for quite some time?” He had the opposite problem she had.
“Yes. I don’t know why, though. I have no one to inherit what I’ve saved. I’ll never have to buy a house. After I’m too old to work at Wayside, I guess I’ll rent an apartment because Connor doesn’t have any kids to give the ranch to. When he retires, Wayside is done.”
She’d heard from the people at the halfway house that human trafficking was on the rise and bigger than it’s ever been in documented human history. The thought that even one place that benefited those who got out would disappear at some point in the future left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Could he sell it?”
Sam shrugged. “Maybe, but to who? Who could he trust completely?”
Anyone could look at it as a way to find out secrets, not do what the ranch was intended to do. “That’s sad.”
“Let’s hope Jesus comes back before that happens. Not only because it would be sad, but because I don’t think I could survive a tiny apartment with no dogs or the freedom to ride my horse whenever I want.” He laughed as he pulled into a spot in front of a small nondescript brick building. It looked like it had been there since the 1800s, which gave the feeling of resiliency Kelly needed, even though she doubted the bank had been in that location for that long.
Sam lowered both windows about an inch, then locked the doors as they got out. Zeus didn’t want to stay in the truck when, clearly, the fun was being with them, but after Sam gave a quick whistle, he settled on the seat.
“He’s such a good dog,” Kelly said. “ I wonder if he would take to training to be a support dog?”
“Are you asking if you can have him as a service animal?” Sam raised an eyebrow.
“Maybe, though it doesn’t matter because I don’t have the money anyway. Plus, being without him right now so he could go through training would be hard. I’m really connected to him.” Even now, her heart raced at leaving him in the truck. She wanted so badly to keep him at her side.
Sam took her hand and settled it on his bicep, then opened the front door for her. The motion was so second-nature, he probably didn’t even realize he was doing it but with it, she suddenly felt at peace once again. No one there could hurt her. Sam was at her side.
He led her over to a woman at a desk just a few feet from the door. “Good morning. I was wondering if we could speak to an account specialist?” Sam asked.
“Absolutely. Do you have an account with us?” The woman glanced between the two of them.
“Yes,” Kelly answered slowly, then tugged her purse off her shoulder. The action felt like she’d been forced to release Sam. She dug out her wallet and tentatively handed her the new license.
The woman typed up something in her computer, glancing back to Kelly every few seconds. She handed the card back to Kelly with a fake smile. “Mr. Andrews will see you shortly. You can wait in that seating area over there.” She pointed to a small circle of three leather chairs near the center of the small bank.
“Thanks,” Sam answered for her and led Kelly over to the chairs. He waited for her to choose a seat, then chose one next to her. “I wouldn’t think it would be more than a minute.”
Kelly snorted. “Probably not. My account is empty. They were probably looking at me like that because they thought you were Nathan. He completely emptied my account of every cent shortly after he added himself to it.”
Sam flinched. “Hopefully we can fix that.”
Mr. Andrews left his office and came to get them. Welcome to West Central Savings and Loan. Please call me Don. What can I do for you folks today?”
Folks. What a weird word. Oddly, it made her feel old. “I have some questions about my account. ”
“Then I’m just the guy to talk to. Right this way.” He led them back to his office, which was a glass wall with a sliding door, then motioned for them to sit in the two plastic chairs opposite his desk. They looked uncomfortable, and she found her assessment to be true as soon as she settled into one.
“Now, what kind of questions do you have for me today? I took the liberty of looking up your account before I went to get you and your account is currently in suspension because it’s been empty for a few years.”
She nodded, gathering her thoughts. Defending herself didn’t come naturally. It never had. “I found myself in an uncomfortable situation a few years ago. A man who . . . was close to me . . . took advantage of me and added himself to my account without my permission.”
Don’s brow furrowed. “I beg your pardon? We don’t just add people to accounts. There are signatures and proof that need to take place.”
“He stole my driver’s license and had someone else come in who looked similar enough to me to get away with it. They signed the documents, and he was added to my account. You can look at your screen. When I called into my local bank a few days ago, they even told me that he was the one who emptied the account.”
Don didn’t seem nearly as friendly as he pounded the keys, then gripped his mouse, clicking with so much force it made her shrink back. What had she done wrong? “I’m not blaming you. I’m telling you what happened. My question is, can I get him off my account?”
He abandoned the screen and turned back to her. “What would be the point of keeping that account? It’s empty and I can’t simply take your word for it and remove him. Why don’t we start a new account for you? It’s only twenty-five dollars and we could do that while you’re here today.”
Twenty-five dollars could’ve just as well been a million. She had nothing to her name. Not even a penny. “I can’t do that.”
“Then I can’t really help you today. I’m sorry.”