Every Kiss(106)

“What? Would you just tell me what’s going on? This is really freaking me out.”

“We’ll get there.” She picks up a pen and taps it on her desk. “But first, I need to know how much you already know, so I know where to start. You know about his ex-wife, his biological mother, or his volunteer work here?”

“Yes, yes, and no.”

She grins wide, showing two perfect rows of white teeth. “Well, if you know about the first two, that tells me you must be special to him. The third one isn’t much of a mystery, but it’s how we started our little side arrangement. You see, back when Wes was in college, we’d just gotten this clinic started, and he was needing some community service work hours for some extra class credit. At the time, I had no idea what would make a guy choose to volunteer at a pregnancy crisis center. But I didn’t give up until I understood why he is so passionate about these young girls, faced with making the hardest decisions of their life.”

Whoa. He volunteered here because he thought his mom gave him up and because his wife aborted their baby. “He wanted them to know there were other options out there. He was trying to stop the things that happened to him from happening again.”

“That pretty much sums it up.” She stands and walks around her desk to sit in Wes’ empty seat, lowering her voice significantly. “But that was only the beginning. He continued to volunteer when he could, even after he didn’t get class credit. Even after he graduated and got the job he’s working in now. Before he started making any decent money, he’d still make donations of any amount he could come up with to help these girls, to help the clinic fund different programs for them. But once he started making more money than he really knew what to do with, he approached me about a little charitable organization he wanted to start on his own.”

Oh shit. I can’t believe this. I think it all makes sense now. “The apartments?”

She nods. “But that’s only part of it. You see, he wanted to be able to give options to those that truly didn’t believe that they had any. Those really tough cases that we couldn’t seem to turn around. Wes wanted to be able to give these women the option to raise their children and not put them up for adoption, just because they didn’t have a way to care for their baby. He wanted to be able to do the same for those that wanted to abort. There are some qualifying factors, but if there’s someone that I think he can help, I refer them to him. He purchased three duplexes right next to each other, made an arrangement with an obstetrician and a pediatrician, and set up transportation services to help them get to their jobs or other appointments. Basically, while a woman is still pregnant, he allows her to move in, rent-free, until three months after the baby is born, providing her with routine exams, paid utilities, the works. After that, there’s a social worker that helps them to find childcare and employment. They are allowed to stay there until the child is a year old, but he does make exceptions on occasion. Although, many are on their feet well enough to move out before then because he does everything he can to foster their independence. There are still those who still end up giving up their babies, but he has contacts with adoption agencies all over the country, and he’s been able to get every child adopted and keep them out of the system.”

So this is why he lives so simply. All of his money goes into this project. “I don’t know what to say. I just can’t believe he does something like this and hides it from everyone.”

Her deep green eyes are kind, compassionate. “He doesn’t do it for the recognition. This is something that started out as a way to heal his own heart, I think. To make something good out of the bad. But between you and me, he’s been a little obsessive about it for quite a while now, and I think it’s because he doesn’t have closure. What he’s doing hasn’t made him feel any better because there’s still so much unresolved.”

I guess he hasn’t clued her in on the most recent developments. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But this is just a little weird, isn’t it? I mean, he seems fairly normal, but it seriously makes me wonder about his emotional stability.”

Casey giggles. “Honey, Wes is just fine. From what I’ve seen of him over the years, he’s a fixer. He doesn’t let too many people see it, but he’s generous and compassionate. He takes on little pet projects like this all the time, trying to better the community and help the people in it. It’s just that this particular project is near and dear to his heart, so he throws all he can into it.”