Word Weld

When Candice and I entered the house, I held a finger to my lips to warn her to be quiet, but she hissed my name and told me,

“You’re bleeding on the floor!”

Actually, I was bleeding on my arm, but it was also getting on the floor. Rats.

“Do you have any towels?” she asked me, following me to the bathroom, where I began painfully removing my shirt. Halfway through she started helping me, which was a great relief. Naturally, I acted irritable.

“I can get my shirt off by myself,” I grumbled. “There should be towels in the hall closet.”

I had a tank top on underneath to preserve my pride, but it allowed full access to my offending appendage. And yes, it was pretty offensive. Sarah’s bullet had been a little rushed, which probably saved my life, but she nailed me pretty solidly in the right arm, a little below the shoulder. Fortunately for me the bullet had sailed right through, perhaps grazing the bone, but who could say? At any rate, it was kind of messy.

When Candice arrived with a hand towel she gasped at the wound, which I was currently washing. I winced and, as my former pain came out of hiding, strove very hard not to curse, or scream. Every ginger touch to the torn wound rebuked me with shocking force. With Candice watching me, a deep look of sympathy on her face, I was obliged to appear unfazed by the pain that I was extracting from my body. My chin had a nasty bruise on it and my lip was cut and bled somewhat too. Candice’s look was so sympathetic that I actually took stock of myself in the mirror and was forced to conclude that I did not look like a valiant hero. I looked like a mess. Then I felt stupid. After all, Willard had only hit me once.

“I know you probably think this is some kind of a show you’re putting on,” Candice declared, “but if you’ll sit down I’ll help you and it won’t hurt as much.”

“It’s really not that bad,” I persisted.

“I’m not going to make you go sit down, I’m just offering. I just want to help.”

I stared at her and I have no idea what expression was on my face. I then plopped myself down on the toilet seat and extended the bloody cloth to her.

“Do you have a first-aid kit?” she asked, kneeling.

“There’s one in the car and one in the pantry.”

“Well, let me clean this up first.”

She filled the bathtub up to an inch or two, and used it to wash the hand towel when it was saturated. My wound had started bleeding more when it was disturbed, oddly enough, but it was beginning to subside at this point. As I sat watching her for a change, I realized just how beautiful she really was. She was a darling creature, really, with her soft orange-tinted eyes and her messed up but otherwise lovely reddish hair. Her little hands with their long dainty fingers were so gentle. I would definitely try to look on the bright side of this arrangement.

“So that was your sister and her husband?” I asked.

“My sister Sarah, yes,” I felt her get just a tad bit rougher when she said the name. “Willard isn’t married to her yet, though, he’s her fiancé. He’s also a bit shady in his business. He used to own a contracting firm, but when a rival firm accused him of sabotaging their work, he sold the firm to save face and now plays thug for Sarah, though he has a brain in him if you and that Shadow guy didn’t knock it clean out.”

“Let me get it straight,” I decided to summarize the evening for my own benefit, “you got an email claiming to be from your father about a second, newer will? How can that happen, since your sister wouldn’t collect until he was dead, right?”

“Father isn’t dead, he’s in a nursing home, and he doesn’t do very much. My sister and I are the last of the children and we were both born late in his life. Dad got ill when he was sixty-five and has really just been struggling all this time with staying alive, which the will states is reason enough for it to go into effect. Sarah bullies him into not remaking his will so that he has to go by the old will, the one made before I was born.”

“Wow, how do these things happen anyway?” I was genuinely impressed.

“You mean, how did we end up here?” she grinned. “There you’re on your own. My sister and I have been at odds for years, and she always tended to be a bit ruthless. I never believed that she could actually kill me, though. She’s changed in recent years. I almost can’t believe that tonight actually happened. Did I really see that dark man?”

“Yeah, you saw him,” I sighed significantly. “And now you’re hooked, just like me. You have to do whatever he says, since you owe him, you know.”

“That might not be the place I wanted to be in life,” Candice rose and left for a moment to get the first aid kit. “But I am glad I’m alive. I almost died tonight.”

When she had gone I continued to sit ingloriously on the toilet seat and contemplate what she had said. I thought that just doing what he wanted was being grateful, but maybe I was actually doing no better than not helping him at all. Maybe my perspective was wrong? She returned momentarily with the first aid kit, opened it quietly and proceeded to bandage my arm after sterilizing it.

“Are you going to be okay?” she inquired.

“Oh, I’ll be fine,” I said, this time genuinely feeling better. “I just need to get some ice on this face of mine. Willard’s fist turned my face into gelatin for half a second, and it didn’t settle right.”

I rose and staggered down the hall gingerly on my way to the kitchen. I located a plastic zip bag and filled it with ice from the freezer. This I applied to the injury, wincing as a shock of pain and a sharp cold sensation went straight to my jaw. I groaned but continued to stubbornly press the ice against my face.

“Hey,” I heard from behind me in whisper. Turning as my head started to throb, I stared into the eyes of that gloriously beautiful creature. At that moment, I could not remember ever seeing a woman any more lovely. I still can’t. “I just want to say thank you. I don’t really know your name, it’s… Shane?”

“It’s Shay,” I replied, and my voice sounded hoarse and distant, but my eyes were fastened on her beautiful face. I was so glad at that moment I had saved her life. “Shay McKee.”

“You know me already, I think,” she offered a hand awkwardly, “Candice Castle.”

Slowly I took the quivering, soft hand in mine.

“Pleased to meet you,” it was so soft I thought maybe I hadn’t said it out loud.

“I can sleep on the couch,” Candice offered.

“Huh?” I realized the ice pack was no longer touching my face. Somehow, I hadn’t noticed it slip away. “Oh, no! Of course not! No, I have a guest room, but unfortunately no bed in it. You can just take my bed. I’ll just take the couch out here.”

“Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t dream of having it any other way, Candice.”

“I’m really fine−“

“I insist.”

A few minutes of tiptoeing around eventually had the two of us both situated. Thank goodness it was Friday night and tomorrow was the weekend! A perfect night for a rescue. Unfortunately, something was nagging at my mind that at the moment I could not determine. It was partially obscured by the image of beauty that had invaded my home and my senses. I could live with this.

But that morning I awoke with the sunlight starting to pour in through the big window in the living room, a window with no curtains. I squinted and realized that I had forgotten everything. Then it came back to me: “Oh, yeah, a beautiful woman is staying in my house.”

Then I heard the soft padding feet behind the couch. That would be her, but I would pretend to be asleep, just for fun. To my disappointment, she kept going and went down the other hallway. It was as I heard a door opening that the little something that I had forgotten came back to me with enough force that I sat up. It also came full force that having forgotten this thing was so inexcusable that for a moment I held my head and felt dizzy. I had to act…now. I threw the blanket off myself and darted toward my room with un-morning-like speed. When I saw my bedroom door open, my heart coughed, and I hope you know what I mean.

“Uncle?” I heard the surprised voice I’m sure you were all expecting I would mention next.

“What?” a sleepy voice followed, and then that sharp taking in of breath associated with women.

I entered the room, now thoroughly too late, and stared down at Kyle, who was standing two paces from my bed (two paces he had retreated). Candice sat up in the bed, but had fortunately slept in everything but her most exterior clothes. She looked from Kyle to me, clearly surprised.

Meanwhile, Kyle looked up at me with a thousand-question look.

“Uncle, are you having an affair?”

“No, n-no, Kyle!” I chuckled, putting a hand on his shoulder. “This is, uh, my cousin, cousin, Candice, heh! She’s had some trouble back home and is going to stay with us for a while. She’s been looking forward to meeting you.”

I looked at her, smiling. She grinned back, doing an excellent job, and affirmed,

“Your uncle and I don’t talk often, but when we do, he always mentions you.”

“Do you believe it’s wrong to marry your cousin?” Kyle asked without the least shade of tact.

“Okay, Kyle, we’re not starting that,” I turned him around and propelled him toward the door. “You go turn on the TV and I’ll be there in a few minutes. I need to have a word with Aunt Candice.”

“It was nice to meet you!” he called back.

“You too,” she replied as I shut the door and locked it.

“Why didn’t you lock the door?” I asked in a whisper.

“I don’t know, I probably just forgot. I was really tired last night. Anyway, I don’t remember you mentioning having a child!”

“I was really tired too, you know,” I defended myself. “Anyway, the Shade made that brief remark about a ‘chaperone,’ remember?”

“I didn’t think he was talking about a child!” she stood up. “And you just lied to him! What kind of an example is that for a young boy?”

“Well, I’m certainly not going to tell him about last night! If I did, I’d have to tell him all about the Shade and my leaving at night−“

“That’s right, isn’t it?” Candice fumed. “You leave him here alone at night, don’t you? What if he’s frightened? What if there was a burglary? What if he was ill or just had a nightmare? Then what? What was your backup plan then?”

“I don’t sneak out of the house often, only when he calls me, and so far he’s only called me up twice, and so far one of those times has been to save your life, so I wouldn’t be complaining too much!”

“I still don’t think−“

“I just do what I can, Candice.”

“Well, now what?” she went on. “I need to get some clothes, and some bathroom articles, and are you just going to leave him?”

“He’s old enough, he’s eleven!” I argued.

“Why can’t I just come with you?” came a muffled voice from the living room.

I pushed the door open and stared intently at his eyes peeping over the top of the couch.

“It’s not polite to spy on private conversations, Kyle; you know that,” I was afraid he heard the whole deal, but he apparently only heard the last bit because I spoke a little louder.

“If Aunt Candice needs to go to the store I could come too, though,” he repeated. “I couldn’t help but hear that last bit.”

“This whole thing is a bit sudden, Kyle,” I came and knelt by the couch. “Your Aunt and I have a lot to discuss, so I think you should stay here while we go to the store. We’ll be maybe an hour or two.”

“But we always watch cartoons together,” he looked disappointed. “At least let me go too.”

“Why not just let him come along, Shay?” Candice put in. “If we get going soon we may get back in time to catch a few of the later shows, right?”

“Come on, Uncle!” he pleaded.

I was displeased with Candice now, since with him there we could not talk about anything that regarded our real situation. As it was, though, I had them both against me. So I did what any responsible man would have done: capitulate.

“Oh, all right, but you’d better hurry up and get dressed.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Candice lamented to me when he had raced off for the hall bathroom. She ran her hand through her now disheveled red hair and felt her makeup, which was also in a state of disrepair. Her clothes were wrinkled, too. “I’m a wreck, Shay,” she continued, “I feel embarrassed enough just standing here with you looking at me! Am I supposed to romp around town like this?”

To my great shock, she started crying.

“And I’m supposed to live here and I don’t know you any better than Jimmy Carter, and you have a child, and I don’t know when I can ever go home because my sister is trying to kill me, and…”

She sank onto the couch and wept while my inexperienced male brain was currently in a state of deep and abiding confusion. Perhaps it was because my sister had been so calm and unemotional (for a woman) that I did not seem to be prepared for spontaneous crying. I consoled myself. After all, she probably wasn’t like this all the time; she just had a rough night. She hadn’t cried last night, and she had been about to be murdered!

I sat next to her on the couch and hesitated. I wanted to put an arm around her, but first I had to peek around behind to see if Kyle was watching. He seemed to be brushing his teeth. Slowly I stretched my arm out behind her, without touching her. She made no change, just kept sobbing, so I extended my fingers and gently took hold of her shoulder. To my surprise, she made no acknowledgement of my presence.

“Hey, it will be alright,” I spoke up, my voice unsteady, suffering from that extreme discomfort that comes from being in the presence of a crying woman. “Maybe you’ll go home sooner than you think. And anyway, it won’t be so bad living here. Kyle will keep you busy and−“

Candice looked over at me through tear-filled eyes. She was not the kind of woman who cried profusely, but rather shook, trembled, and convulsed more than cried.

“Say,” I said, sounding more upbeat, “I think I have a few of my sister’s belongings in the garage! She might have left some makeup, clothes, or maybe even hair supplies. Come on, and we’ll see.”

I rose and offered her a hand, which she glared at, then took quite willingly, and I walked her to the garage. There were a number of boxes inside, and in about three or four of them were old belongings of my sister that I had not gotten rid of because she had wished to keep them in the family. To my satisfaction, there was a single wardrobe box with some of my sister’s favorite clothes, and a second box in which there were hairbrushes, combs, an old makeup kit or two, mostly used, and a few bottles of something for hair. It wasn’t the best or even very much, but it brightened her considerably. It also made her cry more.

“I really couldn’t,” she told me, with the items she needed in her hands. “I mean, these all belonged to your sister…”

“Who won’t be needing them,” I interrupted. “Renee is in a better place now and she doesn’t need makeup anymore, and she’s got the finest clothes you could ever want.”

Candice said nothing more until I opened the wardrobe box and found that, to my dismay, it contained only dresses, some of them quite fancy.

“Aw,” she said in that “tender” way that women use sometimes. “These are so lovely!”

“And totally inappropriate for going shopping, I might add,” I quipped, holding up an evening gown that would have passed at an Austrian ball. “Let’s see if she doesn’t have something casual in here…”

The only thing I could find for her was a blue and white dress, just a bit longer than the knee. My sister obviously used it for going to church. Without a jacket or anything special, it looked reasonably casual. There were no shoes in the box, so she had to wear her own, but they didn’t clash terribly. I went inside to kick Kyle out of the hall bathroom so I could get ready, and left Candice the master bathroom.

“Come on, soldier, double-time,” I ordered the boy, who was combing his hair.

“Uncle,” he looked up at me, “I don’t remember you ever mentioning a cousin like her. She’s really attractive.”

“I suppose I should be thankful you’re only into girls for my sake,” I quipped, sharing the mirror to brush my teeth with a spare toothbrush.

“Candice is a cool name,” Kyle continued. “Can I call her Candy?”

“No,” I said flatly, “you need to show her some respect. She’s much older than you.”

“I’ll bet she wouldn’t mind if you called her Candy.”

“I’m sure that isn’t true, and if it were, I’m certain I wouldn’t.”

“Why don’t people marry their cousins, anyway?” he frowned at me.

“It has to do with genes, buddy. Because your cousin is a close relation, marrying her can damage your children’s DNA, I guess because of the similarities in your genes? Anyway, I’m no biologist, but that’s a fair summary, I think.”

For a moment he was thoughtful, then looked up at me and declared,

“I think you should marry her anyway.”

“Get out of here!” and he flew out of the bathroom.

It was not twenty minutes later that found us hopping into the car for a trip. My car was not a minivan, by the way, but a black six-year-old BMW sedan. It was not the example of a family car, but it fit us nicely anyway. Candice’s most needed items right now were some clothes and cosmetics, along with toiletries. We went to the local Sears, since the Wal-Mart fashions had been a little drab of late (or at least that’s what Candice said).

We walked through the mall for some time, and actually had a good time. We didn’t put a hole in my pocketbook, and Kyle behaved himself above reproach. I found his behavior suspicious, especially how hard he tried to get along with Candice. He mentioned the “Candy” thing to her, though I had hoped he wouldn’t. Of course, she liked it. We were at the food court in the mall.

“Oh, they used to call me Candy as a child, and even in college,” she told him, smiling. “If you want, you can call me Aunt Candy.”

“Aunty Candy?” Kyle asked hopefully.

“Sure,” she laughed.

“Maybe I shouldn’t, though,” he caught a glimpse of my face.

“Nonsense!” she answered. “You don’t really mind, do you, Shay?”

I glared at him for an extra moment, then looked up at her and smiled in the most sudden and unconvincing way possible.

“Whatever you think, Candice.”

“It’s harmless,” she gave me a look like I was being picky. “You call me Aunty Candy if you like, Kyle.”

“I think I’ll just call you Aunt Candy,” he decided, no doubt feeling good about himself because of the compromise. “Do you think you’ll ever get married?”

“Now you listen here,” she looked him right in the eye. “Your uncle and I are not going to get married, no matter how much you hope for it, so you may as well give up, Kyle.”

He looked crestfallen.

“Your uncle will find someone someday, Kyle,” she at once felt bad, I could tell. “It’s not that he won’t, it’s just that you need to leave it to him. He knows what to do.”

“Uncle doesn’t really like women…”

“Hey!” I was seated beside him at the table, so I grabbed the back of his neck and shook him a bit. “That’s not true! I have nothing against women! In fact, I like them as much as the next man. Really, I like women.”

“Aunt Candy is a woman,” he said.

“Yes, I know,” I squeezed a little tighter, “and I like Aunt Candice.”

“I like her too,” Kyle smiled, bending over from the pressure.

“Don’t hurt him, Shay!” Candice said from across the table, and I was forced to release him. “He’s just a boy. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a mother. Kyle, I’m very sorry about your family.”

“Me too,” he looked genuinely sad, and I felt stupid again for some reason. I hate that. “But I have Uncle. He takes care of me. He’s like a Dad to me.”

“That’s so good, Kyle,” she looked as tender as a woman could be.

We sat quiet for a few moments.

“We feel like a family,” he declared.

I knew it was coming, I had felt it. Candice apparently didn’t and her compassion evaporated quickly.

“We are family, not a family.”

“Uncle isn’t a bad guy,” he leaned over the table and almost sounded pleading. “He’s not bad looking and he has money! I’d be a good kid, honest I would! Anyway, uh, I know you aren’t his cousin.”

Candice sat back, crossed her arms, and looked up at me with that “I told you this was a bad idea, and here it is, just what I thought. So what are you going to do now?” look on her face.

“And what makes you think that?” I left open the possibility to continue the ruse.

“I heard you talking when you were in your room.”

“You said you could only hear the last part,” I reminded him.

“No, I just said that was the part I couldn’t help hearing. I had to try for the first bit.”

“Sometimes…” I set my jaw tightly.

“Okay, so now I suppose he deserves to know the whole truth,” Candice told me.

“All right,” I sighed. “This is how it goes, Kyle…”

I explained the facts as they stood. Kyle was a bright kid and understood everything. The part he liked best was that Candice and I were not related, although he was intrigued by the Shadowman too, and both he and Candice showed interest in my first adventure.

“So what happens now?” Candice asked. “Now that we all know, I feel better about it, but what does it mean to things? Nothing?”

“It means,” Kyle declared, “that you have to drop the whole cousin thing and pretend to be married, of course!”

“Kyle…” I began, having had just about enough of him.

“No, seriously!” he persisted. “If you said you were some obscure long-lost relative, people would be more suspicious, not less. But if you pretended to be married, people would get over it pretty quickly.”

“Kyle, you can’t reinvent your family,” I told him seriously, trying not to be too hard on him. “Candice doesn’t know me from Adam, and I don’t know her from Eve. Add to that that we’ve been thrown together against our will due to circumstances neither of us can control. I think we’re both hoping Candice won’t be here very long.”

“I have a life of my own, Kyle,” Candice tried to be tender with him. “It’s not that I’m trying to be mean, I’m not! I just can’t be your mother. Hopefully this will all be over soon.”

We returned home, having missed all the morning cartoons. Kyle was not himself and I wished I had not been so careless as to let him find out about us. At the same time, I felt badly about having lied to him in the first place. I was beginning to hate being a hero, and I hated my debt to the Shade even more. Candice was obviously unhappy too. Watching a movie failed to cheer us at all, though we watched it anyway. After it was over we watched some TV until dark. Then it happened.

I happened to flip the channel to a news station. It was covering the story of a fire in the suburbs. Then Candice sat bolt upright, a look of horror on her face.

“That’s my house!” she cried, staring at the screen in disbelief.

The news anchor’s voice filled our hearing as we dedicated our minds to the story.

“That’s right, Jonathan,” she was saying, “the fire started about six this morning and fire crews struggled to keep it contained to this house. This house belonged to 27-year-old Candice T. Castle, a local bank manager for U.S. Bank. By the time the fire was reported it had already spread to much of the house. Though firefighters are still searching, Miss Castle’s body has yet to be recovered. Firefighters suspect the disaster was caused by an electrical fire…”

“My house!” Candice was clearly overwhelmed, and Kyle and I were right beside her in an instant. “Do you realize what this means? I’m dead! If I declare myself to be alive, Sarah will find me and kill me!”

“She must have planned it,” I guessed. “She knew that if you were dead, she could take away everything that was yours, and that would bring you out of hiding.”

“Now I can’t go back,” she was bordering on hysteria now, tears welling up in her lovely eyes. “She’s destroyed my life! Where can I go now?”

She sat and cried and cried until my feeling of discomfort was almost painful.

“You don’t have to go anywhere,” I declared. “This place is safe from Sarah. You’ll take on another name and, until your sister is brought to justice, you’ll stay here with us.”

Candice lashed out at me, “Oh, and you want to play married couple now too, huh?”

“Go get a box of tissues, will you, Kyle?” I asked, very serious now. He went right away.

“Look, Candice, I have to do what I know is right,” staring at her evenly, I went on, “None of us asked for this, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have to do something. Now you can go to the police, but they won’t believe you over Sarah. You can live with family, but Sarah will be watching them. Sarah doesn’t know about me. You can stay here safely while we work to bring her down. The Shade is still on our side.”

“So you’ll just act like I’m your wife?” she gestured in an exasperated way.

“I just want to help you because that’s what‘s right,” I said, feeling unsure of myself. “If I have to I’ll marry you for real and then when it’s over we can be divorced.”

“Divorce is wrong, Pastor said so,” Kyle could not help saying. He handed her the tissues.

“Kyle!” I silenced him with a look, and turned back to Candice. She was staring at me like I was crazy.

“You’re crazy!” she said aptly. “You would just marry someone you don’t know at all, just to divorce them later, just to protect them? Why would you do that for me? Do you just want to take advantage of me?”

“No!” I rose, losing my patience. “I don’t even know what I’m saying! I only want to help. If you want you can walk out that door, and I’ll even try to find you a place to stay. I’ll give you some money to get on as long as you can… just tell me what you want to do and we’ll do it!”

She sat in her tear-stained glory, shaking and staring at me in total disbelief and confusion. I felt awful for her, really. I have no idea what I would have done in her position.

“Uncle’s not a bad man,” Kyle spoke up. “He’s a Christian, so he would never hurt you or take advantage of you. He takes care of me… he loves me like I was his son. He’s good at loving people… really.”

“Think about it, Candice,” I asked. “Just think about it for a while.”

“Think about what?” she replied. “Am I deciding whether or not to pretend to be married, or am I thinking about actually marrying you?”

“Whichever you want!” I shrugged.

For a moment she sniffed, but the sobbing had subsided.

“That’s hardly proposing, is it?” Candice commented, forcing a smile. “It certainly isn’t what I expected in a romantic relationship! Here I am, I fall into my murderous sister’s little trap, the next thing I know everything I own is destroyed and I have to marry a man I don’t know just to stay alive! Couldn’t we just pretend to be living together?”

“If I wasn’t a Christian, yeah,” I answered. “I have a good reputation in the church, and people would be appalled if it was told I shacked up with someone. They’d take me for a backslider.”

“Then backslide!” she blurted out.

For a moment I stood silent, half ready to say yes, strongly wishing to say no. Fortunately I was not forced with that difficult decision.

“No, of course not,” she shook her head sadly. “I can’t ask you to destroy your life just because mine has been. That wouldn’t be fair to you or Kyle.”

“We could just pretend to be married,” I told her. “That way, you won’t have to commit to anything.”

“But what about complications?” she asked. “What about your church? They’ll want to know all about me. What about wedding rings? What about identity for me?”

“Your identity has been taken care of.”

“How?” she asked, then realized that I had not said that.

We turned, frightened, to the source of the words. There, by the back door, was the Shade!

“You!” I fumed. “This is all your fault…”

“Is it?”

“Yes!” I stood right before him, trying to stare down his emptiness. “You messed up both our lives, destroying them for what, your own pleasure?”

“Was that before or after I saved them?” I could tell he crossed his arms.

“Well…” I stopped.

“My house is destroyed,” Candice rose to face him too. “Everyone thinks I’m dead! What am I to do now?”

“Trust me,” he told her. “I have dealt with everything, Candice. The circumstances are indeed unusual. Nevertheless, we still have options. Through the help of other of my agents, I have been able to supply you with this.”

From the inside of his intangible coat he took a tangible object: a manila envelope. This he handed to Candice. At the Shade’s invitation, we all sat at the table and she looked over its contents. Within she found a number of documents and a plastic bag.

“These are personal records,” she frowned, examining a birth certificate. She picked up a current driver’s license and then declared, “This is my picture, but this isn’t my name. It says Marion C. McKee… Marion McKee?!”

The Shade’s wide-brimmed hat nodded, indicating that his head did also.

“Oh, my…” she picked up the plastic bag and found inside three rings. She almost seemed to be in a trance as she took out the fused pair that was her wedding ring and tried it on. Of course it fit perfectly. I took mine and tried it on too, and it fit as well.

“You will be well-protected with this guise,” the Shade declared. “You will find a marriage license in the paperwork as well, all very legal.”

“How did you obtain fake documents?” I asked.

“As I said, you are not my only agents. There are those in city hall and higher that owe me debts. You two have only to lie low until I find more leads on Sarah’s activities. However, if I should need your help, you must be ready to assist me when I call upon you. Thankfully, Candice’s house and work was on the other side of town, so she will not easily be recognized. Even so, your new records show you to have black hair and green eyes. As such, I have included a package of permanent contact lenses in the appropriate color to cancel out your amber ones. It would not be difficult for you to obtain your own hair dye. Also, you have a fabricated work history close to your actual history with which you can obtain work if you so choose, though you would be less conspicuous and more available for my use if you were to assume the role of a homemaker.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she leaned on the table, covering her forehead with her hand. “I’m suddenly married? We might as well be actually married!”

“That is an unusual comment, and not one I expected,” the Shade sounded amused. “My ruse will allow you to pass as married, but if you find it is to your liking, I suggest explaining your situation to a pastor who is another agent of mine. I will help you get in touch with him. Once he knows your situation, he would be able to perform a private ceremony for you.”

“Can I be an agent too?” Kyle asked, very excited about everything.

“Perhaps in time, my friend,” he chuckled, and in a flash was up again and by the sliding glass door to the backyard. “You are both well-meaning people who have fallen upon difficult times. My heart goes out to you especially, Candice, for you have lost everything. As unpleasant as your current state is, however, it is for your good. I will be in touch.”

Without opening the door, he passed into the blackness beyond! I rose and went to the window. On the outside of the door was a sticky note. I opened the door, retrieved the note, and examined it as I shut the door.

“It’s an address,” I said. “It’s for a Pastor Harbar.”

“Please don’t be mad Aunty,” Kyle put a hand on her arm and stared into her eyes, her crying eyes. “I know it’s weird, but we care about you.”

“You don’t even know me,” she said softly.

“It will be fun to get to know you though.”

“I wish you could try to think of us better,” I asked her. “We didn’t ask for this, either. God knows I didn’t. But we’ve opened our home to you, and our hearts, so that maybe some good will come of this. You don’t have to know a person to want to do what’s best for them. Christians are supposed to help wherever we can.”

“I suppose I have to go to church with you, too?”

“I just was reminded recently,” I ventured to say, “that though this isn’t the place I wanted to be in life, I’m just glad I’m alive.”

“You think you’re smart, don’t you?” she squinted.

“No, Candice, I just think that a little trouble is worth a lot of life. I for one am glad to have you here, even though you’ve never once acted grateful for the things we do to sacrifice for you. That dress you’re wearing belonged to my sister, but I didn’t hold it back. I bought you everything you thought you needed today. I didn’t ask for this either, but I can make it easier to live with.”

Kyle stared from her to me. Candice stared down at her wedding ring. It was very beautiful. The Shade’s own clothes may have been empty void, but his taste was still good.

“I’m sorry if I seem ungrateful,” she apologized. “My life has gone from ten to zero in a single night. It’s not easy for a girl to deal with. And now I’m married for all intents and purposes.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll sleep on the couch,” I assured her.

“Every night?”

“If I have to,” I shrugged.

“Maybe we should just go see that pastor friend of his,” she sounded utterly depressed. “I know it would make Kyle happy.”

“I’m happy now,” he proclaimed. “I wouldn’t want you to marry Uncle if you’d be miserable.”

“I’m not trying to be ungrateful,” she reiterated, “but I don’t think very many girls go through this kind of thing!”

There were a few moments of silence in which I toyed with the piece of paper in my hand. I didn’t even notice her rise and walk over toward me.

“Shay,” she said, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to hurt you or Kyle…”

“No, I’m sorry,” I interrupted. “I’m sorry you have to go through this, I’m sorry there isn’t another way.”

“Maybe it won’t be as bad as it seems,” Candice tried to look hopeful. “Who knows, maybe we’ll end up in love in the end?”

I swallowed, then said something very stupid, “I wouldn’t mind that one bit.”

Kyle called out, “Neither would I!”