Home for Her Family (9781460341186)

by Carmichael, Virginia

  Her lips moved up at the corners and it gave him courage. He went on. “As for offering you financial help, I hope you understand the way I meant it.” The slight smile fell from her lips and he held up a hand, hoping to ward off another awkward moment.

  She ignored his gesture and said, “Do you run around offering money to all the girls? Or just the poor Mexicans?”

  He choked on the words he’d been trying to say. Then he saw her lips twitch and he realized she was teasing him. “Only the really pretty ones.”

  She laughed out loud and he reveled in the fact they were talking and not misunderstanding each other for once. “Fair enough.” She cocked her head, her cheeks turning a light pink. “So, are we starting over?”

  “Could we? Is that an option? I’ve never had to start over before. I’m usually pretty good at this.” He grinned down at her, wishing they could be like this all the time, finding the silliness in a simple misunderstanding.

  “At what?”

  He paused. At talking to pretty girls, of course. But that made him sound like a player. Maybe he did like to date around, in a very unserious way. Evie was always accusing him of being overly picky and never going past the first date. He wasn’t shallow. He just didn’t want the baggage of a relationship.

  “At making friends,” he said finally.

  “Really? I have to start over quite a lot.” She gave him a head-to-toe glance. “But I can see how you usually get it right on the first try.”

  She was flirting. He was pretty sure she was flirting. The realization made his blood pressure kick up a notch. In a good way. “Everyone has an off day now and then, I suppose. So...apology accepted?”

  “Sure.” She glanced over at her nieces. “I may have been a little too quick to take offense and I’m sorry about that. I just hear too many negative comments from people my age. I understand how it looks. I know it doesn’t make much sense, taking on two little kids when I could be out having a social life.”

  He didn’t say anything. He didn’t know any girls who would choose being a single mom over living a life of dating and parties.

  “But I’ve never been a really social person. It’s not a sacrifice for me.” She looked him in the eye, all teasing gone. “The fact that I love them and would do anything for them? It just makes it easier. If everything goes well, they’ll be mine legally, but we’ve been a real family for years. We just need the paper to prove it.”

  “I can tell family is really important to you.” It was a silly understatement, but she just nodded.

  “It is. Maybe because I never really had the kind of parents that took care of me and my sister. We always had to fend for ourselves. Maybe that’s the reason Rosa is the way she is. Maybe she just doesn’t know how to be a mom.”

  Gabby ran for the far end of the gym with the last cone, its bright orange plastic shape gripped firmly in her hands.

  “But then how do you know? It’s odd that she doesn’t get how to be a parent but you do.” For a moment he thought he’d said too much, but she didn’t look offended.

  “By the grace of God.” She glanced at him, her eyes misting with tears. “I wish Rosa would find her faith. I wish she knew how much God wants her to be safe and whole and happy, instead of running all over the country with different men.”

  She hauled in a breath. “When we sit in church and I look at the other families, I don’t see anyone else like us. There are old people and young people and young parents with kids. But I’m not friends with any other single moms. I pray every night to be the mom they need and that God will give me a mother’s heart for them.”

  Jack followed her gaze to where the girls stood listening to Gavin give them directions on where to drag the mesh bags of soccer balls. He’d been wrong. Sabrina wasn’t just a beautiful, smart woman who fought for her family. She was a faithful woman who understood where true strength lay.

  “If there’s anything I can do...” His voice trailed off. He had said it once before and it had caused a rift in their budding friendship. He was afraid to say it now, but his heart wouldn’t keep the words inside.

  Her eyes softened and she nodded. “Thank you. I don’t think there is, but thank you.”

  They stood looking at each other for several long beats until a voice called across the gym. “Tía, watch this.”

  She looked past him at her niece, valiantly trying to get the soccer ball near the goal. “Great job,” she called back.

  He wanted to reach out and brush back the strand of hair that lay against her cheek but instead he jerked his head to the stream of kids coming through the door. “Here they come. We should get back to work before Gavin gives us laps.”

  She smiled up at him and for a moment he felt as if everything was right with the world. He wanted to hold on to that feeling, never let it go. He’d spent so much time searching for something that made him feel happy. But life wasn’t about being happy. It was about the people around him, and he’d never felt that more strongly than this moment, walking toward a group of shrieking kids excited to start soccer practice, this woman at his side.

  * * *

  Sabrina pulled the ponytail holder out of her hair and scooped her hair back from her face. She was sweating, tired and thirsty. And she hadn’t had so much fun in a long time. Gavin was a master of organization, keeping the kids coordinated and on track. Jack was the team’s heart, cheering the kids on, giving pointers and encouragement at every step. On a day when she felt the horrors and uncertainty of the world pressing all around her, this evening had reminded her that there were good people in the world. There was hope and light, and she wanted to be part of it.

  Sabrina pulled her hair back into a ponytail and tightened it. Some people might say it was just a kids’ soccer team, something to pass the time, but it had lifted her spirits more than anything in months. With what she’d seen last night, she’d been close to giving up. Life was too ugly, too hard, to keep on having faith that it would all work out okay.

  And then she’d spent two hours cheering kids, showing them moves, running to retrieve balls and laughing. She had forgotten how good it felt to laugh. Her body was loose and relaxed. She worked hard every day, lifting equipment and yanking bolts from old machinery, so she was certainly moving around enough. She was no couch potato. But this sort of workout was different. It was about friendship and teaching and community. Sabrina couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

  “Okay, everybody, we’ll see you back here in two days,” Gavin called out. “Leave your jerseys with Jack and don’t forget to review your rule sheets. We need everybody to have the rules down before the first game.”

  Sabrina jogged over to one of the goals and started to corral the balls. Gabby was hugging goodbye to a little girl with a pageboy haircut and missing front teeth. Sabrina watched her for a moment. Gabby made friends so easily, but Kassey was shyer, more prone to wait for someone to reach out to her. Sabrina watched her younger niece from across the gym. She was helping Jack collect the jerseys and Sabrina was surprised to see Kassey smiling at each kid as he or she passed. Maybe this soccer team would be good in more ways than just getting some exercise.

  “I hope we didn’t scare you away and that you’re going to come back,” a voice said.

  Sabrina turned, a smile spreading over her face before she even saw him.

  Jack said, “Gavin can be such a taskmaster. He needs a whip.”

  “He wasn’t scary at all. But I almost lost my head by flying soccer balls tonight. I may not be cut out for this.” She had no intention of quitting, and the smile on her face broadcast that fact.

  “Then I’ll have to think of some way to convince you to stay,” Jack said as he scooped up a ball and stuffed it into the bag. “I know running after a bunch of kids and getting sweaty isn’t at the top of the list for most girls, but we really apprecia
te your help.”

  Tugging the string tight, she shrugged. “I’m not most girls.” And he should know that. She spent most of her time covered in grease and wearing a hard hat.

  “So I can cancel that shipment for specialty chocolate?” He grinned down at her and even though she knew he was only teasing, she felt her chest contract a bit. The man had good genes, no doubt about it. Those perfect dimples, bright blue eyes and dark hair combined with the easy athleticism made him almost hard to look at, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “Chocolate isn’t my weak spot.” She lifted the bag and started toward the supply closet. She felt him lift it from her hands and she let go. Normally she would shoot a dark look at the person who tried to take over something she was doing, but she didn’t mind giving the bag to him. That set off a small warning bell somewhere. It was so easy to let him help her, even though she had never been very good at letting someone else be in charge. It was always better if she kept control.

  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?” He threw a grin over his shoulder.

  “I could, but it wouldn’t help you any. It’s not something you can walk down the block and find in any store.”

  They stopped in front of the supply closet and he took a set of keys from his pocket. “Now I’m really curious.”

  Sabrina couldn’t help laughing. He made it seem as if he really needed to know her deepest desires. “It’s not that interesting.”

  “Then tell me. Cupcakes? Shoes? Sparkly pink stickers to put on your hard hat?”

  From anyone else, she would have just rolled her eyes and walked away, but he knew it was none of those things.

  He cocked his head. “Oh, maybe a special tool? Something no one else has?”

  “We all use pretty much the same stuff.” She glanced back at the gym. Most of the kids were gone and Gavin was pointing out the row of chairs pushed to the side. The girls were busy sliding them into place, Gabby working as quickly as possible and Kassey taking her sweet time to place each chair in a perfect line. They would need to bring back the tables so Marisol and the kitchen crew could be ready for breakfast.

  She looked up at him and blinked. He was waiting patiently. He wasn’t going to let her walk away without spilling her secret. “You’ll think it’s really weird,” she said.

  “Even better.”

  She chewed her lip for a moment, trying not to laugh. It was silly to make such a big deal out of telling him her little hobby, but it was personal, and it had been a long time since anyone had cared about her enough to ask what she did when she wasn’t working or taking care of the kids.

  “I have this thing about maps,” she started to say. She watched his eyes widen a bit and rushed on. “Especially old maps. I mean, I like them all, even the new city maps. But I love looking at a place from a hundred years ago and wondering about the people who lived here.”

  “Maps of Denver?”

  “Anywhere. I like them all.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. She could almost smell the dust and feel the parchment under her fingers. “From other countries, the other side of the world, anywhere. I like how the cities in Europe are built around the square, so they circle outward like ripples in a pond. I like how the American cities are so organized in little grids, with streets named after presidents and trees.”

  “So you collect and frame them?” He looked confused.

  “No, I don’t frame them. I look at them.” She swept her hands out in front of her. “Late at night, I get them out and lay heavy books on the corners and just...”

  “Look at them,” he finished for her. The edges of his lips were twitching.

  “You think that’s silly,” she said, brushing past him to the supply closet door. He hadn’t opened it yet, but she couldn’t look up and see him laughing at her. She should never have told him. It was a stupid little hobby she’d started as a kid when her dad brought home a torn-up map he’d found in a Dumpster.

  “I think it’s great.” He reached past her and unlocked the door.

  She didn’t answer, keeping her face turned away. Maybe he was serious. Maybe he wasn’t. She didn’t have the courage to look up and see which it was.

  He touched her elbow, turning her to him. “Really, I do.”

  Looking into his eyes, Sabrina knew he was telling the truth. “Okay, but now that I’ve told you my weird pastime, you have to tell me something about you. It’s only fair.”

  He grinned and tossed the mesh bag into the supply closet. “What you see is what you get. I’m completely uninteresting.”

  “Hmm. Not buying that. You’re the vice president of a business, but you work on the financial board at a homeless mission. You’re not married and don’t have children of your own, but you like coaching a kids’ soccer team. You have a desk job but would rather be up on the mountain. None of those things really go together.”

  “Well, when you say it like that...” He laughed, but there was a note of surprise in his tone.

  “So, what is it?”

  “What’s what?”

  “Your weird little hobby. I told you mine.” She fixed him with a look. She wasn’t going to let him shrug off her question. Maybe she was getting even, but deep down, she knew she was mostly curious. Curious about this man who could get her to open up when she really should have been locking herself up tight, far away from any man who would complicate her life more than it already was.

  He watched Gavin pulling tables from the wall and seemed undecided whether to answer or go help. “You’ll laugh.”

  “Is it weirder than studying old maps?” She pretended to reconsider. “Maybe I don’t want to know. Right now I sort of like you. If you tell me your big secret, I may change my mind.”

  He met her eyes and one eyebrow went up a fraction. “Do you, now?” His voice was a lazy drawl.

  Sabrina’s cheeks went hot. They stood, gazes locked. She could feel a buffer of warmth between them and the sound of the chairs being pushed across the gym faded away.

  He leaned closer. “I like to cook,” he said.

  “That’s it?” She couldn’t believe he’d made such a big deal out of a little bit of cooking. “I know guys who like to cook. It’s not unheard of in the modern world, Mr. Thorne.”

  “I really, really like to cook. I watch the cooking shows. I collect cookbooks. I probably have a hundred, at least. I take cooking classes every fall. I have a selection of cooking gadgets that would put a French chef to shame.”

  “So...not just a little hobby.” She was trying to reconcile this revelation with the tall, athletic man in front of her. A vision of him in a chef’s hat and apron flashed before her, but she couldn’t make it stick.

  “No. Do you want to know my area of expertise?”

  “I’m sort of afraid to ask,” she said, laughing.

  He dropped his voice. “I make the best cupcakes you’ll ever eat. I have mastered the art of the chocolate-fudge-with-raspberry-filling cupcake. I have won over enemies with my French-vanilla-orange-zest-buttercream cupcakes.”

  Sabrina snorted, less at the idea of Jack wielding an oven mitt than the theatrical way he was listing his cupcake prowess. He was poking fun at himself and bragging at the same time, and she couldn’t keep from giggling.

  He went on. “I have eased awkward business meetings with my dark-chocolate-espresso frosting and wooed women with my salted-caramel-topped mocha cupcakes.”

  A vision flitted before her eyes of Jack offering a perfect little confection to a girl she imagined was tall and blonde. Her stomach twisted at the thought. “Well, that’s a handy talent. Too bad it doesn’t work on everybody.” She shrugged and reached inside the supply closet for her toolbox. It was time to be getting on home. “Some of us are immune to cupcakes.”

  “And some of you have other weak spots. Like
maps, for instance.”

  She fought back a laugh and shook her head instead. She wanted to get home to her apartment, where it was cozy and calm, where dark-haired men didn’t tease out her secrets and then charm her with talk of cupcakes. The way he said “weak spots” made her heart beat double time, and not all of it was a good feeling. She didn’t have time to flirt but somehow, with Jack, that’s all she ended up doing.

  * * *

  Jack spotted Lana following a young woman coming through the cafeteria doors. A dark-skinned little boy detached from the group and sprinted toward his mom with a huge smile. He shouted, “Goodbye, Coach Gavin, goodbye, Coach Jack,” as he went out the door.

  “And Coach Sabrina,” Gavin called back, laughing.

  “Really?” Lana turned to ask Sabrina, just a few feet away. She was motioning to the girls, holding their coats in one hand and her toolbox on the other.

  “I guess so,” she answered. Her face looked tense, as if she knew they had been talking about her, but her chin was held high. She smiled. “It will be nice to do something other than work and dishes.”

  “Well, glad to have you on board,” Lana said. “But Jack or Gavin should have told you that we can’t have anyone working with the kids without being cleared. We’ll have to get your papers signed right away and a background check done. I’m assuming you haven’t had any brushes with the law or any illegal activity.”

  Her cheeks flushed and she shook her head.

  “Oh, Lana, look at the woman. Does she look like a criminal to you?” Gavin said.

  “Looks can be deceiving,” Lana said, shrugging. “Let me go get those papers so you can fill them out at home.” She turned her wheelchair around in one smooth motion and headed for the doors.

  “I’ll go lock up the supply closet,” Gavin said and walked away.

  Jack shook his head, chuckling at the idea of Sabrina being a wanted criminal. He opened his mouth to say something about the chances of such a thing, then caught sight of Sabrina’s expression. His words died in his throat. Her jaw was tense and when she looked up, her eyes flashed with fear and anxiety.