“Andrew,” he said, “it’s precautionary.”
I raked my hand through my hair as I moved down the hallway.
“You need to stay busy beyond your self-defense training. Get out and have some fun. Try to do more to fit in. Assimilation is half the battle of blending in.”
“I assimilated into the woods just fine,” I said. “You were the one who told us to run and lock ourselves away. Now, you’re saying I have to mingle in town and start making friends?”
“I’d pay good money to see your idea of mingling. And anyway, Rebecca needs friends.”
“Hence why I enrolled her in pre-kindergarten.”
“But she needs more consistent socialization, more interaction than just with her father,” he said.
“Then, it’s a good thing I’m looking into getting her a sibling.”
The phone call fell silent, and I rolled my eyes. “Hudson. Come out with it.”
“Uh, did you find yourself a woman or something?” he asked.
“No. But I did find a legitimate surrogacy agency.”
“You’re being serious right now.”
“Yep. Aud—”
“Come on, Andrew.”
“I really hate this. Isn’t your phone secure enough for me to use our damn names?” I asked.
“Humor me.”
“Fine. Rebecca has been pining for a sibling for a while now, and she voiced her wish a few days ago. So, I did some research and had some conversations with what seemed like a professional and high-end surrogacy agency right outside of town.”
“You’re insane. You know that, right? I’m going on record right now and saying that with your current, you know, life situation? It’s not smart. Not even sort of.”
“Got it. But I know what my daughter needs, and I know what I need and want. Another child would make this house a little livelier. It would give Rebecca someone to bond with. She’s a nurturing and caring individual, but she’s introverted, plus it’s not like she can ask anyone she meets to come back for a play date.”
Hudson sighed on the other end of the phone. “I mean, I get it. You’re in a tough place, but here’s the thing. If someone comes into town looking for you, you will literally be the first person the locals point out with the way you are living right now. You’re ‘the grumpy asshole that lives on the mountain with this kid and barely ever comes to town.’ If you start to make a friend here or there, you’re not such an odd man out. It will actually help you to remain more anonymous than you think you’re being now.”
I rubbed a hand over my face. “I know you’re probably right, but I just can’t risk exposing my daughter to too many people.”
“Ok, so you won’t go out to make friends, but you’ll go out to make a child with a random woman you don’t know?”
“Something like that.”
“Are you sure that mountain is doing you favors? Because it sounds to me like it isn’t,” he said.
“You said to run.”
I grinned as Hudson groaned over the phone. “You are one stubborn motherfucker, you know that?”
“It’s still something I’m going to do.”
“Because you’re stubborn.”
“Because I’m willing to do anything to give my daughter what she wants out of life since I’m the reason she’s having to live like this.”
I leaned against the wall and sighed. The guilt I carried around was enormous. My daughter lived this way because of me. She didn’t even know the name she was born with because of me, because I couldn’t keep my anger in check and let the police do what they needed to do. I’d released my anger in a fit of rage, and now, I’d turned my daughter’s life on its head. She knew nothing but the mountain, and while she loved it, she could have had so much more had I not fucked it all up.