Page 2 of Coming Home for Fall 2
“Her baby isn’t.”
“That’s not the point! And how could you even bring up the idea of a stipend! Your father and I didn’t do this for the money.”
Mallory shook her head, frustrated. “I wasn’t implying you were. I only brought up a potential stipend because that would be another reason for there to be paperwork.” She gave her mom a look. “You can’t actually be telling me that there isn’tanypapertrail to speak of. That would be very odd if true.”
“I spoke to the social worker,” Callie repeated herself. “I had already been listed as a regular donor, which I set up about a year ago, and so when I got the call from the shelter, I wasn’t that surprised.”
“Wait… they calledyou? Just out of the blue? Had you ever put your name down on a list of people who would sponsor someone?”
Callie took a beat. “I don’t recall anything specific like that, but possibly! Maybe when I signed up to have regular donations,I checked a box that said they could also contact me in these situations. That sounds like something I would do.”
Mallory closed her eyes for a second, pushed the pads of her fingers into her temples to try and stave off her headache a little while longer. “Mom, I don’t like the sound of this.”
“What do you want me to do, Mallory?”
“Nothing,” she said. “You don’t have to do anything. Just let me do a little more research so that I can feel more comfortable with everything. You said you’ve been giving money to the shelter regularly. That means you probably have receipts from those transactions. Can I see them?”
Her mother drew back with offense. “I really think you’re overreacting. Why would you need to see the receipts?”
“So that I can get the name and phone number of the shelter. I want to make a few calls and just double check that this is all on the up and up.”
Callie rolled her eyes and huffed. “You and your father are so distrusting sometimes. He was asking a lot of these same questions before Sasha got here.”
“He should’ve been. These are very reasonable things to ask. Mom–”
Her mom put a hand up to stop her. “Listen, honey, I’m sorry that I can’t provide you with all the details right now, but here’s what Idoknow—there was a young, scared, single mom living in our community with her eight-month-old daughter and she needed help. Now, she’s living under our roof and I can at least sleep well knowing that she and Dot are safe. That’s honestly all I care about, and it should be all anyone cares about!”
“But if she’s not who she says she is—”
“I don’t want to hear it,” Callie cut her off again. “I’ve come to know Sasha very well, and I trust her completely. Besides, the decision to let her stay has already been made, so you justhave to find a way to accept it. Now, if you’d like to go back inside, I will get some coffee brewing, but only if you agree not to question Sasha about any of this.”
Mallory laughed. “I can’t ask heranyquestions?”
“Not if you’re just trying to sniff around for lies.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then recalled the reason she was at her parents’ house in the first place. She was there to do just as Sasha had done—seek shelter. She’d lost her job, been evicted from her bug-infested studio apartment in Chicago, and was back to ask for help. She didn’t exactly have a leg to stand on when it came to questioning her mother or Sasha.
“Fine,” she groaned, not sure who she should even be frustrated with anymore—Sasha, her mother, or herself. “I’ll be nice, I swear.”
“Good.” Callie smiled and turned to the door. “Then come on in. Oh, hang on.” She turned back and wrapped her arms lovingly around Mallory. “It’s good to see you, sweetheart.”
Mallory hugged her back, much of her anger melting in the warmth of her mother’s embrace. “It’s good to see you too, mom.”
Upon re-entering the house, Callie nearly lost her footing as she walked right into one of Mallory’s duffle bags. Sasha and the baby were nowhere to be seen, for which Mallory was eternally grateful. She didn’t want there to be any witnesses to the conversation she knew she couldn’t avoid for much longer. Rushing to move her bags off to the side, she caught a glimpse of her mother’s worried expression.
“You’re staying for a while then?” Callie asked.
“Yeah, well…” Mallory straightened up and forced a smile. “That’s sort of up to you and dad I suppose. Can we talk about it over coffee? I didn’t get any sleep last night and I feel like I could crash any second if I don’t get a sip or two of caffeine in my system.”
Callie pursed her lips but nodded and led the way into the kitchen. Mallory looked around for her dad, but all was quiet in the house. As if reading her mind, Callie said, “Your dad is on a work call right now. I think it’s international, and he’s got those noise cancelling headphones he uses, so he can’t hear a thing that’s going on outside of his office. I’m not sure when he’ll be done.”
“Ah. I see.” Mallory took a seat at the kitchen island and her mother got the coffee pot going. “So, how long has Sasha been here?”
“Two weeks.”
“Wow. And you didn’t think to tell me?”
Callie smiled thinly over her shoulder. “Sweetheart, it’s not like you’ve been great at keeping in touch with us either. I was going to call and let everyone know before Thanksgiving, I just hadn’t had the time yet. It wasn’t like I was keeping Sasha a secret.” But the way her mom laughed after saying this, told Mallory that maybe she had been planning on hiding the truth.
