“That safe house that you set up for the women and kids… you did that to honor your mother?”
“Yeah. We didn’t have a place like that to go to back then, and I remember sleeping on bus station floors and in apartment building hallways, until she got a steady job and managed to find a place for us to rent. It was a hell-hole, but it was heaven after the bus station, you know? And as soon as I had the money, all I wanted to do – after I took care of Mom – was set up a place for women and kids who had no f*****g choice but to run from the men who were supposed to protect them.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I think that’s great of you.”
She was startled. “You do?”
“Yes.”
“Well, thanks. But it’s not something that many people know about, so don’t tell anyone, OK?”
“My lips are sealed.”
“Can
