A Nest of Sparrows

by Deborah Raney

  He lowered his voice. “The kids were messing around getting ready for bed, and Beau shoved the bathroom door open. He didn’t know his sister was on the other side. He feels bad enough about it as it is. I assure you it was an accident, and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything else about it.”

  The social worker nodded, but Wade couldn’t read her expression. She went back into the living room and talked with the children for a few more minutes, asking about the sleeping arrangements in the home and what kinds of things they ate.

  Finally, she came out to the dining room where Wade was. “Would you mind taking me on a quick walk through the house?” she asked Wade.

  Taken aback by the request, he shrugged and held out an arm Vanna White style. “Be my guest.”

  Chapter 14

  The social worker walked slowly through the downstairs rooms of Wade’s house, as though she were a potential buyer at an open house. What was she looking for? Did she think he had a torture chamber hidden in the pantry? Wade led her back out to the living room.

  She glanced around the room, peaked into the spare room where Wade slept, then indicated the stairway at the end of the room. “May I?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Oh. Well… I’d feel more comfortable if you’d show me around.”

  Wade shrugged. But with the children in tow, he led the way up the stairs. The four of them stood clustered at the top of the stairs, looking at one another in silence as they listened to the staccato of Betty Graffe’s shoes on the hardwood floors. They watched as she walked systematically from room to room, poking her head into each before emerging, apparently satisfied.

  “Are we in trouble?” Lacey whispered.

  The hoarseness in her voice reminded Wade that he hadn’t had a chance to get any cough syrup down her. Wade put a hand on her shoulder. “No. Everything’s fine. It’s like Ms. Graffe said: they just want to be sure you kids are safe.” He wished his thudding heart would take a cue from the calmness he managed to plant in his voice.

  “Do they go to everybody’s house?” Beau asked.

  Wade dodged the question, putting a finger to his lips as the sound of the social worker’s footfalls echoed down the hallway.

  Betty Graffe followed them downstairs to the front door, then turned to give Wade a tight smile. “Thank you, Mr. Sullivan.” She cleared her throat. “I know things come up, but…you really shouldn’t leave the children alone––especially out here in the country. They’re still just a little young for that, even if it is only for a short time.”

  He didn’t acknowledge her condescending warning.

  Lacey started coughing again, deep barks that hurt him to listen to.

  Betty Graffe looked at Lacey with concern in her eyes and knelt down to the little girl’s eye level. “That sounds like a mean cough. Do you care if I check your forehead for a fever?”

  Lacey nodded shy approval. The woman laid the palm of her hand gently on Lacey’s forehead. She spoke quietly to Wade over Lacey’s head. “It feels like she might be running a fever. Have you had her to the doctor about that cough?”

  Anger rose in Wade and he replied through gritted teeth. “I was out getting medicine for her when you arrived. Are you about finished here?”

  She leveled her gaze at him, her tone turning frigid. “She really ought to see a doctor.”

  Wade took a deep breath and forced a civil tone. “I took her temperature this morning before she went to school, and she wasn’t running a fever then. The cough just started yesterday, but I’ll watch it closely.”

  “That’s good. Now, do you have any questions I might answer before I leave, Mr. Sullivan?”

  “I have a lot of questions, but I don’t think you’re going to answer them.”

  She drew back and put a hand to her throat. “Well…I’ll certainly try.”

  “I just want to know why somebody thought I wasn’t taking good care of the kids.”

  “I don’t know what this particular person’s reasons were, but most likely they simply wanted to make certain the children are safe. Can you think of anyone who would make a report like this for malicious reasons?”

  He shook his head, anxious to be rid of her.

  Lacey started coughing again.

  Betty Graffe took Wade’s cue and moved toward the front door, putting a hand on the doorknob. Then seeming to change her mind, she turned back to him. “I’m satisfied that the children aren’t in any danger, but I would like to make some recommendations that I think will be helpful to all of you. First of all, you should get Lacey to a doctor and make sure that cough isn’t anything serious. If insurance is a concern, then you should probably check into getting some coverage on the children.” Her eyes softened. “Lacey mentioned that you are sad all the time. That’s completely understandable after what you’ve been through, but the children have had a serious loss in their lives, too, and they need to know they can depend on you.”

  He nodded and gave a noncommittal grunt.

  “I would like to check back with you just to see how things are going in a week or so. Would it work if I came around six-thirty, say, a week from tonight?”

  He shrugged. “Sure. I guess so.” He was not crazy about the thought of an ongoing relationship with this woman.

  She jotted a note on her legal pad, and Wade opened the door for her. He waved a terse farewell as she headed for her car.

  After the Cavalier disappeared down the blacktop, Wade closed the front door and looked down to see that his hands were trembling. Composing himself, he turned to the children and made his voice bright. “Who wants to eat at the café tonight?”

  The distraction worked its magic, as Wade knew it would. The children danced around him, excitedly reciting menu choices that didn’t include macaroni and cheese or Happy Meals.

  That night Wade lay on the sofa bed in the spare room, watching the moon spread patches of gold over his blankets. As disturbing as Betty Graffe’s visit had been, the overriding emotion it wrought in him was fear. For the first time, he faced the fact that someone might actually be able to come and take the children from him.

  He looked toward the ceiling. I can’t do this alone, God. You’ve got to help me.

  Immediately, he was enveloped by a tangible sense of God’s presence, and he knew he was not alone. At the same time, he was hit head-on with the finality of Starr’s death. She wasn’t coming back. The life he had with Starr’s children now and for the future would be whatever he made of it. And though he hated to give Betty Graffe any credit, she was right: he needed to be strong for the kids.

  Maybe he had been in denial like Pete said. Pete and Margie had told him it was part of the grief process. He’d written the notion off as a bunch of psychobabble. But maybe they were right.

  There were things that needed to be done––should have been done long ago. For the children’s sake and for Starr’s, he had to pull himself together.

  The kitchen was still in chaos the next morning, and in spite of the anxiety over the visit from SRS, things looked better in the light of day.

  Wade couldn’t help but smile as he surveyed the scene: Lacey and Dani still in their pajamas, Beau dressed, but with a cowlick the size of Texas and a face that looked like it hadn’t seen a washcloth in a week.

  The three of them slurped milky spoonfuls of Cap’n Crunch and stared at each other across the table. His family. His own little family. Who’d have ever thought it of the incorrigible bachelor he’d been? He could scarcely remember that man.

  “Come on, you guys, finish up here, or you’re going to be late for school. Do you girls have your clothes picked out?”

  “I do,” Dani said over a mouthful of cereal. “But Lacey doesn’t.”

  “I do, too,” Lacey shouted.

  Though her voice was still a bit raspy, the medicine seemed to have worked its magic. Wade hadn’t heard her cough once last night, and he’d been awake enough of the night to know.

  “Do not
,” Dani shot back.

  “Stop lying, you––”

  “Girls!”

  That one word quieted them. They settled back over their cereal bowls.

  Wade went to the phone in the living room and dialed Sophie’s number. She finally answered on the tenth ring.

  “Hey, Sophe. Sorry if I woke you up. I wanted to let you know that I had a little visit from SRS last night.”

  “What?”

  He told her about Betty Graffe’s visit. “I think everything is okay, but I thought you should know, just in case they call you or something.”

  “Are you worried?”

  “No. Not really. But I’m taking the day off. I need to take care of some stuff. Talk to the insurance agent…”

  “Yeah…okay. Well, what am I supposed to do if SRS calls?”

  “Just tell the truth. I don’t think they’re going to call, Sophie. I…just wanted you to know. Just in case…”

  Wade hung up, making a mental list of the things he needed to take care of. The kitchen was quiet now, and he could hear his brood upstairs, tromping back and forth to the bathroom, slamming doors, and shouting occasional warnings to one another. The typical sounds of morning in this house.

  Yes, they were good kids. And unless he was totally missing something, they were thriving. Sure, they missed their mother something fierce. They wouldn’t be normal if they didn’t. But they were making the best of it.

  Beau was a concern, but he was older and understood the ramifications of his mother’s death better than the girls did. And he had difficult memories of his father that the girls did not. It was perfectly understandable that he was struggling.

  He went to pour a second cup of coffee. Looking around the kitchen, he cringed, seeing it as Betty Graffe must have on her little tour of the house yesterday. One more thing to add to his to-do list.

  Maybe he was fooling himself into thinking he had what it took to make a home for three children. Sure, love counted for something––and he loved these kids with everything in him––but love couldn’t clean the floors or make a home-cooked meal or pay the insurance.

  The front doorbell interrupted his conflicted thoughts. He glanced at the clock over the stove. Nobody came calling this early in the morning.

  Hoping the children hadn’t heard the bell, he put his coffee mug in the sink and went into the living room. He couldn’t help but think of the official state car that had been parked in his driveway last night. Pushing the drapes aside, he looked out. The car parked in front of the house was an older-model maroon Monte Carlo. He unlocked the front door and opened it.

  A man in a white dress shirt and tie stood there with a shiny leather briefcase in hand. Wade rarely had salesmen call out here in the country, but it looked like he was about to be offered the deal of the century.

  “Can I help you,” Wade asked, his mind racing to think of an excuse to get the peddler off his porch.

  The man ran a hand through neatly combed hair. “I’ve come for my kids.”

  Chapter 15

  Wade stood with his mouth agape, staring at the stranger on his porch.

  “I’ve come for my kids,” the man repeated.

  The words hit him like a cement truck. He’d never seen photographs of Starr’s ex-husband, but this had to be him. Wade could discern Beau’s defiant attitude in the sharp gaze of the man’s hazel eyes. Even his hair, like Beau’s, was the color of old straw. There was no doubt this was Beau Parnell’s father. And Lacey’s. And Dani’s. Wade’s stomach churned.

  “You are Wade Sullivan, aren’t you?” the man asked, shifting the weight of the briefcase in his hand.

  “Yes…I’m Wade. And you must be Darrin Parnell.”

  “That’s right. I’ve come for my children,” he said again, taking a step toward Wade and straightening to his full height.

  Wade, too, stood taller, taking small satisfaction in the fact that he was a good three inches taller than Parnell. His mind scrambled for some magic words that would make this man disappear from his porch––from his life. “I’m sorry…” Give me the words, Lord. What do I tell him? He cleared his throat and started again. “I’m sorry, Mr. Parnell, but the children live with me now. You gave up your rights to them long ago.”

  The hazel eyes darkened and narrowed. “Don’t tell me what my rights are, Sullivan. I know my rights and I want my children.”

  Wade glanced back into the house, praying the kids would stay upstairs until he could get rid of the man. He stepped out onto the porch, forcing Darrin Parnell to take two steps backward. “If you think I’m going to hand these kids over to you knowing what I know about you, you’re crazy.”

  “And just what is it you think you know about me?”

  Wade pulled the front door closed and lowered his voice. “I know you abused their mother. I know you wanted her to get rid of her baby. Do you want to hear more?”

  The reminders seemed to take some of the starch out of Parnell. He took another step backward, glancing furtively over his shoulder, presumably to gauge where the edge of the porch was. But his voice held venom as he jabbed a finger in front of Wade’s face. “The only thing you need to know is that those kids are my flesh and blood, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get them back.”

  “Then I suggest you get started.” Wade despised the tremor in his own voice.

  Parnell glared at him. “I’m not going to make a scene in front of the kids, Sullivan, but you haven’t heard the last of me. I’ll have the sheriff out here after school, and I expect you to have their things packed and ready to go. And while you’re at it, I’ll need the bank accounts transferred over to my name.”

  A glimmer of hope sparked in him at the words. “There are no bank accounts, Parnell. If that’s what this is about, you can go back to Minneapolis. I have Starr’s car. You’re welcome to it. It’s all she left.”

  “That’s a lie and you know it. Sophie said Starr worked at some nursing home around here for over three years. Insurance is my business,” Parnell said, “so don’t try to tell me she didn’t have a life insurance policy through her employer.”

  So he’d talked to Sophie. Had she led him straight out here? Had he threatened her? His mind churned, trying to follow the twisted logic of a man like Parnell.

  Wade had no desire to reveal to this man that he’d been too paralyzed by grief and fear to try to collect on the policy on the children’s behalf. The less Parnell knew, the better chance Wade had of taking care of all this before the man could make good on his threats. If he lost the kids over his inaction, he would never forgive himself.

  Wade felt the rumble of footsteps on the stairway inside the house and heard Beau calling his name. He reached behind him for the door handle, leveling his gaze at Parnell. “Get out of here before I call the police.”

  Darrin Parnell stood firm, his eyes boring a hole in Wade. Before Wade could turn and escape into the house, the doorknob was jolted from his hand, and the door flew open behind him. Wade turned to see Beau standing there, his hair slicked to one side, the stubborn cowlick standing at attention. Beau looked from the man on the porch to Wade, then back again, to stare into the face of the father he hadn’t seen in almost four years.

  Parnell suddenly turned into a candidate for Father of the Year. “Beau! Hey, buddy! How’s it going?”

  Beau seemed scarcely able to squeak out a word, but when he finally did, that one word cut to the quick of Wade’s heart.

  “Dad?”

  “Beau? Is it you, boy?”

  Wade watched as Beau took a tentative step toward Darrin Parnell, his biological father. The man met him more than halfway and knelt down to pull him into a fierce bear hug. Wade swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat.

  Beau pulled away quickly, his face a mask of confusion. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to get you and your sisters…to take you home with me.”

  “But––”

  Parnell smothered Beau’s words, drawin
g him close again, holding the tousled head tight to his broad chest. “We’ll worry about the details later. You go on to school, and I’ll be back this afternoon to pick you and the girls up.”

  Beau pulled away. “But…where are you taking us?”

  “Home, son. Back home to Minneapolis.”

  “But…what about Wade?”

  A flicker of malice crossed Parnell’s face. “We’ll talk about it later. Right now I’m going back into town to take care of some things.”

  Beau looked up at Wade with an expression that Wade thought must mirror the bewilderment and fear in his own eyes.

  The front door exploded open again, and the girls charged out onto the porch. As one, they stopped short when they saw Parnell, still kneeling on the porch with his arms around their brother.

  Lacey and Danica looked up at Wade, their doelike eyes asking him silently whether this stranger was friend or foe.

  Beau turned to the girls. “It’s our dad,” he said simply.

  Parnell shifted on one knee and reached out to gather the girls in with Beau. But they both drew back, scrambling to Wade’s side to cling to his legs.

  Wade put a hand on each blond head. “It’s okay, girls. Beau’s right. This is your father.”

  Parnell struggled to his feet. “Hi there. You probably don’t remember me.” He stretched his arms toward them awkwardly, but the girls retreated again and hid behind Wade.

  Of course they don’t remember you, Wade thought bitterly. Lacey was a baby when they escaped your cruel clutches. And you never met Dani. She wouldn’t be here if you’d had your way. It was all he could do to keep from giving his thoughts voice. But he bit his tongue and pulled the girls closer. “We’ll talk later,” he told Parnell pointedly.

  “Yeah. Right,” the man grunted.

  Without meeting Parnell’s gaze again, Wade turned and herded the children into the house. Inside, he closed the door firmly behind him.

  “Was that really our daddy?” Lacey asked. Her puckered brow tugged at Wade’s heart. “Yes, honey. It was. Come here, all of you.”