"Say that again?" Cherry questioned, whipping her head around to stare at Hutch.
Her eyes had narrowed, and were searching his for the truth, causing him to momentarily freeze up. He had just blurted out the first thing that came to mind that sounded like a plausible reason, but never gave any thought as to how anyone would have known that information. And given her reaction to the truth he'd shared with her about Illimev, he should have expected her to find this difficult to believe as well. On the upside, he was now thankful that he'd never told her the name of his enemy, and she'd never bothered to ask. Had things gone differently, he didn't want to imagine how this conversation might have been going instead.
"I said, I'm related to his wife, Celina," he repeated, once he had exhaled and released his tension.
"And how exactly did you come to that conclusion?"
Hutch could tell she was angry, and he knew that she was angry because she was confused. What he'd said had caught her off guard, and on the surface, made no sense given there wasn't an obvious connection.
"We will explain everything, mom, but let's sit down first," Hutch suggested, trying to calm the situation.
And seeing as how Casimir was still there, it seemed perfectly reasonable to drag him further in. It was, after all, his plan to speak to her when he got out of his truck in the first place, he was just giving him the opportunity.
"Fine!" Cherry snapped, grabbing her pack of cigarettes, before making her way to the kitchen table. "Make yourself comfortable."
'We?' Casimir mouthed, quirking a brow towards him, looking none-too pleased by the implication.
Hutch simply smirked and motioned for him to follow his mother. He waited for Casimir to sit across from her, before taking the opportunity to put Casimir's strategic mind to the test. Between the two of them, he knew Casimir had a better chance of coming up with a more reasonable, or at the very least, believable, story to sell to his mother, since at that moment, he was drawing a blank.
"Why don't you start explaining, and I'll go put on some coffee," he said, before quickly walking away, giving Casimir little opportunity to protest.
As he made his way to the front door to remove his shoes, Hutch could still hear their conversation clearly, a small benefit of living in tight quarters.
"I realize that all of this seems to have come out of nowhere," Casimir began, "I felt the same way when Celina brought it up with me."
"But you believe her? That somehow my son is related to her family?" Cherry asked, as Hutch removed his coat and hung it up in his room.
"I do. Mind you, their relation is quite distant, but considering what we know, it appears to be legitimate, given that Brett Barstow is his biological father, or so, Hutch has told us."
"He told you the truth. Not that any of them are willing to acknowledge it," Cherry huffed. Plucking a cigarette from her pack, she stuck it between her scarlet painted lips, before tossing the pack back onto the table. "Not that their refusals will change the facts. But that still doesn't explain the connection, Mr. Salvador? Was it?"
"Please, call me, Casimir. I'm afraid I haven't yet managed to catch your name either," he replied, grabbing the lighter from the table and striking it until the butane ignited into a mesmerizing golden flame, which he held out towards her.
Leaning forward, Cherry lit the end of her cigarette. Taking a long slow drag as she sat back from the table and pulled the ashtray over, slowly exhaling.
"It's Sheridan."
Hutch was a touch surprised to hear her use her real name, speaking it with a tone of humility, as she gathered the sides of her robe and proceeded to cover herself, acting as if she still had a hint of dignity left to spare.
"It's very nice to meet you, Sheridan. As to the connection, I suspect the name Percy Barstow is familiar to you as well?"
"That's Brett's father. He's related to your wife?" she remarked, with a touch of skepticism. "That sounds a bit closer than quite distant."
Hutch didn't disagree, as he went about preparing the coffee maker.
"Yes, I suppose it would," Casimir chuckled, "but the relation goes back a bit further. Celina's mother, Victoria, had a brother Edward, who was disinherited from the family due to a number of troubling behaviors; mostly a string of illicit affairs. One of which was with a married woman named Persimmon Barstow. Letters, from Persimmon, were found in Edwards' belonging after he died, revealing that the boy, she'd named Percy, was in fact, Edward's son. In order to hide her infidelity, she broke things off with Edward and claimed Percy was born premature. Edward died when Percy was still very young, liver failure, from excessive drinking, and given his disinherited state, Evelyn, Edward's mother, decided to keep the truth hidden, feeling it would look bad on everyone involved if she made it public knowledge. It wasn't until her own passing that the truth was brought to light. Celina inherited her grandmother's journals and discovered it, along with the letters from Persimmon."
Cherry knocked the ashes from the end her cigarette into the tray.
"Well, that explains Percy, but how did she make a connection to Jules?"
"My daughter, Clara, was their tour guide, when he and his friends visited the Tower. Hutch mentioned to her, while they were discussing the lineage of the Tower's owners, that his father was a Barstow. She thought the name sounded familiar and mentioned it to Celina, who recognized it immediately. Earlier this afternoon, Celina asked him if he recognized the name, and he confirmed that Percy was his grandfather."
"That is quite the story," she remarked, as Hutch set two mugs out on the table for them. "Given that that happened earlier today though, it doesn't explain why you'd be giving him an opportunity beyond a typical co-op."
"I'm afraid, I may have failed to explain this properly. The initial offer was a standard co-op arrangement through the Cascel Tower Co-op program. Celina had asked me to handle both his and Renaldo Dodge's placements to ensure they both received positions they would enjoy and benefit from. However, having learned that he's a distant cousin, things 'snowballed' rather quickly. My wife means well, and she may have been a bit eager to put forth the offer, but at the end of the day, I believe she was right, and I believe Hutch is an excellent fit.
"I've been looking for an assistant for over a year now, but it's a difficult position to fill as it's a part time, with barely enough work to even qualify as that, and the lab's location, for most, is a lengthy commute for limited hours. However, about a month back, one of our stable hands quit to move across the country, and combined, these two positions can be filled by someone who is both motivated and eager to learn. Celina wants to hire Hutch as a part-time stable hand while he completes his co-op as my lab assistant. I couldn't have stopped her from offering up the idea, even if I had known what she was thinking at the time."
"And what do you think about all of this?" Cherry asked, as Hutch filled their mugs with the freshly brewed coffee.
"I like the idea," he replied with his honest thoughts. "I know it's asking a lot, but I'm never going to get another opportunity like this. It's not just a co-op so I can graduate, it's also a job."
"To clarify, it's a live-in position," Casimir said, wanting to avoid any misunderstandings as Hutch carried the coffee pot back into the kitchen. "He'll be provided with his own room in the main house, his meals will be taken of, and he'll be given a weekly salary. He will be required to attend school and maintain a 3.6 GPA. He will also be given driving lessons and once he obtains his license, he will be given the use of an employee car. After he graduates, given that he's met all the requirements, he will be eligible for a full-ride scholarship to Cauthard Community College, for the botanical and horticultural programs."
Cherry seemed in awe of the offer, finding it difficult to speak as she watched Hutch set the milk carton onto the table.
"And what happens if he doesn't maintain his grades?" she finally managed to form a question, as Casimir fixed his coffee to his liking.
"He will lose the scholarship. 3.6 is the minimum for eligibility for all our scholarships. But, depending on his performance as my assistant, I'm prepared to pay for any necessary tutors to ensure he has the best chance of succeeding."
"And all of this is because he's a distance relative of your wife?"
"Actually," Casimir said, dawning a pleasant smile, "it's because she asked, and in all our years of marriage, I've never once been able to say no to her. That, and he's a good kid who deserves this opportunity."