The Foster Girls

by Lin Stepp

  Vivian put her hands up to her eyes to scrub away the tears that were flowing freely now. “Oh, Alice, I didn’t mean to make things harder for Sarah.”

  “I know.” Alice squeezed her hand affectionately. “You’ve just let your heart rule without thinking. I’ve been in the same situation.”

  “What did you do?”

  Alice hesitated. “A few times I had to work hard to prepare a child to go on, to leave me. It was hard, but, in time, it worked out well. Another time, I found I couldn’t say goodbye.”

  “And did you foster or adopt that child?”

  “Actually I decided to foster all six of them.” Alice laughed. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to adopt them, but I am definitely keeping them. They’ve become my family. I’ve bought a farm, sort of like yours, except bigger, over near Greenbrier. The kids and I have been settling in all summer. Before that I had them all packed into my tiny little stone house in two converted attic bedrooms. Believe me, we are glad to spread out.”

  “If you could take six, surely I could take one,” Vivian reasoned.

  “Listen, Vivian. The reason to take one or six children to foster is only partly due to their need. It has to be the right thing for you, too. And for Scott. You’re getting ready to be married, Vivian. Scott may like Sarah well enough in her position as a foster child staying at the Greene’s, but it may be another thing for him to want to raise her as his own child. Don’t assume too much about how Scott feels. You may have to let Sarah go on to the Perrys. They’re a very fine family.”

  “I don’t think I can.” Vivian’s voice came out in an anxious whisper. “She’s gotten into my heart, Alice. I don’t think I can bear to let her go. Surely Scott will understand?”

  Vivian turned to look at Alice appealingly then. “Perhaps you can talk to him about it, Alice? Help him to understand how I feel?”

  “Nothing doing.” Alice lightened up the situation now with a laugh. “That’s your department, Vivian. Mine is just to find the best homes for children in need that I can and, then, to follow up and see to it that every one of them is well loved and well-cared for in that home. Interfering between couples is not in my job description, Vivian. You’re on your own with that one.”

  Vivian sighed.

  “No matter what happens, Vivian. You can be sure that I will see that no harm comes to Sarah. Her experience will never be like yours. I don’t want your past to influence your decision here.”

  Alice stood up then, putting her drink bottle down on the table. “Think and pray about this, Vivian,” she suggested kindly. “It’s a serious commitment to consider fostering a child. And it’s a lot different from babysitting Sarah on a day when Ellen has gone to the doctor. A child is a twenty-four hour commitment through cross and cranky days as well as sunny ones, through sickness and health, in good times and bad. It is very important that you think this through very carefully before we even consider suggesting the idea to Sarah. She loves you already, you know. There is no question as to what her response will be.”

  Vivian watched Alice look back toward the house, thinking about Sarah upstairs playing with the dollhouse. She knew she was remembering Sarah’s reluctance to see her drive up for a visit.

  Alice looked at Vivian and shook her head. “It will be hard enough as it is when I have to move Sarah. I don’t want to keep her here much longer because of that. I hope you understand.”

  “I do,” said Vivian on a sigh, getting up to tell Alice goodbye.

  “Here’s my card.” Alice handed her a business card from out of her suit pocket. “You let me know how you feel after you think all of this over. And please don’t feel guilty to say no, Vivian. You are a busy career woman. And Sarah will be fine with the Perrys. You can keep ties with her and visit her there. I have no objection to that. You can stay loving friends. Remember that.”

  But as Vivian sat down and watched Alice’s car go down the driveway, Vivian knew that wasn’t possible for her.

  She spoke to herself thoughtfully as she stood watching Alice’s car disappear from sight. “I’ve fallen in love with Sarah. As much so in one way as I’ve fallen in love with Scott in another. Sarah and I have a connection. I think I’ve known it from the very first day we met.” She smiled to herself remembering Sarah flying in and out of the shrubbery in her yellow fairy wings.

  “Ophelia Odelia will just have to be mine,” Vivian acknowledged. “It’s our destiny as two past fairy princesses.”

  Chapter 23

  Scott sat cross-legged in Buckeye Knob’s Tuesday night closing circle down by the lakeside. Songs of the campers drifted around him but his thoughts were on Vivian. They were having a late dinner as soon as circle ended and his last announcements were done. Dinner together had become a tradition for them now, and, admittedly, Scott looked forward to it every day. He had never thought that any one woman could keep him interested over any great length of time, but Vivian was the exception. The more time he spent time with her, the more he wanted to be with her. It amazed him continually. She had really gotten into his blood.

  Their wedding date was set for early September. His mother and Aunt Mary were joyously working out all the details, and Vivian seemed glad to let them do it. For a honeymoon, he and Vivian planned a trip to Hawaii with a stopover to see familiar sites in California on the way back. Vivian thought she might use the material she gained in Hawaii and their travels for a book later on. Scott laughed to himself. Everything to Vivian was potentially book material, but Scott hoped he could provide some honeymoon entertainment that would take her mind off her writing for a while. He certainly planned more interesting things for himself than thinking about camp during those weeks. He’d fantasized about it all summer.

  Later, Scott walked over to the farmhouse with a jaunty step, whistling a campfire song into the evening darkness. He slipped into the back kitchen door and found Vivian stirring something on the stove.

  He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “How domestic - the little woman at the stove.”

  “If you consider comments like that romantic to me, you know you’re way off base.” Vivian’s reply was snappish and she struggled to get out of the grip he had on her. “You know I hate sexist comments.”

  He laughed. “And you know I’m only saying them to get a rise out of you.” He nuzzled her neck, enjoying the floral scent of her cologne and some subtle undertone essence of one of Ellen’s soaps still lingering on her skin.

  Scott took the big, wooden spoon out of Vivian’s hand and turned her around to kiss him. He loved to tease-kiss her - moving his lips lightly over hers, touching his tongue over her lips and teasing at her mouth, until their breaths heated up. Then the jolt would hit, the sizzle that always happened between them, and she would fall into him and begin to grow soft under his touch. That punch never failed to happen. Yet, it always amazed Scott and took his breath away when it did.

  He deepened his kiss with Vivian now, loving her quickened breath and response, excited by the feel of her heart racing under his. Sexist or not, Scott loved the sense of power he felt in knowing he could move Vivian’s emotions, make her respond to him. He loved taking his time with her and drawing out her passions. Scott had always been a slow and competent lover, but he especially enjoyed prolonging his loving with Vivian. He had started learning all the special ways she liked to be kissed and touched over the summer. And he reveled in the knowledge that she wouldn’t be able to resist him when he finally took their loving to a deeper level. He looked forward to pleasing and amazing her.

  “If you don’t stop this, I’ll burn our dinner,” she murmured against his neck.

  “I like having dessert first.” He slipped his hands teasingly under her shirt to draw a little gasp from her.

  She looked toward her cooking with concern, her mind diverted. “Was your day good?”

  “It was.” Realizing she needed to finish their dinner, he loosened his hold on her and let her turn back to her pot on the
stove.

  “I’ve made a homemade soup for tonight.” She gave him a bright smile. “It’s Ruth Hart’s recipe. I know the weather is a little warm for soup, but it’s really wonderful. I hope it turns out all right.”

  He took the spoon from her for a taste. “Ummm. Tastes good. Is it vegetable?”

  “A vegetable beef – and thick, too - almost like a stew; so it’s hearty.” She passed him a smug look then. “I think I am getting rather domestic for a professor who seldom had time for more than TV dinners before.”

  “I think so, too.” He lounged against the counter where he could watch her work. “But you know you don’t have to do a lot of cooking for me.”

  “I know that. But it hurt my ego that you could cook better than me, Scott, so I’ve been working on it.” She wrinkled her nose at him mischievously.

  “I hope that doesn’t mean that you won’t let me cook after we’re married.” He gave her a wounded look. “You know how I like to get in the kitchen.”

  “We’ll trade out,” she promised him. “I’ve warned you that sometimes I get lost in my writing and forget the time. On those days, especially, you’d better get in here and cook or you probably won’t eat at all.” She laughed at that.

  “I love the idea of being married to a famous writer.” He leaned over to kiss her neck again. “I’ll get to have my picture in the tabloids.”

  She turned on him then, her eyes heated. “I hope you’re teasing about that, Scott Jamison. You’d really hate that.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” He purposely made his response sound casual, enjoying goading her. “It might be fun. I’ve never experienced being one of the rich and famous pursued by the press. It might be a novelty.”

  “Well, Mr. Celebrity Seeker, eventually some journalist will track me down here.” Vivian flashed him an annoyed glance. “We’ll see how much you like having your life invaded and lies told about you then. They doctor their pictures, you know, and give you quotes you’ve never said. It can really be humiliating, Scott. They put a horrid photo in one of their magazines of me walking across campus with one of my students and suggested he was my lover. It was terrible.”

  “I’m sure your Armitage colleagues loved that one,” he drawled.

  Vivian heaved a sigh, getting upset just remembering it. “Fortunately, they never saw it. Tad told me about it, though. I went to the grocery stores in the area and bought every magazine I could find that had printed that story and trashed them all. I was so mad and so humiliated.”

  “And couldn’t write for a week afterwards?” Scott couldn’t resist teasing her.

  “Don’t make jokes,” she snapped back. “I was really upset, Scott.”

  “You need to be less thin-skinned.” He heaved himself up to sit on the counter. “Not care so much what people say or think. It makes life easier, Vivian. Besides, stuff like that passes over quickly. People whisper and talk for a few days, and then they are off on some new seven-day wonder. I’ve seen it happen often in my own life.”

  She passed him a disapproving look. “Yes, I’ve heard about some of the scandals you and your brothers got involved in when you were growing up. I guess you got used to notoriety with some of the tales I’ve heard.”

  “Well maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t hear all those tales before we got engaged and started planning a wedding.” Scott reached over to pat her bottom. “Wanna give the ring back?”

  Vivian gave him a shove. “No. But maybe I should put one in your nose.”

  She looked at him more seriously then. “Scott, you won’t ever fool around on me after we’re married, will you? I know you have a big past with women, but I don’t think I could stand it if you started philandering, like Nancy’s husband did.”

  “Nancy’s husband was an ass,” Scott said with a scowl. “Jamison men may sow their wild oats before marriage, but they are very faithful afterwards. Ask around.”

  Scott noticed Vivian’s face still looked troubled.

  “There is no one for me but you, Vivian.” He dropped down off the counter, gathered her up in his arms, and kissed her forehead tenderly. “And there had better be no one for you but me, either. I’m a one-woman guy now.”

  She sighed in his arms then, comforted.

  “You know,” she murmured against his neck, nibbling on his ear in a tantalizing way that started his blood racing again. “I’m starting to really look forward to our wedding night now.”

  “Is that right? Well, if you don’t stop nibbling on my ear like that, I’m probably going to skip ahead to that time prematurely.” He pulled her against him and slid his hands down over her hips. As he did, that zing sizzled in the air between them.

  She pulled back from him with a slow little smile and turned back reluctantly to the stove. “I never thought I was a very passionate woman before I met you, Scott,” she told him, while stirring her soup. “But you’ve made me have some of the most incredible and embarrassing dreams and fantasies.”

  Scott grinned delightfully. “No kidding. Tell me a few.”

  She kept her back to him, partly in embarrassment, he knew. “Well, let’s see. I’ve dreamed of us swimming together and bathing together and stuff like that.”

  “Water fantasies.” He smirked and leaned back against the counter again. “I like that. I’ve had a few of those myself. I promise you we’ll try a few of those ideas out later on. What else have you fantasized?” He was intrigued.

  “Woods dreams.” She turned her head to look at him, a blush stealing up her cheeks. “And you know I’m not as eager as you to sleep in a tent or under a tree, so I can’t figure out where those dreams are coming from.”

  He came up behind her and ran his hands softly down her body. “I’ve had those, too. Those woods dreams make great bedfellows, don’t they, Vivian?”

  “Is it normal to think about things like that, Scott?”

  “More than normal,” he assured her with a chuckle. “It’s also normal to do them all as well.”

  Scott heard her suppress a little gasp and loved it. He decided it was going to be wonderful to be married to an imaginative woman. There was no telling what her mind would come up with that would be absolutely delightful to try.

  “I like a fertile imagination in a woman.” He said this in a whisper against her ear, running his tongue over her earlobe at the same time.

  “Well, you’re in luck.” Her voice came out in a husky whisper. “Because I’m certainly an imaginative sort of person.”

  They quit snuggling and teasing after a little while, and sat down to try Vivian’s soup. As they ate, they talked and visited comfortably and caught up on events and news of their day.

  Later, they took iced tea out on the porch so they could watch the late summer fireflies flashing in the woods and around the lawn. Here in the dark they bared their hearts and talked about the deep things of life.

  “Alice Graham came by to check on Sarah today,” Vivian told him, pushing the glider back and forth with one foot. “She stopped by over here since I was keeping Sarah for Ellen. She told me she thought she might have found a home for Sarah.”

  “Well, that’s good.” Scott lounged back into an old porch rocking chair and propped his feet up on the rail. “She’s a good kid and deserves a really nice place. I’ll miss her.”

  “Me, too.” Vivian gave him an engaging smile. “In fact, I realized as we talked that I didn’t want to let Sarah go. I talked to Alice about fostering her myself.”

  Scott sat up straight in the rocker, dropping his feet from the rail and turning his full attention on Vivian.

  He knew his voice was testy. “I think that’s the sort of thing we’re both supposed to talk about together now, Vivian. And not the kind of decision you just make on your own.”

  “Well, that’s why I’m talking about it now.” She smiled at him again. “I told Alice I was sure you wouldn’t mind, that you were very fond of Sarah and good with kids.”

  “You’re talking about
this in the same way you might discuss getting a new puppy or something, Vivian,” he countered, his irritation rising. “Of course I’m fond of Sarah, but deciding to foster a child is a serious matter. You, of all people, should know that. Sarah deserves to go to a family that will think about not only fostering her but adopting and raising her as well. Like the experience you had with the Meros. I don’t think fostering Sarah for a little while longer would be the right thing for her.”

  Vivian pushed the glider back and forth casually. “Well, I told Alice that after we were married that we could adopt Sarah. I’d want stability for Sarah, too.”

  Scott was stunned. “And you were discussing all this and making all these decisions without even talking with me about it first?” He fidgeted in annoyance, having trouble sitting still in his chair. “That’s not the way married people do things, Vivian.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “Well, we’re not married yet, Scott. And you weren’t here when Alice came by anyway. We got to talking and one thing led to another.”

  “And you jumped in and offered to foster Sarah Taylor without even asking me how I feel about it,” Scott accused.

  “I don’t know why you’re so upset, Scott. I’m talking to you about it now. And I’m asking you about it now.”

  “Well, fine.” Scott got up to pace in exasperation across the porch. “And now that you’re asking me I’m telling you that I don’t think it’s such a good idea.”

  “Why?” Vivian asked in that quiet, wounded voice Scott knew always meant trouble for him.

  He struggled to control his anger and talk reasonably. “Because we’re just getting ready to be married, to go on a honeymoon, to start our lives together, to have time together as a newly married couple. It’s a special time in a marriage, a time to really come to know each other before a family is started. I want that.”