“No.” Her tone changed, her voice becoming melancholy and reflective. “The wallet I tried to steal belonged to Dennis Tyler.”
“Your foster father?” Evan asked incredulously.
She nodded. “Dennis and Joan were on vacation for their anniversary. He caught me red-handed.”
“He didn’t turn you in to the police,” Evan guessed, hoping he was right.
“Nope. He and Joan took me to the nearest restaurant and bought me something to eat. When they heard that I was homeless and what had happened to me, they brought me home with them to Amesport. Joan was a retired teacher, and she helped me catch up on my studies. It took me an entire summer of studying to be ready to start school here in the fall.”
“But you did it,” Evan replied, his admiration of her accomplishment clear in his voice. “How did Dennis and Joan manage the distance with foster care?”
“They lied,” Randi explained bluntly. “They claimed to be distant relatives who had guardianship. Dennis was a retired principal at the school, and Joan was a teacher. They wanted to keep me here bad enough to do what they needed to do to get me into school.” Randi’s voice cracked, and tears started to fall down her cheeks. “Two people who had been upstanding citizens all their life lied and manufactured what they needed to keep a teenage kid from the streets. They didn’t want to risk me going back into the system. They were already in their seventies at the time. None of us were sure what would happen if they told the truth and had to go through the legal system.”
Evan was guessing probably nothing would have happened since she was an older child, and hard to adopt. Most likely, the Tylers could have adopted her if they’d pushed the system. But he imagined Randi would have had to go back to foster care at some time during the process since they took her illegally and out of state. He found himself being grateful for the Tylers’ sacrifice and their lies. “How did you get their name?”
“I changed it legally once I was of age. They were the only parents I ever had, and I wanted to carry the same last name,” Randi replied adamantly.
“I would have liked to have met them,” Evan pondered, still pissed off that someone as special as the woman in his arms had grown up so rough. But he was in awe of her strength and her will to survive and thrive. How many kids like her ended up a respected teacher? Evan didn’t have statistics, but he was guessing not very damn many.
Randi sighed. “You would have liked them. They were both very sensible people, but they gave me so much love,” she answered wistfully.
“Why do you think the nightmares are back?” Evan barely got the question out, his outrage nearly making him mute at the moment.
“I think it’s because Joan is gone. She was my rock for so long that I didn’t realize how alone I’d feel without her. My foster parents gave me the education and the resources to live a better life, but I miss them so much,” Randi said, sadness creeping into her voice.
Evan knew she wasn’t without people who cared, but her loss was fueling her childhood insecurities. Although he’d never known the fear of not having a place to sleep or some food to eat, he understood that some fears were ingrained during those early years and could never completely be left behind. He was a perfect example to prove that theory.
It was no wonder she loved her food and ate like it was a religious experience. He guessed when you never knew where your next meal was coming from during your childhood, you savored every single thing you ate.
His chest tightened at the thought of Randi ever going hungry.
His gut wrenched as he thought about some filthy asshole trying to force her to perform sex acts when she was still a child.
I’ll always protect her, make her feel safe.
She had him now, and if he held her close enough, maybe she’d feel more secure.
Wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, he vowed to stay with her as long as she’d let him, and he’d make damn sure she was secure.
Randi might not know it right now, but as long as he drew breath into his body, she’d never be afraid, alone, or lonely ever again.
Will she let me stay once she finds out I’m her email confidant?
Not wanting to risk the chance of losing her now, Evan rationalized that he needed to wait a little longer to tell her the truth.
CHAPTER 11
“What? You don’t like cake?”
Randi looked at Evan with horror as he stared at the carrot cake on his plate like it was a venomous snake. First, he’d seemed unhappy that they were having spaghetti for dinner, mentioning it was loaded with carbs. But he’d eaten it like a man who was starving, and all of his complaints aside, Evan had managed to completely clean his plate. Now, he was eyeing the cake dubiously.
“I try to limit my sugar intake,” Evan replied indifferently.
Randi took a large bite of her own cake, closing her eyes for just a moment as the taste of the rich cream-cheese frosting hit her taste buds. As she opened her eyes again, she stared at Evan like he was speaking a different language. She’d cheated on the spaghetti, doctoring up a ready-made sauce. But she’d made the cake completely from scratch. “Are you diabetic?” She’d never met a man who was in such spectacular shape watch every single thing he put into his mouth.
“No. I was a chubby kid. I was put on a stringent diet, and I haven’t eaten much sugar since,” he grumbled hesitantly.
His parents put him on a diet with absolutely no sweets? There were ways to encourage healthy food for children, but an occasional sweet wasn’t going to make him overweight. “What did you eat?”