A Mom's New Start (Love Inspired)

by Margaret Daley

  Hannah’s statement rang in Maggie’s ears. She remembered what Cody had said earlier about not wanting to foster a pet until Nathan could find a home for it. No sense getting attached. Was that his motto?

  “I don’t want to move if I can find a place where I can make a living and raise my children, but I don’t think I can do it alone, especially having twins.”

  “That does make it more challenging. It’s hard enough having one without support.”

  “I’ve always wanted to be a mother.” One corner of Hannah’s mouth tilted upward. “Not the way I did it and not at this time, but I don’t have a choice now.”

  Maggie’s heart twisted at the resignation she heard in Hannah’s word. She’d been there. She knew exactly what Cody’s sister was going through. Reaching toward Hannah, Maggie covered the younger woman’s hand. “I’ll help anyway I can. You can call me anytime you think things are getting overwhelming. Or when you just need a friend to talk to. I know you have your brother right now, but sometimes it’s nice to talk to a woman.”

  “But you don’t know me. I can’t impose on you.”

  “I know you more than you think. You’re scared. You don’t know which way to turn. Fear for the future dominates your thoughts. Does that about sum it up?”

  “Exactly.” The tears glistened in Hannah’s eyes. She blinked, several tears rolled down her cheeks. “Cody is a wonderful brother, but there are some things I just can’t talk to him about.”

  “Kim was and still is the person I go to when I need a woman to talk to. Although Uncle Keith was wonderful to me, like a second father, he couldn’t understand the grief I was experiencing—not just the loss of Robbie, but of our dreams.” But at least Keith had been there when Maggie’s father had gone along with her mother and turned away from her. Oh, they’d talked a few times over the years, but nothing that could help them reconnect. “I can’t imagine me talking to my brother about stuff like being pregnant, uncomfortable, feet swelling, even feeling the baby moving for the first time, that kick in the middle of the night that woke me up after finally getting to sleep.”

  “You have a brother?”

  “Yeah, but he doesn’t live here. He left and has been working in the far corners of the world on different construction projects.”

  “What’s he do?”

  “Structural engineering. He’s smart, driven and busy.”

  “That’s my brother.”

  Maggie laughed. “Yes, it does sound like him. We have a lot in common.”

  Shifting on the blanket, Hannah released a sigh. “I haven’t even been here a week, and I’m already feeling welcomed as if I’ve come home.”

  “That’s Hope for you. We’re a little frazzled since the hurricane, but the town has always been welcoming to newcomers.” Maggie leaned back, supporting herself with her arms. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starved.”

  Kim joined them on the blanket. “Did I hear you’re starved?”

  “Yep, I think I’ll go find the guys and tell them we’re eating whether they come or not. That oughta move them.”

  “It’ll move my husband. Zane always looks forward to any food you cook.”

  Maggie pushed herself to her feet. “I knew there was a reason I liked him.”

  As Hannah and Kim chatted on the blanket, Maggie crossed half the park. She weaved in and out of groups of people until she came to the basketball court and squeezed through the crowd surrounding it. When she made her way to the front of the spectators, she came to a halt as Cody jumped up and caught the basketball.

  Coming down right in front of her.

  She quickly stepped back to avoid a collision. What happen to the refereeing? He sprinted into the center of the court and passed the ball to Brady who dribbled toward the basket, set his feet and took a shot. Cheers went up when he made it. Brady turned, a grin on his face, while Cody gave him a high five.

  As Zane, a member of the other team, ran past her, she yelled above the noise, “We’re going to eat.”

  He passed the ball to another teammate, then glanced toward her while guarding Cody. “We’ll be there soon. We’re about to beat these guys.”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it,” Cody said, then dodged around Zane.

  “That’s fine. Come when you can. That is if there is any food left.” She swiveled around on her heel and plunged back through the crowd watching the friendly rivalry. But she did throw one last look back at the court in time to see Cody steal the ball from Zane.

  * * *

  Out of the corner of his eye, Cody glimpsed Maggie disappear into the crowd right before he sent the ball to Brady nearer the basket. Another point and they would win. Brady weaved around a boy about his size and leaped up, releasing the ball. It went through the hoop.

  “Yes!” Brady pumped his arm up and down. “We won.”

  Cody slapped him on the back. “You’re good. I can’t believe you didn’t want to play. I’m glad you decided to.”

  “So am I.” His grin spread across his face. “Did Mom say something about eating?”

  “Yes. It’s starting to get dark.”

  Zane approached. “And the fireworks will start in forty-five minutes.” While the crowd dispersed, he swiped his hand across his forehead. “I hope you’re going out for the team this year, Brady.”

  “Maybe.”

  Zane paused. “Maybe? You’re a natural.”

  Cody noticed some of the excitement of the game was wearing off for Brady and he was beginning to retreat. “I have to agree, but with your quickness and size, football would be a good sport, too.”

  “Oh, yeah, you’re right,” Zane agreed. “How about it, Brady? I used to play for the Hope Mustangs.”

  Brady slowed his pace, his head dropping some. “Maybe. I don’t know what I wanna do.”

  Zane exchanged a look with Cody.

  He shook his head and said, “So what did your mom fix? That’s all Zane has been talking about.”

  Brady lifted his gaze to Cody. “Her strawberry and blueberry cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream. She makes the best.”

  “I can attest to that,” Zane said. “I’m personally looking forward to the sandwiches she made out of a brisket she cooked last night. Drove my dad crazy while he was putting finishing touches to the living room. Dad has loved putting Bienville back the way it was. One more room and the house will be like before the storm.”

  Brady snorted and sped up.

  Zane frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “Not really. Has anything changed for Brady as far as the house goes since the hurricane?”

  “His room. With the fire a few months back, he had to move it.”

  “Aah, that might explain his actions. He doesn’t see that everything is back to normal since Hurricane Naomi.”

  “Of course not. You and I both know that doesn’t happen, not even years later. A disaster changes a place.”

  “And people.” Cody observed Brady grab a sandwich and some chips then park himself off away from the rest of the family.

  Cody sat down on the blanket between Hannah and Maggie. “Is there any food left?”

  “Barely. Uncle Keith and Gideon nearly took it all.” Maggie handed him a paper plate with a sandwich. “But the desserts are still intact.”

  “Zane says I have to try some of yours.”

  “It’s your patriotic duty to try some.”

  “Patriotic?” Cody took a bite of his sandwich, the taste of the barbecue brisket delicious.

  “It’s red, white and blue. What else would you have on the Fourth of July?”

  “You got me there. I picked up the only thing left at the grocery store on the way over here.” There had been many Fourths of July while he’d been out of the country. It was nice this year to be here. Last year he’d been in an Asian country damaged by an earthquake that had left many homeless. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen fireworks.”

  “I love them. The town shoot
s them right offshore.”

  Hannah leaned around her brother. “Mustang Island? How did it get its name?”

  “In the 1800s at the time of the Civil War, some horses escaped their owner and swam to the island. A small herd lived there for many years.”

  “Do they now?”

  “No. A hurricane at the turn of the century took what was left of the herd.”

  “How sad.”

  While Hannah and Maggie engaged in a conversation about the horses, Cody saw a connection growing between his sister and Maggie. Hannah, much like him, held herself back from most people, but not Maggie. She was so open it was hard to resist that in her.

  By the time darkness fell and dinner was over, Cody lounged back on the blanket, his head cushioned by his crossed arms. He turned slightly toward Maggie next to him, her face beautiful in the soft glow from the parking lot lights a couple hundred feet away. “So this is the best way to watch the fireworks?”

  She angled her head so he couldn’t see her expression, but he felt her gaze on him. “The only way. Your neck won’t get cramped. Since Mustang Island isn’t far from shore, they’ll go off practically on top of us.”

  The parking lot lights blinked off. Right after that, a boom filled the air, followed by a bright streak shooting up into the black sky. The fireworks opened up into a glittering shower of red, blue and silver. Cody glanced at Maggie and found her staring at him. The glow from the fireworks highlighted her face in a brilliance that captivated him. He missed the second one exploding above him because her gaze roped his full attention.

  He inched closer to her and whispered, “Thank you for talking with Hannah.”

  “You’re welcome. She reminds me of myself thirteen years ago.”

  “Sometimes it’s hard to help someone you’re close to.”

  “Yeah, I’m finding that out with Brady. I was glad to see him playing in the game with y’all earlier. He likes basketball, but he hasn’t played much with his friends lately. How hard was it to get him to agree?”

  “We needed one more kid. He took a look at the others and decided he would do it.”

  “Peer pressure. Sometimes it can work for the good.”

  “As most things, there’s a good side and a bad side to peer pressure. What’s important is being able to teach our kids the difference between the two.”

  “You’ll make a good father.”

  He stiffened at the implication of her statement. He’d had a good father who had tried to do his best. He wasn’t often there for him and Hannah, but that happened when a man served his country and had a job that caused him to be gone a lot. Cody had learned to accept those times his father couldn’t come to a football game, a school play or whatever he’d done as a child.

  But until Maggie had made the comment, he hadn’t really thought about being a father. With Beth the conversation had never come up. Did he really have what it took to be a father? He did know he wouldn’t be one unless he could do more than his father. Good intentions weren’t always enough for a child who needed a parent. He’d seen what happened when a parent neglected his child for work or something else. And right now he had dedicated himself to his work.

  Chapter Five

  Maggie pulled into the dirt road that led to Nathan’s farm on the outskirts of Hope on the north side of Interstate 10. When it was quiet and the wind blew from the south, she could hear the traffic on the highway zooming toward New Orleans or Mobile.

  “I’m here under protest.” Brady folded his arms over his chest and stared out the side window. “I don’t think I’m ready for another dog after Frisky.”

  “That’s fine. No pressure here. We’re mainly coming to help Nathan finish up. Bienville is almost back to normal. It’ll be nice to help our cousins get their house fixed up, too.”

  Brady sighed so loudly the sound filled the whole interior of the car. “And I’m not riding even if Carly asks me to.”

  “Fine. We’re probably not going to have time for it anyway.”

  “What are we gonna do? Work the whole time?”

  “That’s the point of today.” Maggie made sure that Cody had made the right turn and was still following her car.

  “It’s Saturday.”

  “In the summer. Saturday isn’t any different from the other days of the week for you.”

  Another big release of a loud breath.

  “Brady Sommerfield, when have you not wanted to help others, especially in our family?”

  “What if it’s for nothing?”

  “It won’t be.”

  “How do you know? One day our home was there, and the next it was almost destroyed.”

  The anger-filled words hung in the air between them, reinforcing what Cody had said concerning her son’s latest behavior, that Brady could be reacting to the hurricane, even months after the fact, especially now that hurricane season had started again.

  “You’re right. I don’t know one hundred percent, but most likely it will be fine,” Maggie said to his first outward comment concerning the hurricane in months.

  “That’s not good enough.”

  She parked in front of Nathan’s brick one-story ranch-style house. “That’s all I can give you. Life is full of change. It’s how we handle the change that’s important. It’s all we can control.”

  “Still not good enough.” Brady shoved open his door and jumped from the car.

  The slam of the door reverberated through the inside, underscoring her child’s frame of mind. If she didn’t see Cody coming toward her out of the side mirror, she would have banged her forehead against the steering wheel in frustration. Instead she gripped it so tightly pain zipped up both arms.

  When Cody paused outside her vehicle, she exited it and leaned against its side. “Just in case you couldn’t read his body language, Brady isn’t happy about being here, even with the suggestion he could find a dog to take back to Bienville.”

  Cody glanced at his sister climbing from his car. “On the other hand, Hannah was downright thrilled she was getting out of the apartment. If she doesn’t get a job soon, she and I will go crazy.” His sister made her way to the porch and knocked on the door.

  “Has she talked with Zane yet?”

  “Monday. He was in New Orleans these past few days.”

  “I think that’ll be a formality mostly. He was interested in the fact she’s an electrician. He should be finished putting together this team he needs for a new project sometime next week.”

  “But what’s she going to do when she can’t work because of her pregnancy? That will be only a couple months away.”

  “Knowing Zane, he’ll use her somewhere else until she can work again as an electrician. Quit worrying. Hope takes care of its own.”

  “But she isn’t part of the town.”

  “She lives here, doesn’t she?”

  Cody cocked his head to the side and stared at her. “Yes, but...”

  She placed her hand on his arm. “Quit worrying. That’s an order.”

  One of his eyebrows rose. “An order?”

  “Yep. Now let’s go inside. Nathan is gonna wonder where we are.”

  The front door flew open, and Nathan’s six-year-old daughter charged out onto the porch. “Maggie, what’s takin’ ya so long? Dad’s got workin’ on his mind.”

  “Coming. Carly, this is Cody.”

  “Hannah’s brother?”

  “Yes, I am. So you’ve already met my sister I see.”

  “Well, of course, she’s a guest. She’s gonna have two babies soon. She told me I could hold them after they’re born. One day I’m gonna be a babysitter and make lots of money.”

  Maggie pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Carly was a whirlwind, and there was no stranger to her. Before the day was over, she would have both Hannah and Cody’s complete past. Then again maybe only Hannah’s. Cody was very closed about his life, and Maggie couldn’t help but wonder why.

  Nathan came outside to greet Maggie and Cody
. “You don’t know how much I appreciate this. I’m so tired of repairing this house. I just want this over with.”

  “Yeah, we still have things to do in the barn.” Carly scurried around her dad and into the living room where she said, “When we get through, Brady, I’ve got some new animals to show you. There’s one dog that really needs a home.”

  Her son mumbled some reply, and knowing his present attitude, Maggie was glad she didn’t hear it. “Point us in the right direction, and we’ll get to work.”

  * * *

  Later that afternoon with hot pink paint from Carly’s room all over her, Maggie followed Nathan outside. Brady trudged behind them while Nathan’s daughter skipped ahead of her dad. Cody remained in the house finishing the last touches to the dining room, while Hannah waited for her brother on the porch, taking a few minutes to rest.

  Nathan opened the barn door and swept his arm in front of him. “As you can see, I’m trying to repair the pens and fenced area while at the same time expanding what we have and running my veterinary practice in Hope. There are so many animals that were left stranded after the hurricane and not enough places to put them.”

  “Daddy, you forgot there isn’t enough people to adopt them.”

  Nathan tousled his daughter’s red hair. “Yeah, you’re right, pumpkin. Not from lack of work on your part, though.”

  Carly thrust out her chest. “I’ve got the most important job. I was doing good ’til school let out. A lot of the kids helped me.” When Brady came into the barn, she tugged on his hand. “C’mon. I gotta show you this dog. We just got him. He reminds me of Frisky.”

  Brady threw Maggie a narrow-eyed look as his cousin dragged him out the back double doors. She decided she’d better follow. As she left the barn, she glimpsed Cody and Hannah coming in the other entrance. Cody looked about as bad as she did with muted green paint splotches on his old clothing as well as his arms and legs.

  Carly gestured toward a large pen with a chain-link fence surrounding it. “There.”

  Brady peered at a black Lab. After a few seconds he looked away, his gaze latching on to another dog by itself hobbling across the pen toward him. Its ears perked, the mutt made its way to Brady on only two front legs. Her son entered the pen and squatted by the light brown dog. “Who is this?”