Home for Her Family (9781460341186)

by Carmichael, Virginia

  “You’re welcome,” he said. He seemed half surprised, half grateful they weren’t going to argue about it anymore. It was a standard response, but the tone of his voice made it seem as if they were the only two people in the lobby. The sound of the girls’ chatter faded away and she felt heat rising to her cheeks. She couldn’t fathom how Jack could still be interested in her after all of this. The idea that he really liked her, for who she was, was hard to believe.

  Lana’s gaze flitted to where the girls waited and back. Sabrina had told them she wanted to tell the girls herself, at home, when they were alone. “Call if you need anything at all. We have a lot of people here who have gone through this, and who also work with kids in crisis.”

  Sabrina was thankful that Gabby and Kassey seemed like they were taking the move in stride. “I will.”

  * * *

  Minutes later they pulled up at the apartment and Jack put the SUV in Park. “Let me walk you to the door,” he said. He saw Sabrina open her mouth as if to argue, then she nodded.

  “Thanks.” It was one word, but it seemed as if she had finally gotten the idea of accepting a little help, at least.

  Jack angled out and opened the back door for the girls. They scooted out, giggling. “Hurry up, princesas,” he said. “This carriage is going to turn into a pumpkin any minute.”

  They rushed to the door, eyes bright with laughter. Sabrina hesitated, half turned toward the door. “Thanks for the ride.”

  He grinned. “See, not so hard. Just a ride—”

  “Not a proposal,” she finished for him. Even though her eyes had dark smudges underneath, when Sabrina laughed it was as if she was lit from the inside. Jack could just stare at her for hours.

  “You’d know it when it happens. You wouldn’t have to guess,” he said, chuckling. Then his own words echoed back in his head and he wanted to slap himself. He had always been so good with women, never tipping his hand, never showing too much of himself. But with Sabrina he just couldn’t keep from putting every feeling he had out on the table. The moment he opened his mouth, his thoughts came rushing out, for better or for worse.

  Would she walk away? A few kisses had scared her into a friends-only talk. Two mentions of marriage proposals in an hour might have burned the bridge on their relationship.

  “Noted,” she said lightly. Her cheeks had turned pink and for once she didn’t seem to be edging away from him. There had been some sort of shift in her, in the way she looked at him.

  “See you at practice,” he said, not able to think of anything else. He wanted to stand on the sidewalk all night and just stay in her presence, but they were adults with responsibilities. He had a pile of papers to fight through and she had an apartment to pack.

  “See you,” she said. But she didn’t move away.

  He felt his eyes widen as she stepped closer, tilting up her face. She pressed a kiss, so very softly, on his cheek. Then she was gone, walking quickly to the front door while he stood rooted to the spot.

  Sabrina had kissed him. She had bridged that space between them and kissed him. Jack watched them go through the door and she turned as she closed it, catching his eye. Her smile was a bit embarrassed but was mostly just happy. Very happy.

  He slid behind the wheel, unable to keep a grin from spreading over his face. Something was definitely different. He put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb, a feeling of utter contentment wrapped around him. Just as he reached the first light, he sucked in a breath, finally understanding what had changed.

  Maybe Sabrina, who never let anyone help, was making a real choice to find her team. She wasn’t going to fight the people who wanted to support her, insisting on doing it all herself. Being forced into the homeless shelter might have brought that change about, but Jack knew enough truly stubborn people to know that wasn’t it. She was taking to heart what he’d said, and nothing could have made him happier.

  Sure, the kiss was great, too. Just the memory of it made him grin. But Sabrina was choosing to trust other people, maybe even for the first time. Nothing was better than that.

  * * *

  Gabby leaned into Sabrina’s side and buried her face into her shoulder. They sat in a row on the couch, the three of them. “Tía, why do we have to leave? Why can’t we stay?”

  Sabrina had already explained it as best she could, but she knew how hard it was to understand money as a small child. “Because, sweetie, we just don’t have the money Mr. Snyder needs.”

  “I have two dollars from Easter,” Kassey piped up. She looked so hopeful that Sabrina blinked back tears.

  “We need more than that, mija.” She hugged them both to her, feeling how small they were, how fragile they felt under her hands. These two deserved so much more than a homeless mission.

  “But I thought you had enough. You said there was money to pay him and now there isn’t. Did you lose it somewhere? Can we go look for it?” Gabby asked.

  Sabrina closed her eyes for a moment. If she wanted to vent her anger, she would tell the girls exactly who had stolen their money. Rosa had texted back one line to her message earlier: Sorry. I’ll make it up to you. It was so inadequate, so ridiculous to think an apology would make it all better, or that it could be made up in any way.

  She let out a long breath. Telling the girls where the money had gone wouldn’t hurt Rosa, it would hurt them. She was their mother, for good or for bad, forever. Any criticism reflected on the girls because they were her children. It didn’t do anyone any good to share the details.

  “I made a mistake. That’s all,” she said. It was the truth. She shouldn’t have trusted Rosa.

  “But we’re sticking together, as we always have. You’re my sweet girls and I love you.” She placed a kiss on each of their heads.

  “We’ll move to the mission tomorrow. You like it there, right?”

  They nodded, expressions full of fear.

  “Then it will be fine. We’ll stay there until we can find a new place. And maybe the next place will have an elevator.”

  Gabby perked up at this. “I love elevators!”

  “Well, that’s something to look for, right?” She heard the false cheer in her voice and hated it. “Let’s eat some dinner and get ready for bed. It’s been a long day.”

  The girls straggled to the kitchen and sat down, quieter than normal. Sabrina grabbed some bread and cheese, toasting them in the oven for a quick meal. They ate in silence and she tried not to worry. Kids were adaptable. As long as they were surrounded by love, they would thrive.

  Sabrina forced herself to swallow the toast. All of these words were just to make herself feel better. She knew as well as any adult who’d suffered through a terrible childhood that upheaval left scars. Even though she would have some protection from the slave-labor bosses now, this wasn’t the way she had wanted it to happen. They would all try their best, but it was going to be hard, maybe the hardest thing she’d ever done, to shepherd these beautiful little girls through the nightmare of homelessness.

  * * *

  It had only been a day since he’d seen Sabrina, but Jack felt as if it had been weeks. He wanted to call her, offer to come and help them pack, but he resisted. She knew where he was. And he would see her tomorrow at practice. Part of him was irritated that she hadn’t asked for help, but another part knew that was who Sabrina was. Even though she was slowly learning to trust, it didn’t mean she was going to call him every morning and ask for favors. He let out a breath and tried to focus on the pile of messages by his phone. There was a lot of work to do, whether he wanted to be here behind the desk or not.

  A light knock on the door brought his head up with a snap. Employees were slowly learning that he could be approached when there was a problem, but it was still rare to have a visitor.

  Jack opened his office door and felt his jaw drop. “Dad?�
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  The man standing there was as familiar as the back of his hand, except for the smile on his face. His dad wasn’t known as a smiler. “Surprise,” he said, opening his arms in a here-I-am motion.

  “Come on in,” Jack said. Then he paused. “Unless you want to go talk in your office.”

  “No, no, this is fine.” He settled himself in one of the wing chairs across from Jack’s desk and crossed his legs. His face was thinner and more lined than just a few months ago, but a heart attack had that effect on a man. His gray hair was just as thick but was freshly trimmed. Overall he looked good and Jack was glad to see him so relaxed.

  “So, I hear everything is running smoothly.” His father leveled a gaze at him.

  Jack paused, confused. “Who told you that? I mean, things are running as well as we could hope, but there are a few issues I think need to be addressed.”

  “Bob Barrows called a few days ago. He seemed to think you were taking a little too much interest in his department. He assured me he’s handling production the same way he always has, competently.” Eyes narrowing, he frowned. “I’m glad you’re taking a renewed interest in your position here at the company. It’s certainly been a long time coming. But we don’t need to micromanage the department heads. They’ve earned my respect, and I except you to show them the same.”

  Jack choked back a retort. His father was right. He hadn’t paid much attention to this job for years. It probably looked as though he was meddling in departments on a whim.

  “I’m glad you’re here. I have something to tell you. I asked all the departments for a two-month audit, just to make sure nothing had changed after you...” Jack paused. His father didn’t like to look weak, and that included saying what had taken him out of the office and put him in the hospital. “Your health scare. Most of the departments had no trouble bringing me a quick update. Production was different, though. I had to hound the man just to get a stack of printouts.”

  Jack pushed the pile of papers to the front of the desk, but his father didn’t make any move to look at them.

  “I went over the numbers three times. I contacted Packaging International. The bills here are from three months ago and the company says they haven’t had any orders from us since December.”

  His father frowned. “That’s impossible. We’re shipping product around the world, and the warehouse is stocked. I just visited this morning and there were boxes to the roof.”

  Jack rubbed his forehead. “I know, I went out there, too. At least the vitamin supplements and the powders are all in stock. But if Packaging International isn’t bottling and labeling the product, who is? And where is all this money going? Barrows has submitted payment requests as if we’re still working with this company, we have the product, but the company says they haven’t seen any orders for months.”

  “There’s some simple explanation. What does Bob say?”

  “He says I must have gotten ahold of the wrong person over at Packaging International.”

  “And who was it?” His father looked almost relieved, as if Jack would have made one phone call and left it at that.

  “I first called their customer service, then was connected to someone in client relations. Finally I just drove out there to talk to them yesterday.” Jack had wasted an entire afternoon driving out of the city and tracking down a company that insisted they weren’t clients, even though accounts payable at Colorado Supplements thought they were. “There’s nothing from us in their factory, no orders running, no labels, boxes, product. Nothing.”

  His father sat back in his chair and was silent. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know.” Jack had gone over and over it and had come no closer to a solution. “What I can tell you is that Bob Barrows is at the center of whatever it is, and he knows I’m asking too many questions. I knew this before, but the fact that he called to talk to you just confirms that. I was going to come over and tell you about it today, but here you are.”

  His father had never been one to accept Jack’s opinion out of hand, but he nodded. “I think you’re right. Whatever’s going on, it can’t be good. At the very best, we’re being scammed and losing money. At the worst, we’re losing product and money.”

  Jack could think of a few worse things than losing money and product: there could be illegal activities involved, such as drug smuggling or kickbacks to city officials. “The first order of business is to get some real account statements from the production department. We need to bring in other managers and see if we can find these missing figures.”

  “And if Bob already knows you suspect him, he’ll be working hard to cover his tracks.”

  “Exactly.” They sat in silence for a moment, feeling the weight of the issue bearing down on them.

  “Are you back now, for good?” Jack was afraid to think his father was going to jump right into this mess after a heart attack.

  “Only mornings, for now. The doctor said less stress and more exercise.” He stood up. “I’ll be in my office until noon.”

  His father paused at the door and looked back. “You’ve done really well here, Jack. I know you haven’t always been happy to work here, but thank you for holding the place together while I was gone.”

  And with that he left, closing the door behind him.

  Jack sat there, motionless. His father had never thanked him like that before. Probably because he’d never worked hard enough to earn any thanks. The heart attack had been a blow to their family in a lot of ways, but it also seemed to have brought them closer together. Jack had stepped up and taken responsibility, and his father had learned to appreciate the people around him a little more.

  He had Sabrina to thank for all of it. He wished there was something he could do for her, but she wouldn’t let him. She was proud, and he loved that about her, but it would be so much easier if she would just accept his help.

  Jack’s head went up with a snap. Maybe she wouldn’t accept his help, but she might take assistance from someone else. Even better, if it wasn’t a person at all.

  A smile flooded his face. As soon as he could, he was going to ask Grant to help with his plan. Lord willing, there might just be a way to get Sabrina into an apartment after all.

  He glanced down at the sheets of numbers. Now if he could only figure out what sort of scam Bob Barrows was pulling on them, he would feel as though he’d really earned that thanks. His dream of a snowboarding clinic still hovered at the corners of his imagination, but for now his job was to expose the lies that threatened Colorado Supplements.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sabrina fell into bed, her eyes closed before she even hit the pillow. Moving their furniture upstairs into Mrs. Guzman’s apartment had been exhausting, even with Mrs. Guzman’s nephew helping her. The day had been draining in all ways. Taking the first step to move into mission was one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but she was at peace with it now. It was for the best. The girls would be safe, she would be able to get to her usual jobs and they would be with friends. Tonight was their last night in this apartment, and then they would be official residents of the Downtown Denver Mission.

  Jack’s face flashed through her mind and her lips turned up. That kiss had taken him totally by surprise. She wished she had a picture of his expression, something to look at when she felt down. Stepping toward him, and not away, was one more brave thing that she had done that day. What he’d said about teams had really touched her. Everybody had supporters, even if they were distant. As a mom to her nieces, she didn’t want to be alone. She wanted to have a safety net. She’d always figured it was best to go it alone, to keep from being hurt, but isolating herself had actually caused more problems.

  Jack had spoken truth and it had been hard for her to accept it, but she was going to try, one step at a time, to let other people help her. It didn’t mean she would
n’t be independent, although at this point, she had lost almost all her independence anyway.

  You’d know it when it happens. You wouldn’t have to guess. His words about a proposal made her smile in the darkness. Something she loved about Jack was how utterly guileless he was. She knew too many people who weighed every word, who never made a move in friendship or in business unless it benefited them. Jack was the sort of person who chose his friends without any other thought than if he liked them. She could imagine a proposal of his would never be a sneaky surprise—any woman who was blessed to get a proposal from Jack would see it coming a mile away, no guessing required. It wouldn’t come out of the blue, for sure. He probably couldn’t even keep his Christmas presents a secret.

  A knock at the door made the smile drop from her lips. Not again. Not now. Sabrina slipped from the bed and crept to the front door. She listened at the crack, afraid to look through the peephole. If it was Mrs. Guzman needing help, she would have called. Unless her phone wasn’t working.

  She stood there, unsure of what to do next, when a voice called from the other side. “Sabrina, open up!”

  Pancho, and he sounded as panicked as before. Her mind whirled and she took a deep breath. Did she have the courage to put her plan in motion? After the last time she’d gone with him, she’d sat at the kitchen table until dawn, forcing herself to find a way out of this mess. Only one idea had occurred to her, but it involved going there, into the heart of the slave-labor ring, one last time.

  She unbolted the door and slid back the chain. Pancho’s face was tense and his eyes were red. He said nothing, just waited for her to speak.

  “I need to call Mrs. Guzman,” she said and reached for the phone. His eyes narrowed and for a moment she wondered if he was afraid she would call the police on him. That had occurred to her, but then she’d remembered Mrs. Olmos, Pancho’s mother. The organized-crime leaders would hurt her and her children, and she had nothing to do with any of this. Mrs. Olmos had saved Sabrina and Rosa when they were little. There was no way she could put her in harm’s way now.