Heart of the Family

by Margaret Daley

  Whenever he was at the cottage, it seemed to come alive. His relationship with the children was great.

  How about his with you?

  She ignored the question and greeted Lisa with a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

  The young woman slung her arm around Andy who was plastered against his mom. “Thanks for the invitation. I’ve been looking forward to today.”

  Andy yanked on his mother’s arm. “Come inside. I want to show you what Dr. Jacob got me.”

  “I’ll show you my gift, too,” Gabe said.

  “Talk to you later,” Lisa said laughingly as her son dragged her up the steps and into the house.

  Hannah turned to Jacob. “I appreciate you picking her up.”

  “No problem. I was coming this way.” He produced a bouquet of fall flowers from behind his back. “These are for you.”

  “Me?” She took them, her eyes probably as round as the yellow mums she held. The scent of the lilies teased her senses.

  “Dr. Jacob, have you heard about the bike trip we’re going on this weekend?” Nancy asked, tugging on his arm to get his attention.

  He knelt down so that they were eye to eye. “I’m going, too.”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot.” The little girl hugged her worn pink blanket to her and stuck her thumb into her mouth.

  “C’mon, Nancy. You need to help me set the table.” Susie clasped the child’s hand and mounted the steps.

  “Where are the other kids?”

  Still stunned by the gesture, Hannah was momentarily speechless. She could not recall anyone ever bringing her flowers—not even her husband.

  “Hannah?”

  “Oh. At the barn feeding the animals. They’ll be here shortly. Roman took several of them over with some of the older kids.”

  “I bet Terry led the way.”

  “You know that boy well.”

  “He has been here the longest. I wish someone would adopt him, but he’s nearly twelve, which makes it harder.” Jacob held the front door open for Hannah.

  “Yeah, everyone wants a baby or a young child when they’re looking to adopt.”

  The aroma of the roasting turkey seeped into every corner of the house. “Ah, the best smell. Did Meg make her cornbread dressing?”

  “Yes, and my contribution is dessert. Pecan pie.”

  “A woman after my heart. That’s one of my favorite desserts.”

  “Meg made her pumpkin pie and a chocolate one, too.”

  “Stop right there. You’re driving a starving man crazy.”

  “Tell you what. Dinner isn’t for another hour. Let me put these flowers into water and check with the kids to see if anyone wants to go to the barn. That oughta take your mind off food.”

  “Great. If I stayed here, I’d probably be raiding the kitchen, and Meg doesn’t take too kindly to snacking before a meal.”

  She waved her hand toward the living room. “Two are in there. See if they want to go,” she said while she walked to the dining room and peered in.

  Susie gave Nancy a plate to set on the table.

  “Want to come to the barn with Dr. Jacob and me?”

  Nancy thrust the dishes she still held at Susie. “Yes!”

  The older girl scanned the near-empty table. “I promised Meg I would help her. You all go on without me.”

  Next Hannah found Gabe and Andy in the boys’ bedroom, showing Lisa how to play one of the handheld video games. “We’re going to the barn. Want to come?”

  Gabe leaped to his feet at the same time Andy did. The boy pulled his mother up.

  “I guess that’s a yes,” Hannah said, and went to the kitchen to let Meg know where they would be and put the flowers in water.

  Five minutes later the group passed the unfinished third house and started hiking across the meadow. With just a hint of crispness, the air felt nice. The scent of burning wood lingered on the light breeze that blew a few strands of Hannah’s hair across her face. Andy practically hauled Lisa behind him at a fast clip while the other children ran and skipped toward the red barn.

  “After the busy week I’ve had, I don’t have that kind of energy.” Jacob chuckled when Andy’s mother threw them a helpless look.

  “Do you think Lisa will be successful this time?”

  “Honestly? No, I don’t but then my experience hasn’t been a good one when it comes to successful stories with drug rehab.”

  “I’m praying you’re wrong.”

  Jacob paused in the middle of the field and looked long and hard at Hannah. “Truthfully I hope I am, too.”

  The more she was around Jacob, the more she realized she’d never met a man like him. He was honest, caring, and when he was wrong, admitted it. If she weren’t careful, she would forget who he was. Yes, she had forgiven him, but she hadn’t forgotten what happened all those years ago. To do so would have been to betray her family.

  Peter came out of the barn as the children with Lisa raced by him. “The kids are almost through feeding the animals.” He swung his attention from Hannah to Jacob. “Now I know why you turned Laura and me down for Thanksgiving dinner. The kids told me you were joining them today.”

  “I got an offer I couldn’t refuse.” Jacob’s grin accentuated his two dimples.

  “Laura and I will eventually get over it.” Peter shifted toward Hannah. “I hope you have enough food. You should have seen him last Thanksgiving.”

  “Hannah, look.” Nancy walked toward her with a puppy cradled against her chest. “I got to pick her up this time.”

  “Yeah, she’s just about ready for a home.” Peter started for the interior of the barn.

  “I can give her a home,” Nancy said, trailing after Peter with the mutt still in her arms. “I’m good with puppies.”

  “So far I’ve managed to discourage any pets at the cottage, but I’ve got my work cut out for me this time.” Hannah hurried to follow Nancy.

  “Why? I think a pet around the house would be good for the kids.”

  She stopped in the middle of the cavernous building. “And how do you suppose I should pick the pet? Each child wants a different one.”

  Jacob scratched the top of his head. “I don’t know. I’ll have to think on that one.”

  “Fine. You come up with a fair way and they can have one.”

  Terry entered through the back door, carrying a lamb. “I found him.” He passed the animal to Peter, then waved at Hannah. “I’m finished. Is it time for dinner?”

  “About half an hour.” Hannah swung her attention back to Nancy and saw the little girl put the white puppy back in its pen with the other ones. The child stooped down and continued to stroke the mutt.

  Jacob was right. There needed to be some pets at the cottage, not just down at the barn. She’d never gotten to have one because they had always been moving to a new place. She remembered her yearning and her promise to herself that when she had her own home she would have several to make up for the lack while growing up.

  “I’ve got it.” Jacob leaned close, his voice low. “Paul used to have a family meeting every week and everyone had an equal say in what was discussed. That’s where we often hashed out problems that came up. When something like having a pet needed to be decided upon, we would talk about it at the meeting, then vote. Majority ruled.”

  His warm breath tingled along her neck. She stepped a few feet away and tried to slow her suddenly pounding heart. “That might work.”

  “He set up ground rules. One person at a time spoke. No one was allowed to cut in until that person was through speaking. Everyone had to be respectful of the others. Our voting was done by secret balloting and no one was to be questioned how they voted.”

  “He sounds like an amazing man.”

  “He was. I miss him. Thankfully Alice, his wife, lives with Laura and Peter.”

  “Alice was your foster mother? I didn’t know that.” She’d met the older woman while visiting Laura once.

  “Yes. Both of them were lifesavers to a lo
t of kids.”

  “Including you?”

  “Especially me. I was pretty messed up when I went to live with the Hendersons at fifteen.”

  “Why?”

  A frown marred his face and his eyes darkened with storm clouds.

  Hannah wished she could snatch the question back. Would he say anything about the wreck? Was that even what he was referring to?

  Chapter Eight

  For a few seconds the urge to share inundated Jacob. He’d never told anyone but Paul. Jacob stared into her gaze, void of any judgment. The words formed in his mind.

  “Jacob?”

  He turned away from Hannah in the middle of the barn and strode to the entrance. How could he tell her what he’d done, that he’d been responsible for another person’s death? He valued her friendship and didn’t want to see disappointment, or something worse, in her eyes. Their rocky start had finally smoothed out. He didn’t want to go back to how it had been in the beginning.

  Hannah’s hand settled on his arm. The touch went straight to his heart. The guilt he’d lived with for twenty-one years whisked the words away. He couldn’t tell her, but he had to say something.

  He glanced at her slightly behind him and to the side. “Before I came to the Hendersons, I was an angry teen who had even run away from several foster homes.”

  “Because of your childhood?” Sympathy edged her voice.

  “Yes. Paul’s the one who taught me about Jesus. He showed me there was another way besides giving in to my anger.”

  “Anger can consume a person.”

  “It nearly had me. I never want to go back to that place.” He shuddered.

  Hannah moved to stand in front of Jacob. Her fingers skimmed down his arm, and she grasped his hand. “I don’t see that happening.”

  “Not as long as the Lord is in my life.”

  “Hannah, I’m finished. I forgot to eat breakfast,” Terry said.

  She looked beyond Jacob and grinned. “Gather the others and we’ll head back.”

  In the past few years he’d done a pretty good job of throwing himself totally into his work and putting the past behind him. But lately he hadn’t been able to do that. Why, Lord? Why now?

  Nancy took his hand. “I don’t want to leave Abby.”

  “Abby?” That was Nancy’s mother’s name.

  She pointed toward the pen. “The puppy. I named her Abby. I love that name.”

  His heart ripped in half, and he had no words for Nancy, having been in her shoes and remembering the pain of rejection he’d suffered as a child. Racking his brain for something to say, Jacob cleared his throat. “I like the name, too.”

  Nancy tugged him down and whispered in his ear, “Will you talk to Hannah about Abby?”

  A lump lodged in his throat. “Sure.”

  Hannah sat at one end of the long dining-room table with Jacob at the other end. For the past minute silence had ruled because all the children were stuffing bites of pie into their mouths.

  Jacob pushed his empty plate away. “That’s it. I’m full up to my earlobes. Any more and it will come out the top of my head.”

  A couple of the children giggled.

  “Dr. Jacob, you’re funny,” Nancy said, shoving her plate away. “I’m full up to my earlobes, too.”

  “That was the best Thanksgiving dinner I’ve had, Meg.” Jacob wiped his mouth with his napkin.

  The older woman blushed. “Oh, it was nothing.”

  “Who agrees with me?”

  Everyone’s arm shot up into the air. Meg beamed from ear to ear.

  “And to show my appreciation, I’ll clean up the dishes. Who’s going to help me?” Jacob scanned the children’s faces.

  Everyone’s arm dropped.

  Hannah fought to keep her expression serious. “I guess you’re stuck doing them by yourself.”

  “Who’s going to take pity on me and help?” Jacob’s gaze again flitted from one child to the next.

  “I will,” Lisa said.

  “I can.” Andy stood and gathered up his plate.

  “Thanks, you two, but you enjoy your time together. I’ll help Dr. Jacob.” Hannah rose.

  Before she had a chance to reach for the dishes in front of her, the children fled the dining room with Lisa and Meg following at a more sedate pace.

  “I’ve never seen them move quite so fast,” Jacob said with a chuckle.

  “Not cleaning up is quite a motivator.”

  “Wash or dry?”

  “You’re the guest. You choose.” She stacked the plates and carried them into the kitchen.

  Five minutes later with the table cleared, Jacob rolled up his long sleeves and began rinsing the dishes off for the dishwasher. “Noah said something about coming over after eating at Peter and Laura’s.”

  “Speaking of Noah, I’ve been thinking. Do you think he’ll give Lisa a job at one of his restaurants?”

  “You’ll have to ask him. He’s always looking for good help. Why? Did Lisa say something to you?”

  “Well, no, but she doesn’t have a job. I thought I would help her find something.”

  “Don’t you think you should talk to her first?”

  Hannah took the glass that Jacob handed her. “I didn’t want to get her hopes up if it wasn’t possible. She doesn’t have many skills and has only worked in a fast-food restaurant.”

  “It’ll be hard finding a decent job without a high-school diploma. Will she be able to stay at the halfway house?”

  “Yes, and they have a program there that assists people in getting their GED.”

  Jacob shifted to face her. “Hannah, you can’t live Lisa’s life for her. She has to want it—especially being off drugs—if it’s going to work.”

  She averted her gaze, uncomfortable under the intensity of his. “I know. She loves Andy. I know it. They belong together.”

  “Then she’ll stay off the drugs if that’s the way to be involved in his life.” Sharpness sliced through his words.

  Reestablishing eye contact with him, she glimpsed the pain he experienced as a child who hadn’t meant much to his mother—at least not enough to stop taking drugs. “I have to try to help. That’s why I went into social work in the first place.” She took another dish from him. “In fact, I found Nancy’s mother. She’s only thirty miles from here in Deerfield.”

  He arched a brow. “And what do you intend to do with that information?”

  “I’m going to see her next Wednesday.”

  “Do you want some company?”

  Surprised, she immediately answered, “Yes,” then took a harder look at Jacob and noticed the tightening about his mouth and the inflexibility in his eyes. “Why do you want to come?”

  “I don’t want you to go alone. I’ve read Nancy’s file. I know the rough characters her mother has hung out with.” Censorship sounded in his voice.

  Hannah straightened, thrusting back her shoulders. “I have to try. Have you seen how upset Nancy is when she sees Andy with his mother?”

  “Yes, I’ve seen her carrying her blanket and sucking her thumb more and more since Lisa has come into Andy’s life.”

  “She misses her own mother.”

  “Maybe. But maybe she’s just plain scared her mother might come get her.”

  “I don’t think so. She’s asked me tons of questions about my mother.”

  Mouth tightening, Jacob squirted some detergent into the sink and filled it up with hot water. “What time did you want to go? I can rearrange my afternoon appointments if that’s okay with you.”

  “Fine. How about after lunch?”

  “How about lunch then we can go?”

  “Lunch?”

  His chuckle tingled down her spine. “Yes, you’ve got to eat. I’ve got to eat. Let’s do it together then leave from there.”

  “Sure.”

  “Then it’s a date.”

  A date? No, it wasn’t a date, she wanted to shout, but realized her panic would be conveyed. Instead she clamped h
er teeth together and didn’t say another thing until they had finished up with the pots and pans.

  While she put away the meat platter, Jacob wiped down the counters. “Does Nancy’s mother know you’re coming?”

  Jacob’s question in the quiet startled her. She whirled around. “No, I thought I would surprise her.”

  “I hope you’re not the one who is surprised.”

  She frowned. “I’m not totally naive. I don’t expect the woman to welcome me with open arms.”

  “That’s good because she won’t.”

  Tension pulsated between them as he stared at her.

  Terry burst into the kitchen. “Noah is here! You’ve got to come see what he brought us.” The boy spun around and disappeared back through the entrance.

  “Was that Terry who blew in and out of here?” Hannah asked with a laugh, needing to change the subject.

  “Yep.”

  The huge grin on Jacob’s face prompted her to ask, “Do you know what Noah brought?”

  He nodded and quickly followed the boy out of the kitchen.

  Exasperated at the lack of information, Hannah left, too, and found all the children out front, surrounding a pickup filled with bicycles, many different sizes. She stopped at Jacob’s side. “I guess that answers my problem about bikes for a ride. I’d only been able to come up with a few. Peter said he would work on it for me.”

  “He did. Noah and I were his solution.”

  “Y’all donated them?”

  Jacob’s smile grew. “Yep. It should have been done before now. Sometimes I’m so focused on their well-being physically that I forget about their mental health.”

  He waded his way through the crowd of children to help Noah lift the bikes out of the truck bed. As the two men did, they presented each one to a different kid.

  Nancy hung back next to Hannah. The little girl glanced up at her. “I don’t know how to ride. I’ve never had a bike.”