To the states

Chapter 2

You're 18 when an older man with a thick Kentucky drawl approaches you. He's oddly familiar to you and it's not only because your late mother was from Kentucky before she met your mom here in London and decided to settle down. You feel like you've seen his face before but you can't place where. So, when this strange older man asks if he can take a seat at your table, you let him.

"The name's Champ." He offers his hand.

You shake his hand but offer only a hello in return.

"I know you're suspicious of me. You're right to be, too. A strange man comes up, asks to join you, and tells you his name is Champ. Goin' by the look on your face, I'm lucky you agreed. Can I ask why you did?"

"That phrasing is interesting. You're trying to make me feel like I have a choice in answering your question while— with the very same question— trying to make me feel obligated to answer you. I would need a whole lot more information before you could make me feel obligated to do anything."

He lets out a laugh. "Fair enough. I'm just glad you're willin' to listen. Now, I'm currently head of a whiskey distillery in Kentucky. Before that, I was in the military with your mama. Back then— even now, unfortunately— it wasn't the best time for women in uniform. I was one of the few who took her side, stood with her when that's what I needed to do. We got real close. I hope that'll be enough background so you won't run screamin' when I tell you that I've been keepin' an eye on you since I heard about her passin'."

"Well, I'm not running, but I'm not sure how to feel about it."

He nods. "Understandable. I mean it in the most paternal way I can without actually bein' related to you. Anyway, I'll get right to it before I lose ya. I have a position open, and I wanted to give you a shot at it. My company is very successful, pays even better, but it is in America."

"What, and I get a shot at this great job because you knew my mother?"

"She's our common ground, the reason I've looked halfway around the world for a candidate, but I told you, I've been keeping an eye on you. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think you could earn a place in my company."

"And what is this job you're offering me?"

"If you accepted, I would fly you out, all-expenses-paid, and you could spend some time at the distillery. I'd show you around, you'd see how we run things, all the gears it takes to make such a big machine work, see where you fit in."

"And what if I find that I don't fit in?"

"Then you got a free trip to see first hand where your mama came from." Champ can tell you're still trepidatious. "Look, I can't make you trust me. I've met your other mama twice and I know your mama talked about me to her. Go fact check; look us up on the internet." He slides a business card across the table. "And if you're worried about taking advantage of an old man, I have the money."

You pocket the card. "I have friends here. My mom is here. This is where my mother chose to settle down before she died. I wouldn't know how to leave it."

"That's understandable. Go home, do your research, and call me if you want to take me up on any part of my offer. I'm happy to take you on an all-expenses-paid trip even if it was only because I knew your mama. She raised you your whole young life, she left an impression on you. I— well, think of me as an uncle you never knew you had, if it helps. I want to do this for ya because she was family and now you are too. You can be, anyway, if you choose it."

—0—

Your mom sighs after you give her the condensed version of your interaction with Champ. "Yes, I know exactly who you're talking about. Champ was very close to your mother. I met him twice. Once at our wedding and once at her funeral. He seemed like a good man and I trust your mother's judgment. But if you decide to do this, you have to keep both eyes open. Before your mother died, her whole career, actually, there was something else going on. I never told you because you were young and then she was gone and there was no point. I know the military is big and complex and her job was always top secret, but I was her wife. When it came down to it, I trusted her enough to not push the subject, but that man was always there. He was always the one she was talking to before she left. She said that it was moral support, that he had been in the shit with her so sometimes she could talk about these things with him. I trusted her. I still trust that she told me all she could when everything about her job was top-secret. But I was never stupid. I talked to some other people who had spouses in the military. Yes, they had worries and their spouses had things they could'nt share, but whatever your mother was doing was something else. I'm not saying it was related to Champ, but having him pop up like this right after you turn 18—"