Page 14 of Coming Home for Fall 3
“And we appreciate that you worry about us,” she said. “We love that you and your siblings are always looking out for our wellbeing, but I also can’t help but feel a little insulted sometimes. We’re not bumbling old idiots, you know? We can take care of ourselves.”
“I’m not suggesting you can’t.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Taylor was quiet for another moment. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll stop hounding you. I’ll wait until we’re in town and we can assess the situation in person. But if I still have questions after I meet her, will you promise to sit down and talk to me again?”
“Yes. I promise.”
“Alright then. I’ll drop this for now. But could you at least send me the woman’s full name so I can double check she’s not a wanted serial killer or something?”
“I did google her, you know,” Callie said. “After your sister also suggested that she might be a serial killer, I decided to prove her wrong by doing a quick search, and nothing came up. Not that I was surprised.”
“Yeah, but I have other ways of looking people up that are a little more in-depth than google,” he said. “And I could send her name to a couple of my friends who work in criminal law, just to make sure it doesn’t set off any alarm bells. That would make me feel a lot better.”
Callie chewed on the inside of her lip as she considered what to do. On the one hand, she truly didn’t think her son would find anything bad in his more “in-depth” search. But on the other hand, she wasn’t even sure she had the information he was asking for. She only knew Sasha’s first and last name, and she hadn’t confirmed that Sasha Sommers was her real name. As Mallory had pointed out on multiple occasions, Callie never received any official paperwork for this sponsorship, so she only had what Sasha told her was true.
“Uh, yeah, alright. Her name is Sasha Sommers,” she said after a few seconds. “Spelled with an O and two M’s.”
“Middle name?”
“I don’t have that.”
A beat.
“Well, could you ask her what her middle name is?”
“I guess,” Callie said. “But I’m not home right now so you’ll have to wait a few hours.”
“Why not just text her?”
She clicked her tongue. “Because that would be weird. If I texted her out of the blue asking what her middle name is, she’s going to wonder why I suddenly need that information. And it’snot like I feel comfortable telling her that I need her middle name so my son can do a search for any illegal activity in her past!”
“But if she has nothing to hide…”
“I’m not going to text her. I’ll try to ask her casually, but that’s all I can promise. If I don’t get the information by the time you arrive in town, then you can try to figure out her middle name yourself. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have papers to grade before it gets too late and the cafe is only open till two.”
Callie had a feeling Taylor wanted to keep talking, but he ended up sighing and letting her go. “Good luck with the papers,” he said in a slightly defeated voice. “I’ll send you the flight info.”
“Sounds good. I’m looking forward to seeing you in just a couple of days!”
“Yeah, me too. Love you, mom.”
“I love you too, sweetie.”
“Take care,” he added at the last second, and she could tell it was more of an honest request than a casual statement. Callie smiled sadly, hating that she’d given her children so much anxiety when all she was trying to do was help someone in her community.
“Will do,” she replied.
They hung up and she set her phone down, utterly deflated after yet another unsuccessful conversation. She stared down at the papers she had left to grade and then took a sip of her coffee which was growing cold. Despite the desire to go home and wallow in her stress and sadness, Callie tried to shake off those emotions. Getting up, she ordered a refill and then got back to work with a topped off cup of coffee in hand.
Chapter 7
An hour later, Callie was on her way out of the coffee shop when her friend Kate called out to her from the other side of the road.
“Callie, wait up!” Kate scurried over to her; a small stack of paperbacks balanced in her arms. “I’m glad I ran into you.”
“What’s up?” Callie frowned at the books. “Do you need help?”
