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“Yes, there’ll certainly be a lot of challenges, but I know we can make it work.” She lifted her chin as if I was challenging her on something. I placed my hand on hers, and she settled.
“Sue, we couldn’t be happier about you marrying Dan. You know that. Anyway, Meg and I have made a rather large decision. We feel it’s only right that you two get a proper chance at a real life together, and the only way to do that is have you move in with him, at the safehouse.” I stopped and waited for her to question my words, but her face never changed.
“You mean Shadows?”
“Ah, yes.”What?“Did Daniel tell you about that?”
“Not really. No.” She shook her head. “Ed, your son doesn’t sleep well. He often talks or even yells in his sleep.”
“He struggles a lot,” I muttered and thought about how many people were plagued with the horrors of what they’d seen over there. They still had so much in their heads long after they came back from war. Even though Daniel was getting help now, I knew it could take a long time and a lot of help to ever be free of it. I only prayed that one day it would go away completely.
“I know Shadows is a secret, and I think I can imagine why. I love your son, and I plan on spending a long, happy life with him, too.”
I eyed her over my mug, completely flabbergasted with this amazing young woman. My son had made an excellent choice. The fact that she had never breathed a word about Shadows to anyone meant a lot.
“How long have you known?”
“Since he was attacked at the grocery store. I believe those hippies may have triggered something in him.”
“How much do you know?”
She leaned her arms on the table and looked at me dead in the eye. “How much do you want me to know?”
“You’re spending way too much time with Meg.”
She tossed her head back and laughed.
“My mother-in-law to be and I are a lot alike.” She took a moment, and her face grew serious. “I know enough to understand that if anything got out it would be incredibly dangerous for all of you. As much as I appreciate Dan’s need for secrecy, it means a lot that you would bring me in and allow me to be a part of it.”
“We welcome you with open arms, Sue, but there’s one thing I need you to know before we decide what comes next.”
“Of course. What’s that?”
“Do you know who we’re fighting?”
“Someone in Mexico?”
Wow, Daniel really did talk a lot in his sleep.
“Have you heard of the Mexican Cartel?” Her face dropped, which proved she had. “So, you know what we’re doing is very dangerous.” She nodded, so I went on and filled her in on a few things to make sure she knew the risks. “So, the people we’re fighting with can cross our borders at any time and without anyone being aware of it.” I didn’t want to scare her, but she needed to see the whole picture. “So that means if you’re going to live at Shadows, you could be considered a target. Can you live with the fact that you might need to follow rules, maybe have an escort at times, and live in a house buzzing with soldiers? It’s rarely quiet, and there aren’t many women. There’s still a lot we’ll have to figure out.”
She fiddled with the sugar packet while she thought. I wished I could see inside her head to know if I’d gone too far. Maybe it was too soon to bring up something like this. I began to sweat and tugged at my collar.
“I’ve got a pretty good head on my shoulders,” she finally said. “I graduated top of my class. Who knows, maybe I could be of use to you.”
“Oh, my dear.” I grinned with delight and knew she’d fit right in with the rest of us. I could only have hoped she’d take me up on an offer to work at Shadows full time. “I’m one step ahead of you on that one.”
“Good.” She seemed to like that comment. “Are you and Meg thinking of moving in at Shadows, too?”
“No, we couldn’t leave our farm and animals, but we’ll be there a lot.”
After breakfast, I called Meg to get Daniel to the house, and we headed in that direction with a fun little plan to let everyone in on the news that we were about to break rule number one.
The Army had engrained in me that rules were meant to be followed, but there was an equally strong pull in me that my son deserved this.
“I thought this land was being developed for some bigshot millionaire guy.” She leaned forward to see out the windshield.
“That’s the story we planted when people started asking questions. We knew the build would be widely seen, so we had to come up with a cover story.”