Chapter 2

The next morning I woke up at 6 AM to the smell of bacon and coffee. As I stumbled into the hallway I noted Doug coming out of his room. We just stared at each other and then headed for the kitchen. There was Roberta putting the food on the table. When we said good morning she said we were just in time for breakfast.

During breakfast we both told her how much we enjoyed the meal and if she promised to cook for us she could stay as long as she wanted. We had been half kidding of course but Roberta started to cry and said, "I can't stay! You have done too much for me already!"

"Roberta, I have not done anything for you that I would not do for any stranger. You are more than welcome to stay for a while whether you cook or not!" I stated.

Then Doug said, "Roberta, of course you can stay as long as you like, but if it will make you feel better about staying you can be our housekeeper for room and board! Please give it some thought!"

After breakfast and doing the dishes, I had to rescue the cast iron skillet from Dawn dish soap and water. I explained to her the proper care of frying pans. I then asked her what she wanted to do. Roberta said that she would like to stay another day if it was no problem and I told her that I would be up at my house starting to work on the oak. Roberta asked if she could help, and I told her any help would be greatly appreciated.

Roberta was ready in five minutes and we drove up to the house. I gave her a quick tour and she said she had never seen a house like it but it certainly would be beautiful once it was completed. We started by cutting the shrink-wrap from a bundle of 1 by 8 boards.

Next she would bring me a piece and I would run it through the jointer, squaring up one side. After we completed the bundle we were ready to start ripping the wood to 4 3⁄4 inches for door facing. I told Roberta to stack the pieces into to separate piles and we would rip the scrap pieces for molding. We ripped about forty boards before we decided to quit for the day. Both Roberta and I were covered in sawdust and hungry since we had skipped lunch.

When we returned to the house, Doug told us he was about to start dinner. I suggested that we go out to eat since everybody was tired. Roberta said, "I cannot do that because I do not have enough clean clothes!"

Doug said, "I think I have a pair of gym shorts that will fit you!" I started to laugh and said, "Anything I can give you will just fall off - while appealing it might prove embarrassing."

Doug said, "I think I have one of my son's t-shirts here and if I can find it you can wear it."

Doug had been divorced for about 10 years and his son Matt was 14 years old living with his mother. He spent a month each summer with his dad, and about every third weekend when he felt like it. I had asked Doug about it and he stated that he felt if he enforced the court ruling of every other weekend he would push his son away so he let him come when he felt like it. At any rate Doug found the gym shorts and T-shirt and we were ready to go in short order.

I suggested that maybe we should drive to Brownwood where Roberta could do a little shopping. Roberta said that would be great, that she needed more clothes whether she stayed here or not. Roberta refused to ride in the front of the truck but sat in the back seat in the center so we could talk.

Doug as usually changed my radio station from Rock-N-Roll to Country. At one point I heard Roberta singing along with a song and it was pleasant to listen to. Roberta had a very good voice in my opinion. Doug made some comment about it and Roberta blushed and stopped singing.

We ate dinner at the Section Hand restaurant, then went to Wal-Mart. Doug and I spent time in the Sporting Goods department looking at fishing poles, then we each bought a DVD. After an hour Roberta found us and said she was ready to check out. During the trip home I heard Roberta humming to a song but neither Doug nor I said anything and we were treated to another song just as we were pulling into the ranch. We all watched the news and weather report then went to bed.

The next morning Roberta was up before us again and had breakfast ready. Doug said he needed to pick up some feed today then shift some cattle around. I asked him to please stop at the lumberyard and pick up 6 packages of shims for doorframes.

I helped Roberta with the dishes then we went to the house. I put the dado blade on the table saw and we started cutting dados for the doorframes. By lunch time we had cut all 30 dado's for the door and closet frames.

We returned to the house and had just finished lunch when Doug came back. Roberta made him a couple sandwiches and then returned with me to work on setting the door frames. We started in the master bedroom installing the closet doorframe first. This proved to be harder than I expected because the closet spanned 16 feet and had to be level the whole length. Next was the master bathroom and bedroom door, which were much easier and went quickly. By the time it was 4 PM we had finished all of the bedrooms.

As we drove back to the house I thanked Roberta and said, "Without your help I would not be as far along as I am. I want you to know that you are welcome here as long as you want."

Roberta started to cry and wailed, "What are you going to think of me when I start showing?"

"What do you mean 'start showing'?" I asked.

"I'm pregnant from the rape — that's why my family disowned me!" Roberta wailed.

I stopped the truck and pulled her half over the center console and while holding her said, "I don't know as that will make any difference at all. You did not ask to be raped, but you are very courageous in keeping the baby! Like I said, you are welcome here with us as long as you want to stay!"

Roberta continued to sob for a few minutes, then smiling faintly said, "Thank-you!"

I made no mention of what Roberta had said to Doug that night but the next morning when I was helping take the forks off the tractor to mount the bucket I told him what had happened. Doug said, "I hope someday I can have a chat with S.O.B. that calls himself her father!" I had never seen Doug so pissed off.

Roberta and I worked in the shop all morning. We planed the edges of boards then ripped them at 7 inches wide. Later I ran them through the shaper which had a glue bit installed. The maximum height I needed for cabinet doors was 30 inches so we used the cutoff saw to cut them at 32 inches then we glued them together until I ran out of bar clamps.

After lunch we worked on ripping the lumber left from making the doorframes to 2 1⁄2 inches for molding. I then set the planer/molder up to make molding and then we ran the stock through the machine. Each piece had to be put through the planer three times. Halfway through we stopped and glued some more panels together. We were finished by 3 PM and headed to the house to clean up.

That evening I grilled steaks for dinner and then we watched TV, closing up the house after the evening news and weather. The big difference was when Roberta finished dishes she sat on the couch next to me and by the time we were finished watching TV she was leaning up against me with my arm around her.

This set the general routine for the next couple weeks. The only difference was when we sat down to watch TV in the evening Roberta now made no pretence about sitting next to me and expecting to be held. During the week I told her that she needed to see a doctor for a check-up and it took me two days to convince her. We now had an appointment to see the doctor on Friday, five weeks after she came to the ranch.

Friday morning, we left the ranch armed with a list of to do's. I ordered all the sliding mirror doors for the house to be delivered to the ranch. Roberta helped me pick out the plumbing fixtures.

After lunch we went to the doctor. He examined Roberta and said everything seemed to be doing good. The doctor was particularly happy over her physical and mental health after the rape. He asked Roberta what she had been doing and Roberta told him proudly that she was helping me build a house. The doctors only comment to that was that it seems to be working, just don't push it too hard. On the way out I paid for the doctor visit which seemed to surprise Roberta.

Just as we reached the rear of the truck Roberta stopped and pulled me into a hug and laid a kiss on me that would have revived a zombie. I was caught completely off guard. Once in the truck she babbled for about five minutes then settled down and explained to me that she had never been happier in her life, and that she hoped the coming of the baby would not change things. I said "Roberta, the baby will change things for all of us and I hope for the better. No matter what happens I can't foresee the day you would not be welcome at the ranch."

We went shopping for groceries before returning to the ranch. That evening during dinner Roberta told Doug that she was about 2 1⁄2 months pregnant. Doug replied, "I hope I have not been sleep-walking again!"

The set her back for a moment then she burst out laughing and told him, "No, I came in this condition!"

After the dishes were done we all watched TV. Roberta sat closer and seemed more content than before. When I said good night she gave me a kiss before heading for her bedroom. I guess it was near 2 AM when I felt the covers lift and Roberta slide into bed. I turned on my side and slid an arm around her waist. Roberta pulled my hand up to cup her breast and we went back to sleep, not saying a word.

If I had expected to wake up with her in bed with me I was in for a surprise because she was gone and I could hear movement in the kitchen. During breakfast we talked about Roberta's family and if she should call them. Roberta absolutely refused to call her parents but said that she would like to call her Uncle in San Antonio and a close cousin in Dallas. Roberta went on to explain that her Uncle was her mom's brother and was safe to call while her cousin was on her father's side, and it would be best if we did not call from the ranch where it could be traced back to us.

Doug said he had a friend who ran a motel in Brownwood and he would make arrangements for Roberta to call from there. Roberta and I drove to Brownwood and made the calls. Afterwards we picked out the tile we were going to use throughout the house. The owner of the flooring shop even called in a man who laid tile and he agreed to come to the ranch to lay the tile when it arrived.

We then went to a plumbing shop and made arrangements for a tub and shower enclosure to be installed in the main bath and a multi-head shower and a whirlpool bathtub to be installed in the master bath. We made sure the tub and shower were large enough for two at once. We also picked out a six-person hot tub to be setup in the courtyard.

On the way back to the ranch I found out what had been depressing Roberta a little bit. Her cousins were planning to run away as soon as school was out. I asked how old her cousins were and she told me they were 18 and 21 years old. I asked her why they were planning on running away and she said that since she had disappeared the girls were not allowed any freedom or friends, and on several occasions her father, their uncle, had come over and threatened them if they did not reveal where Roberta was. I told Roberta I would try and figure a way to help them but right now I didn't know of any way. Roberta told me it was not my problem and she was sorry she had brought it up. I told her to stop being ridiculous - that if it concerned her then it concerned us all.

During dinner Roberta told Doug everything that we did during the day. When she wound down I had her tell him about her cousins. Doug was just as supportive as I was and said he would try to think of something. Doug did suggest that she call her uncle and let him know what was going on, and maybe he could help. The suggested phone call to her uncle was immediately carried out, while Doug and I did dishes.

Doug and I had been watching a TV show for about a half-hour when Roberta called me to the phone to talk to her Uncle, Art. Art started out telling me how pleased he was that Roberta was so happy with her life right now. He also went on to describe what her life had been like before she ran away to Nashville and that he was sure her cousins were going through the same thing.

Art said he had considered calling Child Protective Services but felt the girls and their mothers were too scared to really say anything. Also the repercussions could be very severe for them. I agreed and said it sounded like they needed to get out now and not later. I asked him if he could take the girls and he said that the girl's father had dropped in on two occasions without warning, and last time he had threatened one of his kids so he did not think that was such a good idea. I agreed that under those circumstances we would have to come up with a different plan.

After I hung up the phone I asked Roberta and Doug to join me in the kitchen at the table. I started out telling Roberta how much I enjoyed talking to her uncle and that I would like to meet him sometime. Then I said, "Roberta, your uncle told me some disturbing facts about your childhood. I would like you to share them with Doug and me if you can find the trust for us in your heart. We will not be judgmental and I think you will find both of us to be supportive!"

It took Roberta a half-hour before she started to really tell us about the abuse. It was both physical and mental in nature. I could tell that her mother had tried to provide protection but was the subject of abuse too. An hour later when Roberta ran down I had move my chair next to her and hold her. Doug said, "Bob, I know you had Roberta tell us this for several reasons, no doubt. Can you shed some light on what you want to do?"