Page 56 of Requiem

“Well, maybe you should take a break from that park for a while,” I suggest. “And if you see him anywhere else, please let us know right away.”

Natalie nods her understanding, and I turn back around, rummage in my bag for the eyeliner that will miraculously transform my eyes from invisible to arresting.

“Julia?”

“Hmmm?”

“That guy you and Matthew warned me about when you first hired me … Jeremy? You were worried it might be him, weren’t you?”

I look up at her again in the mirror to find her watching me intently.

“Yes, I thought maybe, but he doesn’t fit the description,” I say after a long moment, turning around to face her.

“I saw the look on your face. You were really scared there for a second.”

I give her the briefest of nods.

“Do you think he might want to hurt David?”

I should tread very carefully here. There’s a fine line between caution and hysteria … I should know, I’ve crossed it enough times.

“Nat, Jeremy Corrigan is Brett’s brother. He and I were together for a while. As it turned out, he wasn’t a good guy. He …he hurt me. And when he did, Matthew fought back in a way that damaged Jeremy’s career. Thankfully, he’s been gone, working in Detroit for more than a year, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since. But …” I pause and close my eyes for just a moment, forcing myself to say aloud the words that I hide from every day. “But he’s not the kind of guy to forgive and forget.”

“Still! You don’t think he’d hurt a child …”

“The single worst thing you can do with a guy like that is to underestimate him; to assume that he plays by the same rules that the rest of us do. He doesn’t. So, yes, I was scared there for a second, thinking he might have come back. But, from what you’ve told me, it doesn’t sound like him.” I give her my brightest, most reassuring smile. “I love that you’re so alert. There’s no one that I trust with my son more than you.”

This makes her smile and blush just a little.

“What about Brett?”

“What about him?”

“You said this Jeremy guy is his brother. But you seem to trust him … and Maggie.”

I nod, thoughtfully.

“Yes, you’re right, I do. There was a time when that was not the case. But Brett was there for me when I needed him …”

This is, of course, the understatement of the year. Had Brett not intervened, my son might not have ever been born. Not if Jeremy had had his way, anyway. But Natalie doesn’t need to know those kinds of gruesome details. Nobody does.

“Yeah, so, he proved himself to be someone I could count on. And he and Maggie have become like a surrogate aunt and uncle to David.”

“Will they be at this event you’re attending tonight?”

I roll my eyes. “I wish. If this party is anything like the other fundraisers I’ve been to, we’ll be eating rubber chicken and trying to convince people to part with their hard-earned cash. I’m sure it’s not the kind of parties you go to,” I grin.

She snorts and tosses a ball of tiny socks into the laundry basket. “Yeah, well, believe me, I’ve been very happy to trade in the loud, sweaty mob scene for a standing Friday night pizza date with David. He’s always happy to see me, never makes ridiculous demands and never complains about staying in and watching TV. He’d be the perfect man if I could get him to wipe his own backside!”

As I shake my head and laugh with her, a sudden wave of gratitude washes over me.

“You know, Nat,” I say, my tone turning serious. “We don’t have any family, Matthew and I. So, when we come across people like you, and Brett, and Maggie …we just kind of assimilate them into our lives. They become our family

“Assimilate! Ohhhhh, I like the idea of that!” she beams at me with her big, toothy grin. “Like you’ve sucked me up into your pod, or something! I just love SciFi, you know.”

I didn’t. But I’m glad I do now.

Natalie Hughes is a welcome addition to the Ayers pod.