A/N: There's some emotional abuse in this chapter, picking up on where we left last chapter.

May 1927

She tried to locate her papa, but he was out drinking at some unknown location. Sam stayed true to his word that he would not set foot in his bar or any of the bars he supplied. As a temporary solution, she stayed with Sam. Since she usually worked nights, it didn't seem that anyone in the neighborhood was wise to the fact that she was not living in the Lisbon home. She was horrified that someone would find out that she was living with Sam. Whenever she had to go out, she used the back entrance to Sam's, just like she always did when she was working.

Sam huffed in frustration. "You should not be ashamed to be in our home."

"It's your home, not mine. I don't have a home since a stranger decided to insert himself into family business."

"I'm not a stranger! I'm looking out for you. I would never speak to you in such a fashion to cause you embarrassment and make you cry! How do you think that made me feel to watch you cry? If that were damn near anyone else on this planet who brought you to tears that way, I would have ripped him apart. The only reason he still has his wits about him is because he's your father."

"It was never your business! I let you talk to my papa because I agreed that it was the proper thing to do. I spend too much time with you for him to not know. And now, this is even more improper. I need to start looking for a room to board."

He looked at her in confusion. "Why do you want to board somewhere?"

"It's not proper for me to stay in your home."

"What can we do to make it feel more like your home, too? Do you want to change the furniture or something?"

"Nothing! It's not proper for me to stay here, living together like husband and wife!" Not to mention he never had a bed brought for the changing room, so she continued to sleep in his bed. He never tried anything with her. Though, sometimes, she woke much closer to his side of the bed than she remembered falling asleep. Sometimes, she was in his arms.

"Well, let's make it proper. Let's get married."

She was still angry with him. Since she started staying here, he brought up marriage quite a bit. As they were currently living under the same roof, that made sense.

"Why would I want to marry you? You're the reason I am all alone in the world."

"You're not alone. You have me. You have your brothers. I'd like to make things official between us, Teresa."

"Why do you think marriage is the solution to all of my problems?"

He shrugged. "I'd like to think of it as more than a solution to your problems. I'd like to think of it as starting a life together because you mean the world to me. Then again, I also don't think you have the problems you think you do."

She rolled her eyes. She didn't have anywhere else to go, any other marriage prospects, or a real job even. Yet, she resisted the idea of marrying him all the same. Maybe he did mean well and maybe he loved her, but he disrespected her family. Her family needed her, and now, she had been disowned.

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After a week or so passed, she finally found her papa to make her pleas. Since Sam wouldn't let him drink there or at any bar he supplied, she had to find him over at Gale Bertram's place.

When she went in, she realized just how much different it was than Sam's. While some folks came to Sam's just to get drunk every day, this place seemed to only have people here for that purpose. It seemed rather glum. She slid onto the bar stool next to papa.

He looked over at her. "What the hell do you want, girl?"

"To talk to you, papa."

"Well, I don't know. How does your new papa feel about that? Is he going to come give me a talking to because he doesn't like that? Think I should talk to you like you're some kind of royalty or something?"

"Papa, I'm very sorry about what happened on Easter."

The barkeep appeared. "My, my, my! Who's this little angel, Tom?"

"I reckon she's my daughter. Though, she doesn't much act it."

"Huh. Well, you shouldn't hide something so lovely." The way the man's beady eyes followed her made her shiver. "What will you be having to drink?"

"Just a lemon water please."

"Lemon water? At a bar? I can see why you're not sure she's your daughter, Tom."

"Just give the girl her water."

The man shrugged before returning with her water. He winked at her as he sat the glass in front of her. "If you ever get lonely, you can come by and talk to me any time."

She glanced at her papa who sat there staring into his glass of whiskey. Perhaps he didn't want to piss any more barkeeps off. Perhaps he didn't care about the man's lewd comment because he thought her the kind of woman deserving of such comments. She just plastered a false smile onto her face. "Thank you. I will keep that in mind."

She sat there quietly for a moment. "Papa, I want to make whatever I did right."

"Whatever you did? You told that rat bastard family business. You humiliated me. Are you too stupid to figure out what you did?"

She closed her eyes. "No papa, I figured that it was because I spoke out of turn about family matters. I'm sorry. At the time, I spoke…"

"At the time you spoke? Look, I know I'm a worthless bastard. I don't need you bringing Sam fucking Bosco into my home to tell me. He looks down on us anyway." He chuckled darkly. "Well, I guess he looks down on you in a different way now!"

Her face reddened. "Papa! I've never done that. I've never done anything like that!"

He rolled his eyes before huffing. The sour whiskey smell was almost unbearable. She wondered when the last time his clothes were washed. Maybe she should offer to go over and do the wash. "And where the hell have you been staying?"

She averted her eyes. "With Sam, but…"

"And you're not taking your clothes off for him?"

"No! I've...I've never! I just want to come home!"

He chuckled again. "Don't like your new papa's rules?"

Despite the smell, she leaned in closer to whisper to him. "If you want, I will get checked. I will prove it to you that I'm still intact." She was so ashamed and embarrassed. She'd never talked to papa about such matters before.

"Save your breath, girl. You're not coming home. Though, maybe you got lucky and got one that can't act like a man. Maybe he'll go easy on you."

"Papa, please. I'm sorry. I'll look for other work."

"What other work are you going to get? You're worthless!"

She closed her eyes. He was already far into his drink for this conversation. "I can try getting work at the bakery again. I have lots of skills in baking! I could go to the factory, too. I'm sure there are jobs. I just need to look."

He was silent for a moment. "You know, before your brother left, he decided he ought to tell me what a worthless piece of shite I am for kicking you out on your ass."

"Wait. Tommy's left?"

"I guess he got some job working for the summer or something. Said he was getting on with his life. Said I made you have to do this thing with Bosco on account of just being a lousy drunk who doesn't care for his family." He didn't even say goodbye.

"Papa, I don't blame you. I considered Sam's offer, and I thought it seemed good. I didn't think he'd disrespect you. If I had known...well, I'd never go with a man who disrespected you."

"You thought it seemed good, did you? You don't know how men like him do their business." Truthfully, she didn't know about business. She didn't think it appropriate to ask Sam about his business beyond what she needed to know for runs. Even if she thought his offer a business transaction at first, he didn't treat her like business. "You didn't ask me to consider it. You should have. I would have told you exactly what he wanted with you! You're a girl. He's a man. It's not hard to figure out."

"I went to work for him." Papa laughed. "I was working for him when he mentioned the idea of a courtship."

"I could've told you that a man doesn't just throw money at you and expect nothing."

"But papa, it was a job offer. He offered me nearly triple what I was making at the bakery!"

"What skills do you even have that he'd be interested in paying you for? And triple that of the bakery! You don't have sense, do you?"

Apparently, Sam thought she was a good conversationalist and cook. She didn't dare smart off to papa though, especially right now. "Well, I cook for the boys, I run errands, and I help him get product."

"You help him do what?"

She sighed, as she whispered: "I drive out for liquor runs with him. I'm a driver."

"You can drive a car?" She nodded. "And who taught you that?"

"Sam taught me to drive."

He laughed. "So your new papa taught you to drive, after I said that I'd not have my daughter driving?"

"Please stop calling him that. He's not my papa." For some reason, it bugged her when he called Sam that.

"I guess he's not. Your brother told me that he thought it a good idea that you accept his courtship because you'd be better off than all of us."

"We talked about it when he told me he was going to college. Papa, I'm sorry. I know I should've spoken with you."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter now, does it? I suppose if Tommy says it's all right, that's what matters, right? You brought him into our lives, into MY house to disrespect me."

"I didn't mean to disrespect you, papa. I'm sorry."

"Of course not. You just bragged to him about how you pay all of the bills. I didn't need you bringing that man into our lives to tell me how to run my house!"

"I didn't bring him into our lives, and I didn't brag about anything. I met him when he came by to collect. He knew you lost your job because you were over there drinking all day long. I just wanted to work and make sure we could keep the house. Stan and Jimmy are still little, and they need a home. I didn't know that he would go and buy the house!"

He slammed his glass down, startling her. "Girl, you're not coming home. You can sit here and try to make your case all day long. Your time would be better spent taking care of your man's house. I have no use for you. You think any man would have you now that you've spent all of your time alone, living in some man's house? Whether you took your clothes off for him or not, you're as good as a whore now. I won't have you at my house. You think you'll get another offer now? Gale Bertram over there looks pretty fond of you though. Maybe he'll use you and sell you out. Just go marry that bastard and leave me the hell alone. Get!"

He pushed her from her stool, but she was able to catch her footing before she fell. She looked at him wide eyed. "Papa…"

"Get! And don't come bothering me anymore! Maybe learn to keep family matters in your family. Take your problems up with your new papa."

"Goodbye, papa." She hung her head as she left the bar. She walked around for a while. She just wanted to go home and be with the boys. Stan and Jimmy needed her. Tommy was gone now, and he hadn't even said goodbye. She tried to understand why papa wouldn't accept her apology, and she tried to accept that she couldn't go home. She needed to figure out a plan-she needed to be out looking for work-but she couldn't even think straight right now.

When she walked into Sam's parlor, he started to talk to her. "Teresa, where have you been? I wanted to see if you might want to go…"

She didn't stop to hear his words. Perhaps that was rude of her to ignore him in his own home that he was kindly letting her stay in for the moment. She didn't care. She took her shoes off and laid on her belly in the bed, letting her tears fall on the pillow. She wondered if she could just evaporate into thin air. She couldn't disappoint anyone that way could she? Maybe she could see mama again.

She had no idea how long she was like that. She felt her hair move behind her ear. Her eyelids felt like lead, but she willed them open. Sam was kneeling by the side of the bed.

"I suppose you talked to your papa?"

Even though he looked at her with kind eyes, she didn't have anything to say to him. Papa was right. She brought him into their home and shared family matters with him. That he disrespected her papa was her fault. She let that happen. Maybe if she had been less trusting of those kind eyes and let her papa make the decisions of the home, she would be with her family.

"Teresa, I can't say that I understand why he kicked you out because I can't imagine doing anything like that to you or to any of my children. You're so brave and strong, and it breaks my heart to see you so broken this way. Whatever he's said to make you upset like this-I know you think it's the truth. It's not."

"It is. I should have never entered into any agreement with you without his permission first. I let you in our lives to humiliate him in his own home."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry you're hurting, but I won't apologize for standing up for you. I wouldn't be a man if I didn't. He knows he can bully and abuse his children like that, but I won't stand for it. Did you see how weak he was when I stood up to him? He would never face a man that way. Hell, he was fine with me courting you when he thought I'd just give him whiskey and let him treat you however. I'd never treat you or your brothers that way."

No, he probably wouldn't. She believed that. "Tommy's gone."

"Where?"

"Papa said he took a job working the summer somewhere. He didn't really say where. He said Tommy told him he was a worthless piece of shit before he took off."

Sam scoffed. "He's right, you know?"

"He didn't even say goodbye to me. If I were home, he'd still be here."

"For now. Tommy is a young man, and he wants to go off and start his life."

"Why does papa think the worst of me? I wouldn't abandon him. Why does he hate me? I did something wrong, but I can't figure it out. I want to fix it, but I don't know how. I just wanted to be a good daughter! I never spoke out of turn to him about anything, not the drinking or the bills or what we needed."

"I know you didn't."

He picked up her hand and kissed her palm. She wasn't angry with him. Not anymore, if she ever really was. He never stopped being kind or patient with her.

"Where was he?" He held onto her hand.

"Over at Gale Bertram's."

"Bertram's?" She nodded her head. "And you went in there?"

"I did. I wanted to talk to him, to try to apologize and make things right so I could go home. He was already in his drink."

"I bet. Teresa, I don't want you over at Bertram's, ok?"

She scoffed. "He called you my 'new papa.' I guess you are."

He looked stricken. "I'm not your papa."

"Well, you're telling me where I can't go. And you have to know I'm not good at respecting my papa."

"I'm asking you not to go there for your own safety. If you need to go there, get me or Kimball to go down with you. I don't want you there alone, even if you're talking to your papa. And you were always a good daughter to him. You never did anything to him. He's just a mean drunk. That's all he is, and there's not enough beatings or insults you could take from him that would change that. He's going to die drinking. It's what he wants. You were a good daughter to him. You are a good sister to your brothers."

"If mama were here…"

"He'd just have a different target."

"You don't know that. He loved mama. When she died...it took everything from him."

"I'm sure it did. I couldn't imagine losing you, but he can't use that to be as mean as he wants to everyone. He had an entire family to care for, and he just stopped. He became angry and violent. But you? You kept on getting up every day, sacrificing, and taking care of every little thing your family needed. That's what he was supposed to do, even in his grief."

There was a brief pause. "Teresa, I know he's your father. You will care for as long as you both live-but you have an entire life to live on your own."

"Please don't ask me to marry you right now. I'm not angry with you, but I will say no."

He smiled sweetly. "I know. I want to give you time to work through your grief. I hope that you know I want you to stay here. My home is open to you. I'd like you to consider it your home, too."

"It's not proper. I need to find a place to go."

"Teresa, are you afraid to be alone with me?"

"I've spent a lot of time alone with you, Sam. It's why my father thinks I'm as good as a whore. Why would I be afraid of being alone with you?"

"You're not any of the cute little ways your father found to call you that. If the idea of staying here distresses you so much, I can put you up in a boarding house. I'd love it if you stayed here. I like having you here. The way I see it is that if there's a promise of marriage-you know, we agree that we will get married-there's nothing improper about you being here. So I won't ask you to marry me right now, but if we can promise that it's something in our future, I don't see any issue with you being here. Can we make that promise to each other?"

"You want me to promise myself to you?"

"Well, I was thinking we would both make the promise that we agree we intend to get engaged when the time is right." She wasn't entirely sure how this wasn't a marriage proposal.

"Sam, what do you want with me? Look at me. Surely, you can do better."

Without stopping to think, he responded to her question. "I want to spend my life with you because there's not a single woman on this planet who's better than Teresa Lisbon. I'm asking you to look forward to the future with me, not backward. I know you're upset right now. I want you to focus on your own future because he's never going to put that drink down and give you the love and respect you deserve. But I will. I love you, and I want a family with you."

She just stared into his kind eyes. She believed his words. Like Tommy said, she didn't have a thing to say against him. He was honorable and decent. For some reason, he thought well of her. Besides, she was alone in the world now with nowhere else to go. What could it hurt?

"Sam Bosco, I promise that I intend to get engaged when the time is right."

He kissed her hand. "And I promise the same, Teresa Lisbon. Welcome home. "