Cristine regarded her father carefully but didn't say a thing and instead rolled the tin can of coffee between her cupped palms. Now that they had a prisoner; one her father linked to who they were dealing with, she was at a loss for words. Not even a simple inquiry could leave her mouth because of the severe and sullen air that clung around her father like a second skin. It was like a new person sat across from her and Cristine took solace in the silence and her beverage.
"Any news from the search party?" He finally asked.
"No," she said. "They didn't call in. It's been fourteen hours since we last had contact."
James mindlessly fumbled with his cup and stared at its half empty contents. The emotions on his face were barely there, "I'm glad you stayed."
"..."
"We have to assume the worst has happened Birdie." Other than stating the obvious, her father felt and sounded extremely cold it prickled onto Cristine's skin like goosebumps. Other than not mincing his words, he had given her no answer to who they were dealing with.
"The stakes are much higher now. I know that- I just want to know what you don't want me to find out. I'm not going to look at you as if you're a monster."
"Even if it happened before the apocalypse? When there were rules and moral codes and lines you don't cross?" James saw Cristine reach out for his hand and squeezed it briefly.
"Do you regret it?"
"I don't know. I never thought about it. It wasn't that important for me to ever cross my mind. But now with this... I don't want you to look at me like how I looked at you. How I judged you for something that was never and will never be your fault." Disgust and an aversion to his hypocrisy was a good wake up call for James and squeezing back her smaller hands, he lowered his head between his shoulders as if a weight was dropped on them.
"Daddy," tugging at his hands, Cristine felt her eyes sting and scratched her throat. "I don't care about what you did. All I care about is you, Hailey, and even Dolores," she choked out in a breathless laugh, resonating with her father's pain more than she thought was possible. "To you, this might be some kind of twisted fate or retribution, but I don't believe that. I'm not losing you and you're not losing any of us, alright?" James his face changed, clearly surprised by his daughter's stance. Cristine had an inkling of his sins and his past where he lived a life with hate it wasn't healthy anymore. "I just want us to be safe." James nodded. He wanted that exact same thing when he made the decision to move to Broke Jaw Ranch. Not just to start over. Past sins to Cristine played a big factor in that, but the fact that she never detested him for his neglect left James with different sort of emptiness.