Wade dried his damp palms on his blue jeans and dipped his head. “I’m not really sure how this is supposed to go. Is…is it okay if the kids play outside?”
She gave a slight shrug. “Sure. We can all go out there.”
So that was how it was going to be. They would all have to stay together so she could monitor his every move and make sure he didn’t harm these children he loved like his own flesh and blood. He felt the anger rising, but forced it down and pasted on another smile.
Wade looked at his watch. He’d been told he’d have an hour with the children, and already almost ten minutes had hurtled by. He didn’t want to waste another minute. “Okay, then. We’ll go out the back door.” He turned to Beau. “You want to play some catch?”
“I didn’t bring my mitt. How ’bout Frisbee?”
“Good idea,” he said with false enthusiasm.
Lacey looked up at him with a puzzled expression on her pixie face. He looked from Beau to Dani and saw the same hint of confusion in their eyes. It struck him that in his zealousness to impress the social worker with what a good daddy he was, he was behaving like an idiot. And the kids were on to him.
He shot up another prayer. Just let me be myself, God. Don’t let me waste another minute. He blew out a sigh, which garnered the same quizzical look from the social worker. Well, never mind her. This day was for him and his kids. She was just along for the ride.
He grabbed a couple of Frisbees off the shelf over the pegboard, where Beau’s mitt used to hang, and led the way outside.
Shadow met them at the door, and the girls lit on the dog like butterflies on wildflowers, running their hands over her massive black head and cooing sweet words in her ears. Wade’s heart overflowed with love, and with joy at their reunion, no matter how brief.
Beau ran backward down the knoll that sloped to the river, arms open for Wade’s toss. Wade zipped a Frisbee to the boy, then turned to the social worker, who was still standing by the back door. “I can get you a lawn chair if you like.”
“Oh no. That’s all right. I’m fine.”
“Well, you can have a seat there on the stoop. I swept it off this morning.”
“Oh. Thanks.” She moved to the steps and sank onto the bottom one, stretching her long, khaki-clad legs in front of her.
Her hair caught glints from the sun, and Wade couldn’t help but think of all the times it had been Starr stretched out on those steps, watching the children play. Dee Thackery’s hair was a few shades darker than Starr’s and she wasn’t as tall and lanky, but she had the same delicate feminine quality about her. For some reason, he found it unsettling.
Wade was thankful when he had to run back down the hill to snag Beau’s errant throw. He winged the Frisbee back and stood watching Beau, marveling that the kids were back with him.
The wind caught the Frisbee and Beau ran headlong toward the river.
“Oh!” The social worker jumped up and cast an anxious glance toward the riverbank. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Don’t go too close to the water, Beau!”
Wade turned to watch her, curbing a smile. “It’s okay,” he shouted. “He knows. The kids respect the river.”
“Oh. Okay.” Seeming reluctant, she sunk back onto the step.
Beau retrieved the Frisbee and whipped it back in Wade’s direction. Catching a breeze, the disk sailed over Wade’s head, sending him back up the hill toward the house.
Lacey and Danica met him by the porch, Shadow in tow. “Can we play, too, Wade?” Lacey asked, scratching the dog behind one ear.
“Sure. You’ll have to spread out a little bit, though. And you might have to fight Shadow for it.” He reached down to scratch the other velvety black ear. “Isn’t that right, girl? Huh? Isn’t that right?” he cooed at the dog, as though it were a baby.
Wade felt himself relaxing. This wasn’t as bad as he’d imagined. Dee Thackery hadn’t tried to orchestrate things, or make him feel inadequate. She stayed in the background, seemingly a neutral observer.
Lacey let out a little gasp. “Wade! I almost forgot.” She came to stand squarely in front of him. Hands on her hips, she tipped back her head and opened her mouth wide.
“What?” He cocked his head to one side, not sure what she was doing.
She closed her mouth, glared at him, then rolled her eyes. “I lost a tooth! Didn’t you even notice?”
He knelt in front of her. “Really? Open up. Let me see.”
“Aaaahhhhh…”
“Well, I’ll be. You sure did.” He rested a hand lightly on her shoulder. “Did the tooth fairy come?”
“Uh-huh. She only left me a quarter, though.”
“Well, hey, times must be tough in Tooth Fairyland. That’s pretty cool, though, squirt. Are you getting hungry?” He turned to the social worker. “It’s a little early, but I fixed some lunch.”
She glanced at her watch. “Actually, they should probably eat now. I need to take them back in half an hour.”
Out of habit, Wade looked at his watch too. “Okay. It won’t take but a minute to get things on the table.
“Beau! Girls!” he called. “Come on in. It’s time for lunch.” He made his voice light, but Wade felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. His time with the kids was almost over.
Chapter 24
Wade pulled a bowl of potato salad from the refrigerator and handed it to Lacey. “Here, sweetie. Would you put this on the table? And you and Dani can set the table. We’ll need five places.” He motioned for Beau. “Bring the other chair in from the living room, would you, bud?”
“Oh no…” Dee Thackery held up a hand and shook her head. “That’s all right. I…I won’t be eating with you.”
“Please, I’ve fixed plenty.”
She squirmed uncomfortably, but Wade could tell she was reconsidering.
“Please,” he repeated. “You have to eat anyway, right?”
She offered a weak smile. “Well…all right.”
He took two tall glasses from the cupboard, along with three brightly colored plastic drinking cups. “What would you like to drink?”
“Oh…just water is fine.”
“I have lemonade.”
“You gotta try the lemonade,” Lacey said. “Wade makes good lemonade.”
“No thanks. I’ll just have water. Is there anything I can do?”
Wade opened the refrigerator and brought out a platter of ham-and-cheese sandwiches. He handed it to her. “You could put these on the table… Oh, Beau, grab a bag of chips from the pantry, will you?”
Dani looked at the plate of sandwiches and put her arms akimbo. “You mean you didn’t make macaroni and cheese?”
Wade opened his mouth to respond, then caught a teasing glint in her blue eyes. He burst out laughing. “You little rascal,” he said, giving her nose a gentle pinch.
Dani giggled and Dee Thackery shot Wade a puzzled glance.
“She used to give me the dickens about making macaroni and cheese for every meal,” he explained.
“Oh.” The social worker gave a polite but obviously forced laugh.
“Apparently you had to be there,” he said dryly. He turned to survey the table. “Well, I think we can eat.”
He motioned the social worker to the chair Beau had carried in. The kids gravitated to their regular places, leaving him and Dee Thackery side by side at the round table. He didn’t miss that she inched her chair closer to Lacey’s before she sat down. He moved his own chair a few inches in the opposite direction, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable. He wondered what she’d been told about him.
He took his seat. Immediately, Dani grabbed his hand. Lacey reached for the social worker’s hand, and Beau wrapped his fingers around Dani’s.
Wade cleared his throat and looked to his left. “Um…we…hold hands around the table when we say grace,” he explained.
Feeling awkward, he put his hand on the table, tacitly inviting her to take it. She turned and took Lacey’s hand but seemed not
to notice Wade as she bowed her head, keeping her right hand in her lap.
“Beau, would you like to say the blessing?”
Beau shook his head and blushed. “No. You.”
“Okay.” Wade bowed his head. “Heavenly Father, thank you for this time together. Thank you for this food you’ve provided. And please bless our guest. Amen.” After the words were out of his mouth, he felt a little foolish. She wasn’t exactly a guest. She was a “monitor,” an overseer who––when he thought about it––had been assigned to pass judgment on him.
Catching himself, he pushed the irritating thoughts away and took a gulp of lemonade. He set his glass down and took the plastic wrap from the sandwich platter. “Can you start this around, Dani? Lacey, please pass the potato salad to Ms. Thackery.”
Dani tipped her head to one side and wrinkled her brow. “Hows come you call her Ms. Thackery? Her name is Dee.”
Wade and Dee exchanged awkward glances, then spoke at the same time.
“Well, because that’s––”
“You could call me Dee.”
They laughed together self-consciously.
“Then Dee it is,” Wade said. “Ms. Thackery is kind of a mouthful.”
He cleared his throat. “So, hey, you guys…how’s everything going––at the foster home?” He turned to Dee. “Is it okay if I ask that?”
She suddenly turned all business. “Sure. They’re getting along just fine. The foster parents said there haven’t been any prob––”
“May I ask the kids?” he said, realizing too late how rude he sounded.
She pulled back and stared at him. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to answer your question.”
He nodded and attempted a smile of apology, which she ignored.
“I just…I’d rather hear it from them,” he said, painfully aware he was likely not making the good impression on her that he needed to for the sake of the kids. He turned to Beau. “Are you feeling okay about how things are going, bud?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Beau said, wiping a dollop of mayonnaise off his chin. “Jason’s cool. And Ben’s okay…but he’s not around much.”
“Jason?”
“Jason is Ben and Karen’s son,” Dee interjected. “He’s in high school.”
“I see.” He hoped she wasn’t going to jump in and answer every question he asked the kids. He turned pointedly to Lacey. “Lace? Everything going okay with you?”
Lacey nodded. Wade waited for the animated report he’d come to expect from the chatty seven-year-old, but she just shrugged and went back to munching on her sandwich.
“How about you, Dani Banany?”
Dani opened her mouth to answer, but Lacey suddenly leaned forward and glared at him. “Hey! You didn’t call me Lacey Daisy!” She stuck her lower lip out in a genuine pout.
He put a finger to his lips. “Shhh…Dani was talking. Wait your turn––Lacey Daisy.”
Her lips turned up in a satisfied smile, and she popped a potato chip in her mouth.
Wade reached over and patted Dani’s arm. “Okay, sweetie, what were you saying?”
“I forget…”
“You were going to tell me how you like it at the foster home.”
“Karen’s nice.”
“Good…good.” He wasn’t sure what he’d wanted to hear, but learning that everybody was nice, everything was going fine, there were seemingly no problems at all––somehow didn’t comfort him the way it should have.
“So…everybody’s doing okay, then?” he said.
Three heads nodded solemnly around the table.
They ate in silence to the tune of forks clunking against pottery and ice tinkling in glasses. Wade thought about their answers and realized with shame that he’d actually hoped the kids might be just a bit miserable without him. Of course he was glad they were safe and well cared for. But it hurt a little that while he’d been consumed with loneliness and homesickness for them, they seemed to be weathering the separation quite well.
More than anything, he hated the fact that they had a life apart from him. That they were making memories and sharing experiences that had nothing to do with him.
He looked around the table and noticed the plates were almost empty. “Who’s ready for dessert?”
Beau’s eyes lit up. “What is it?”
“Nothing too exciting. Just ice cream. But I have caramel sauce and chocolate syrup to put on it.”
“Me!” Lacey crowed.
“Me too!” said Dani.
“Would you like some?” he asked Dee.
She took the paper napkin from her lap and wiped the corners of her mouth. “No, thank you.”
The woman seemed determined to remain aloof. Wade pushed back his chair and went to take the tub of ice cream from the freezer. He stood at the kitchen counter, digging out ice cream that had frozen rock-hard.
“Is there anything I can help with?” Dee asked from her place at the table.
“Oh. Well…if you’d like to open the toppings and put them on the table…”
She came over to the counter and stood awkwardly at his side.
He reached into an overhead cupboard and handed her a jar of caramel sauce. “The chocolate syrup is in the door of the fridge. And you’ll find spoons in that drawer.” He nodded in the direction of the utensil drawer.
“You’re sure you wouldn’t eat just one scoop?”
“No…I’m sure. This is a little early for me to be having lunch.”
“I know. It’s early for me, too. But…I thought it would be good to have lunch here…for the kids, you know. I…didn’t realize the time would go by so fast.”
She nodded noncommittally and took the ice cream toppings to the table.
He followed her, juggling four bowls of ice cream.
“Here we go,” he said, plopping a bowl in front of each of the kids.
For the next few minutes it was pleasant chaos as arms crisscrossed the table reaching for various sauces and toppings.
Wade helped Dani spoon her ice cream into bite-size chunks.
Dee sat with her arms folded primly, watching them.
“Can I stir, Wade?” Beau asked. The kids had always loved stirring their ice cream into a thick milkshake consistency, but Starr had made a rule that it wasn’t allowed when they had company.
“Let’s not,” Wade said, arching an eyebrow toward Dee.
“Aw, c’mon, Wade…she’s not company.”
“Beau.” Wade spoke firmly and shook his head. “Not this time.”
Beau moped a little, then dug back into his ice cream.
They ate in silence. When the last spoon clattered into the bowl, Dee looked pointedly at her watch and then at Wade. “I really do need to get them back.”
“Already?” Wade looked up at the clock on the wall above his desk even as the clock in the foyer began to chime. It was straight-up noon. His heart sank.
“We hafta go back?” Dani asked. “But we just got here. I wanna play with Shadow some more.” Her face crumpled. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she climbed down from her chair and ran to Wade.
He let her crawl onto his lap and wrapped her in his arms. “Hey, Dani girl, it’s okay. You can play with Shadow when you come next week.”
“That’s too long.”
“I know…I know,” he said, brushing a strand of straw-colored hair from her tear-dampened cheek. He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll miss you.”
She snuggled close against his chest, and Wade flashed a look of frustration at Dee Thackery. She didn’t acknowledge him but began clearing dishes from the table.
He felt bad. It wasn’t Dee’s fault his kids had been taken from him. And he needed her in his corner. Frank Locke had warned him that Dee’s recommendation, based on what she observed of his interaction with the kids, would carry tremendous weight at the up-coming hearings that would decide legal custody for the children.
He patted Dani’s back and slid her to the floor. “You go wash your hand
s, okay? Then we’ll go out and see Shadow again before you leave.”
She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, then started for the bathroom. Lacey followed.
Dee carried a stack of dirty plates to the sink.
“You don’t need to do that,” Wade said, taking them from her. “I can take care of them later.”
“Well, okay. I really do need to get the kids back.”
“I know. I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to be…difficult.”
She waved him off and carried the potato salad and the nearly empty sandwich platter to the kitchen counter.
“Beau, go check on the girls, will you? And wash your own hands while you’re in there. Hustle up, okay?”
Beau obeyed, seeming to sense the tension in the air.
When the kids emerged from the bathroom a minute later, Wade had the leftovers safely put away in the refrigerator.
“Everybody ready?” Dee asked. “Let’s go get in the car.”
“We hafta tell Shadow good-bye,” Beau reminded her.
“Make it really quick,” Dee said.
“I’ll call her,” Wade said, starting for the back door. Dee and the kids followed him into the bright sunshine. He whistled for the dog. Shadow came running up from the riverbank, prancing around them, panting and drooling.
The three of them knelt by the dog, petting her and talking to her in high-pitched voices.
“Bye-bye, Shadow,” Dani said, sounding close to tears again.
Beau patted the dog’s neck. “See you next week, girl.”
Wade saw Dee glance surreptitiously at her watch.
“Okay, guys,” he said. “It’s time to go. Shadow will be waiting for you next week.” He looked at Dee, hoping he hadn’t spoken too soon. “Is that all right? Can they come out here again next week?”
“I think that should be fine,” she said. “Same time?”
He hesitated. “Um…this is a really bad time of day for me, with work and everything. Could we possibly make it either early in the morning or late afternoon? My partner and I are working on a remodeling job about twenty miles outside of town,” he explained. “It’s a little hard to get back and forth. It would really help if we could change the time.”
A Nest of Sparrows Page 17
