He started to say something but ended up just heaving a confused sigh. “I thought things were going so well today.”
“They are. She probably never had an adult keep promises, but she likes it here, with you. She just doesn’t know how to make plans. She probably never could before.”
Joe knew what that felt like. He’d lived that very bleak life, just existing from one day to the next day, focusing on having something to fill your stomach or scraping up enough cash to pay the water bill. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize. Should I... Yeah, I should go talk to her.”
“She’s probably in the barn.”
He was already on his feet. “Yeah.”
Joe walked around the pond. He did understand what she was going through. Even as an adult, he still had a hard time trusting people. He should’ve seen this outburst coming. And maybe that was exactly what he should share with her.
He pushed the door to the barn open enough to slide into the shadowy, cool building. For a long few seconds, he couldn’t see anything, but as his eyes adjusted, he found Amelia in the very back stall with the kittens. Mama Kitty was nearby giving him the evil eye, her tail twitching in annoyance. Giving her a wide berth, he slid down the wall to sit on the floor of the stall, draping his arms over his knees.
“You can leave.” Amelia’s voice was thick with tears and he had to resist the urge to pick her up like a small child and hold her. And he would if he thought she would allow it.
“I’m not going anywhere.” He sat quietly for a moment, watching her. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor of the stall. The kittens were curious, climbing around her feet. “I want to tell you a little bit about what it was like when I was growing up, if that’s okay.”
She sighed and closed her eyes. “I already know you were adopted by Gram.”
“Do you know how old I was when I was adopted?”
She opened her eyes but didn’t say anything.
“Thirteen. I spent the first twelve years of my life moving from one condemned house to the next, dreading summer because I wouldn’t have anything to eat without the free lunch at school. The only time I ever saw my mom was when she broke up with her latest boyfriend or if she ran out of money for smack and came home to kick me around a little bit.”
Tears glittered in her eyes again. “I didn’t know that.”
“I know, it was bad and I don’t talk about it that much. But, honey, that part really doesn’t matter as much as what I’m about to say. What I want you to remember, really remember, is that I would never have left you in that kind of situation if I had known about you.”
“I know.” She sniffed back tears. “I love my mom and I miss her.”
He nodded, but his chest felt like it had been sliced open. Not that she cared about her mom, because of course she did, but that she should have to be thinking about all this instead of just enjoying being a kid.
“I don’t want to live with her anymore, though. Do you think that’s okay?”
“I think it’s one hundred percent understandable that you would feel that way. And I promise that I will do everything I can to make sure that you’re the one who gets to make that decision.” He looked at the kittens, who had given up and curled into a ball of little furry kitten ears and backs and tails. “I get why you like the animals so much. They give you love and don’t expect anything in return except for love back.”
She ran her finger down the back of the nearest kitten. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, Claire has to feed them.”
He laughed, and his chest ached because he loved her so much. “Yeah, that’s true. What I’m getting at is that I want you to try to think of me like you would one of the animals, at least for now. I love you and I’ll be here for you. I don’t expect anything in return. You get to be a kid for a while. Let me take care of the other stuff.”
“You love me?” She scrubbed at one tear-streaked cheek.
He scooted closer to his daughter and put his arm around her. “From the first second I laid eyes on you.”
She laid her head on his shoulder and, heart nearly exploding with the force of love he felt for her, he prayed. He was kind of rusty, but being a good dad wasn’t something he could do on his own.
Please, God, help me do what’s right for her and give me wisdom to make good decisions. Don’t let her feel abandoned and unloved ever again. “It’s gonna take time, honey, but we’ll figure all this out. And I hope someday you’ll know that you can trust me because it’s worked out for you to do that, not just because I say so.”
“Me, too.” Her voice sounded so small. Sometimes she seemed so mature that he had to remind himself that she was just a child, but she was. A child who had been on her own a long time, but one who still deserved a childhood in a hot-pink bedroom.
He nudged her. “Hey, you know that neon-green bathroom isn’t going to paint itself.”
“It’s lime.” She grinned and he knew the crisis had passed, at least this crisis for this moment.
He scrambled to his feet and held his hand out for her this time. “Come on. We better hurry or Claire might be finishing it up already. That woman never sits still.”
Amelia giggled as she pushed open the door of the barn. “She was painting the inside of the bathroom closet when I got up this morning.”
“What did you have for breakfast?”
“Frozen pizza.” She giggled again. “With orange juice.”
“Sounds pretty good, actually.” The sunlight speared through the trees and dappled the ground. He put his arm around his daughter as they walked and he just...knew. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her.
* * *
Sunday, church morning. Claire’s hand hovered over the doorbell outside Bertie’s house. She didn’t want to bother Bertie with such a lame problem, but she’d put most of her things in storage so she could travel light and somehow managed to not have anything to wear to church. As in, not one item of clothing without paint or rips or stains. Even the skirt and shirt she’d worn to the council meeting now had a paint splotch right in the middle.
This was stupid. She couldn’t knock on their door at seven in the morning. For all of Bertie’s generosity in welcoming Claire to town, she was still a virtual stranger. She turned to walk away and the door flew open behind her. A voice, not Bertie’s, said, “Aren’t you going to come in?”
Claire turned slowly around, heat rushing her face. A gorgeous young woman stood in the door in a T-shirt and cotton shorts, holding a mug of coffee in her hand. Definitely not Bertie.
Way to make a first impression, Conley. “I was just leaving.”
“You must be Claire. Mom was telling me about you last night. I’m Joe’s sister Jules.” She smiled and brushed long, flowing honey-blond curls over her shoulder, out of her way.
Bertie shouted from inside, “Let the girl come in off the porch, Juliet.”
Jules blinked and smiled as if she were sharing a joke with Claire. “Mom’s cooking breakfast. Cinnamon rolls. You really should stay.”
“I’m not sure... I think I need to be going.”
“Fix you a cup of coffee, Claire, and tell me why you’re here.” Bertie elbowed the door back, her hands covered in cinnamon, sugar and flour.
She took a deep breath. “I don’t have anything to wear to church. All my stuff is packed away, so unless jeans and paint-splotched T-shirts are welcome at church, I’m out of luck.”
Jules looked her up and down. “She’s about Wynn’s size, don’t you think, Mom?”
“Yes.” Bertie nodded as Jules started toward the hall. “Good thinking.”
Jules grabbed her by the hand. “Come on, Claire. I haven’t raided my sister’s closet in years.”
Claire followed Joe’s sister into the bedroom Claire had slept in the night she’d stayed
with Bertie. Jules threw open the closet and flipped through a few dresses. “Try this one. And this one. Oh, here, this one’s cute.”
Amelia came bursting through the door. “Hey, Claire, I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“Me, either. I had a panic attack when I realized mucky boots and jeans ripped at the knees weren’t going to cut it at church today.”
“They should.” Jules matter-of-factly held up a dress to Claire. “This one. It matches your eyes. I’ll look for a scarf and boots while you try it on.”
“Thanks.” Claire slipped into the adjoining bath and pulled off her sweats and T-shirt, sliding the soft blue dress over her head. She looked in the mirror. It nipped in at the waist, making her look small, and was just the tiniest bit swirly at the knees. She loved it.
Outside the door, Jules called out, “So what’s the deal with the town council? Mom said they were having a conniption about foster kids in your home?”
She pushed the door open and Jules smiled. “Good, I was right. It fits perfectly. So, the foster kids?”
“There’s some question about whether they will be delinquents and put the town at risk.”
Jules rolled her eyes and draped a scarf around Claire’s neck. “Our resident cop was quite the delinquent in his day and look how good he turned out.”
“Joe?” Amelia was incredulous.
Joe himself appeared in the door. “I heard my name. What are you filling my daughter’s head with, Aunt Jules?”
Jules shooed him back into the kitchen before pointing at the cowboy boots on the floor. “Try those, Claire. They look like they might be the right size. Fortunately, Amelia, your dad found Jesus, for which we were all profoundly grateful.”
Claire glanced at Amelia, who was looking pensive after the revelation about her dad. “Everyone has a past, Amelia. Even parents.”
She sat on the edge of the bed, now covered with dresses, and tugged one boot on, then the other. They pinched a little, but nothing she couldn’t live with. “They’re great. Thank you so much.”
“No problem. That outfit looks nice on you.” Jules kicked back on the bed and looked at Claire. “So, the town council.”
“Right. I’m just trying to get to know as many people as possible in town and reassure them.”
“You do have your work cut out for you. First, you’re living in the former mayor’s plantation home because you’re his illegitimate daughter.” Jules ticked it off on her fingers.
“Yes.” Claire laughed. It sounded so ridiculous when Jules said it out loud.
“What’s illegitimate?” Amelia bounced up to sit on the bed beside Jules.
“Never mind,” they both said at the same time.
Jules held up a second finger. “Then you have the nerve to strike up a friendship with the town’s reformed bad boy.”
“I can see how that would be concerning to the town council.” She winked at Amelia, who grinned.
“Then you have a crazy plan to use your inheritance to give a home to homeless children... Yes, I can definitely see how that would be a red flag.” Jules rolled her eyes again and sent Amelia into gales of laughter.
Claire wiped tears from her eyes. “It sounds like you’ve got a handle on things.”
“I should. I lived here all my life. You better believe there was some talk when Mom and Dad adopted Joe. They didn’t let it stop them from doing the right thing.”
Bertie stuck her head in the door. “The cinnamon rolls are ready. Come dig in before Joe eats the whole pan. And stop talking about your brother when he’s not in here to defend himself, Jules.”
Amelia giggled and followed her grandmother down the hall. Jules shook her head at Claire and shrugged. “She always did have supersonic ears. Never could figure it out. Ash spent a lot of hours looking for hidden microphones but never found any.”
Claire slid to her feet and started toward the kitchen for one of Bertie’s famous cinnamon rolls. Another thing to tuck away in the imaginary file named Bertie’s lessons for parenting. Make your children believe you are magic.
Chapter Nine
Joe joined the crowd milling around outside the church. He pretended to be looking for his mother but had his eye out for one specific person. There was a lot more to this town than the town council meeting made it seem, but it was hard to see beyond the accusations from Roy and his cronies. He wanted to check on Claire.
He spotted her across the lawn and started toward her, nearly mowing down his brother, Ashley, in the process. “Dude. Watch where you’re going.”
“I was, Josephine. You’re the one who plowed into me.” Ash followed Joe’s line of sight to Claire. “Ahh, the new star of Red Hill Springs gossip. She’s cute.”
“She’s nice. Amelia likes her.”
“Amelia likes her, huh? How’s the little squirt doing? Filling out any?” His brother grinned, his famous dimples making an appearance. Joe would swear that every woman in a ten-foot radius turned to look. Ash, with his model-blond hair and those darn dimples, was like a woman magnet. It was annoying.
“Looking better, finally. Mom puts food in front of Amelia every time she slows down.” Amelia had been severely underweight when her mother dropped her off. She’d gone hungry. A lot. A knot formed in the pit of Joe’s stomach thinking about it.
“Good. If you want me to check on her, bring her in one day this week. Now, I’m going to talk to the woman who will single-handedly give me a bump in my practice when all the delinquents come to live with her.”
“They’re not delinquents, they’re just kids.”
Ash grinned and tossed the words over his shoulder. “I know. It’s just so much fun to annoy you.”
With a sigh, Joe followed his brother through the after-church crowd. A hand on his arm stopped him.
“Here’s the man who helped me get the cows back in the pasture yesterday. He didn’t even curse when his foot got stepped on. He has some kind of way with cows.” Mr. Haney chuckled. He gripped Joe’s sleeve as he talked, the group of old men surrounding him widening as the story spread.
“It’s some kind of way, all right, Mr. Haney, but I’m not sure what. Obviously, I didn’t do much. I think I might need to borrow your cane for a while until the bones in my foot heal, though.” The group of men laughed, one of them slapping Joe on the back, another looking at him with grudging respect.
This group didn’t have to be told that Mr. Haney needed help. As his neighbors, they’d been helping him out with his livestock constantly since his stroke almost a year ago. In this community, that was just what people did.
In fact, it wasn’t like this community at all to back someone into a corner the way they did Claire. With him, it was a little easier to understand. The memories people had of Joe were of him being a juvenile thief and, even after he was adopted by the Sheehans, a bit of a troublemaker.
But the residents of this town cared about each other and they cared about the children who lived here. Surely it wasn’t too much to expect for them to reach out to children in need.
Extricating himself from the group he’d been chatting with, he searched the yard once again for Claire. He found her leaning against a low brick fence, smiling as she talked to the small group of people around her. She was wearing a pretty blue dress that matched her eyes. Her hair lifted slightly in the whisper of a breeze. And his brother, Ash, was standing next to her with his arm draped around her shoulders.
The urge to punch Ash in the face didn’t surprise Joe. He’d had that feeling often enough. It was the reason he wanted to punch him that surprised him. He really didn’t want his handsome doctor brother anywhere near Claire.
“If you’d like to come over for coffee,” she was saying to the person across from her, “and see the house as it’s being repaired, I’d be happy for you to co
me. Anytime.” She smiled again and it was then that he realized things weren’t what they seemed. Her smile was frozen and something was very, very wrong.
* * *
At that moment, Claire didn’t remember Joe’s brother’s name. She only knew that his arm behind her back was holding her up. She was exhausted and overwhelmed. Somehow in the months leading up to her move here, she had neglected to imagine that there were people out there who genuinely cared more about themselves than they did about children who desperately needed a safe place to grow up.
The older woman sniffed. “This town was here long before you were and we’re not going to let a newcomer with a do-gooder complex ruin it for the rest of us.” She shook her head. “That beautiful old house...”
Claire’s breath backed up in her chest, her ears buzzing.
Joe stepped into the circle. “What’s going on? Mrs. Willis, is there a problem?”
Claire stretched her smile a little wider and shrugged slightly. “No problem. I was just leaving. Like I said, Mrs. Willis, my sister and I would love for you to visit anytime. I’m sorry to leave in a rush, but I have to get back to check on the animals.”
She walked away, hot tears stinging her eyes, trying not to let anyone see how badly she was shaking. She heard voices calling after her. Joe, and probably his sister, too. Lanna, she thought, waved to her, but she couldn’t really see through the haze of tears. Blindly, she walked to her car and got in and started it up.
Claire drove down the oak-shaded highway. It wasn’t like she’d stolen her inheritance. The thought made her laugh. Why would she want to steal a broken-down old plantation house and spend tens of thousands of dollars renovating it?
Claire pulled into her usual parking spot beside the house and jammed the gear shift into Park, scrubbing the remains of the tears from her face.
She didn’t need them. She didn’t need anyone.
It took her about ten seconds to shed the dressier clothes that Jules had let her borrow and pull on jeans and her own broken-in boots. She grabbed her pale pink ball cap from the hook by the back door and strode to the stable. She hadn’t been riding because she was too busy, but she and Freckles both needed a run.
The Dad Next Door Page 9
