“The point is if what Henry says is true and he was in charge of dangerous operations, then they might not let him go so easy,” Mel continued. “If he knew too much about something that could get some politician in trouble, they might not let him go at all.”
The thought sent a shiver up her spine.
“Here, honey. I brought you some dinner. I heard what they were putting out on the buffet and worried about you.” Cassidy pushed a bento box her way. It came complete with a reusable spork. “I saw that they assigned the salads to Teeny and Gemma and knew you might need something to eat. It’s some of my beet and carrot salad, some quinoa and black bean bites, and a vegan brownie made with figs. I was real careful. There’s nothing with a face in this.”
“That brownie is surprisingly good,” Mel said.
“And it’s got a lot of fiber. Once you’ve been probed, you need fiber,” Cassidy continued. “Now it’s my first time making it, so…honey, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Cassidy reminded her so much of her mom. She was a woman who viewed reality differently than the people around her and had been so often ostracized. They called her crazy and thought to put her away, but she was kind and good and didn’t hurt anyone except her abusive ex. And apparently reptilians. “It’s nice of you. I was going to ask if you brought the carrot and beet salad. It’s one of my favorites.”
Cassidy beamed her way. “Well, I’m so happy you like it. You eat up, sweetie. You barely even look pregnant.”
The tears were worse now. “I know. I’m only a couple of weeks behind Rachel, and she yelled at me for being too skinny.”
She knew Rachel hadn’t meant it like that. Rachel was on baby number two and had shown quickly. She was not handling it well. Rachel kind of snarled at everyone. Nell knew Rachel viewed it as a compliment, but to Nell’s ears it was one more thing she wasn’t doing right. One more thing she couldn’t control.
Cassidy moved to her side of the table. “Honey, you’re perfect. Rachel is mean when she’s pregnant. I blame the Harper sperm. See, everyone thinks it’s just Max who’s got a bit of the devil in him, but they never got pulled over by Rye Harper when fleeing a potential alien abduction. That man can be every bit as unreasonable as his brother.”
Nell pulled a handkerchief out of her bag. She washed them a lot lately. “Thank you. Most people don’t go to this kind of trouble for me.”
Cassidy gave her a hug. “Well, then most people don’t notice all the things you do for them. It’s not trouble at all. It’s just being neighborly. Now, Melvin, I need to take the rest of this to the buffet. You watch after our sweet girl.”
Yep, she needed to get control or she was going to lose it. She forced herself to tamp the emotions down, though the tears didn’t quite stop. “Thank you.”
Cassidy gave Mel a wink and took off with the rest of her food.
Nell tried one of the quinoa bites. It tasted like love. “She’s so nice.”
“Yes, she is,” Mel agreed. “Lots of nice folk around here. Don’t take it poorly that they can’t get the vegan thing down.”
She shook her head. “I don’t expect anyone to cook for me. It’s just my mom did, and this reminded me.”
“Your momma was a real sweetheart. Had some strange ideas about faeries though. See, a lot of folk mistake aliens for faeries,” Mel began and then stopped. “That wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”
She sniffled. “You wanted to talk to me?”
“Yeah. Cassidy and I have been talking about you and Henry. It’s not right that he left you. Your momma isn’t around, and you didn’t have a daddy.”
Technically speaking she had, but she understood what he was saying. She should take a stand against the patriarchy and tell him that a woman could take care of herself. But everyone needed a family. Man. Woman. She bet aliens and faeries needed families, too. “Thank you, but he didn’t leave me willingly. I told him to go. I kind of forced him to go.”
Mel frowned at that. “Huh. I didn’t think about that possibility. Well, then maybe I should have a talk with you. Henry doesn’t have a daddy either.”
“He lied to me.”
“You are a young lady of strong principles.” Mel continued on like he’d had both speeches prepared. “I understand that, but sometimes in a relationship your partner screws up, and you have to decide what’s more important.”
“It’s not that simple. I know everyone thinks I should forgive him and move on.”
“I didn’t say that,” Mel corrected. “From what I hear it wasn’t like Henry told you. He tried to keep on hiding it.”
“He claims he was going to tell me, but then I walked in when I shouldn’t have. I think I would still have felt betrayed even if he’d confessed to me.”
“And how would you have felt if he’d told you right after you met?”
She’d thought a lot about what would have happened if he’d been honest all those years ago. “I don’t know. I hope I would have given him a chance.”
“I’ve known you a real long time.” When Mel wanted, he had the dad stare down.
She sighed. “Fine. I probably would have protested him. I probably would have used his job like a wall to protect me. I don’t know. I was very attracted to him. I might have tried to sway him to my side.”
“But you did,” Mel began. “Sway him to your side. I’ve known about Henry for a long time, too. I figured it out pretty quick. I know I always talked about how I would protect the two of you if the invasion came, but the truth is, I
