Page 111 of Nave
“It was amazing. The instructor was great,” I said, sharing a little smile with her.
“Right? I can’t believe someone as talented as him was willing to teach some of his skills for free.”
“Did you bribe Junior, or did Peyton threaten him?”
“A little bit of both,” she admitted.
Yes, Junior.
Teaching a coding class.
I never could have guessed that I would find my passion in computers, of all things. After all I’d been through with Ben, I figured I would have a knee-jerk aversion to technology.
But once I got a laptop, I was hooked. Not just browsing the internet and making design boards for the nursery, the house, the backyard, and the future basement remodel, but getting into the nitty-gritty of how they worked, about coding and hacking and security.
Once Junior told me about how Ben had slowly, methodically found me, how he’d stalked and hurt his exes, an idea sparked.
And suddenly, I knew what I wanted to do.
I wanted to work in internet security.
I wasn’t sure yet if I wanted to be a penetration tester or a security analyst to prevent stalking, or to become a forensic analyst to prove someone was stalked so their abuser could go away. But I knew for sure that I wanted to protect vulnerable women from predatory men in this new day and age of internet stalking.
Best yet? Junior assured me it was a career I could do from home, so I didn’t need to be away from my baby once she came.
Now that I knew Nave better, understood his work and income more, I knew that he was capable of providing for us fully without me bringing in an income. But Iwantedto bring in money. Even if I didn’t charge much for my services.
Nave had been thrilled for me when I’d decided on this path, claiming that Navesink Bank was full of security experts and hackers who could teach me everything they knew—from Junior to Junior’s mom, Alex, and their aunt Janie. To the newer crew at Hailstorm. I had a wealth of knowledge to draw from as my skills improved.
Though, right then, I was still learning the basics. One day a week, coding with Junior. Another day a week, learning cybersecurity with a local expert who used to work cyber crimes for the FBI.
I was loving it.
“How has Blanche been settling in?” Luna asked. “I love her name, by the way.”
“She’s great! Edith is such a good big sister. She keeps leading her over to the water dish, like the puppy is going to forget where it is. And she shares her toys and chews with her. Even though Blanche is like five times her size.”
We’d put feelers out about possibly getting another dog. It took no time at all for our vet’s mother, Rey, to deliver. A local rescue had come across a hoarding situation where twenty-six different sized poodles had been pulled out of deplorable living conditions.
Blanche had been an eight-month-old black standard poodle who had to be fully shaved down to get rid of her mats and clear up a skin condition from the bacteria being trapped beneath.
Nave and I knew the moment we saw Edith ignore all the other dogs closer to her size and rush over to a sad-eyed Blanche.
Once we talked to the rescue, making sure Blanche was dog and kid-friendly, we brought her home.
Edith was thrilled.
We were so happy to watch a shy, abused dog come out of her shell and learn to trust and love. Now, she was a complete treat, doing zooms so hard that the carpet flipped over and she knocked lamps off of tables.
Edith even brought her new sister over to meet the big dogs at the homestead when we did our usual visits.
I didn’t live there any longer. I wouldn’t ever again. But a part of my heart and soul was at that farm. I’d felt freedom there. I’d started to heal there.
So I stopped by to see the animals, to pet the dogs, to see Kit and Ariah’s new projects, to listen to their plans and talk about my own.
On top of my classes and trips to the homestead, there was also a girls’ night with Gracie, Layna, Luna, Willa, and the other princesses, if they could sneak away. As if that wasn’t enough, Nave’s parents had us over every weekend for dinner. And, occasionally, I still hung out at the clubhouse to get closer with the guys.
I went from being all alone for pretty much my whole life, to being surrounded by people who loved me and who I loved back, people who brought so much joy and kindness to my life.
