“Yeah,” I answered, then pointed to the door we needed to go through. “She’ll be in there if she’s in the office today.”
When we walked through the door, Mrs. Stone sat at a desk on the phone and sitting in chairs off to the side were the boys I had come to check on. Their heads bent and focused on their laps.
As we walked toward Mrs. Stone, she raised her head, and I saw recognition in her eyes. She held up her finger and Mac and I waited while she finished her conversation.
“Yes, I’ll have them there within the hour,” she said to whoever was on the other side of the call. She hung up and then looked at us. “Mr. Cortez, right?”
“Emery. And this is Mackenzie Minton.”
Mrs. Stone looked over at Tracker and Paxton. “I’ll be back in a minute. You boys stay here.”
When neither boy acknowledged her, Mrs. Stone shook her head and stood. “We can talk over there.” She pointed and started to walk across the room, putting as much distance between the boys and us as the large room allowed.
“What’s going on, Mrs. Stone?” I asked.
Mrs. Stone sighed. “Tracker ran from the foster home he was placed in. It seems he heard the parents talking about how long it was going to be before Tracker and Paxton were placed together. He’d heard them mention Paxton’s foster parents' name. He won’t say how he found out where they lived, but he did, and he took off. I’m assuming the couple of times the two foster mothers met so the boys could spend time together, he found out were their home was located. Then he found Paxton’s foster family’s home, and when Paxton was outside playing, he approached Paxton and they took off together. They were found after a few hours, and there they are.
“I’ve found a temp home. It’s a foster family whose kids happen to be with their birth mom right now. So, the boys will stay there for two weeks, giving us time to find another place for them.”
“So this just happen today? And that is why they are here?” I asked, but I already knew it was true.
“I told you before, we do our best. It may not look like it sometimes, but we do work with the children’s best interest in mind.”
“Not in those two boys’ case. They’re eight damn weeks in the system and going to a second home, and in two weeks, they will be in a third home. I don’t know how you can say you are looking out for the children’s best interest with a straight face.”
Mac placed a hand on my forearm. “Emery.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Stone. I get you have to work with what you have. Why aren’t they going back to the foster homes they were in before?”
“The foster for Tracker didn’t want to have him placed back with them because he ran and they have four others presently in their home, and Paxton’s family is the same on placing Paxton back into their home, but their reason is Tracker knows where they live. And they don’t want to have to constantly worry that Tracker will show up again.”
“So, now the boys are going today to the temp home?”
“Yes.”
“Would you mind if I spoke to them for a few minutes?”
She nodded. “I’ll run to the restroom and fax a few things while you’re talking to them.
“Can I ask a few questions before you go?” Mac asked Mrs. Stone.
“Is there anything more a foster has to do when the tribal agency is involved?”
“We have to follow the state guidelines. The difference is this office has a say over children from the reservation even though they can be placed outside of its lands. When a Native American child is fostered or adopted, we request the parents encourage the history and traditions related to the child’s heritage be kept up with. Involvement with the tribe if they are close enough is encouraged. Otherwise, teaching them about their culture.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Stone,” Mac answered.
“I’ll be back momentarily.” Mrs. Stone turned and walked across the room and out the door.
“Why’d you want to know all that?”
“Curious,” she answered. But somehow, I knew there was more to it.
Chapter Fourteen
Mac
As we approached the two boys, they lifted their heads and looked at us. And what I saw in their eyes broke my heart.
“Hi,” I said and smiled. The younger one smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“You’re the man from the clinic,” the older boy said as he looked at Emery.
“Yes. Heard you’ve been having a rough time of it.”
He shrugged. “They separated us. I couldn’t do what you told me. I can’t protect him if I not there.”
“Sometimes, you lead by example. Mrs. Stone’s working on getting you placed together, it’s just taking a little time. Why’d you run, Tracker?” Emery asked and I knew from the boy’s expression he didn’t want to answer.
“‘Cause of me,” the young boy said.
“Pax,” Tracker said as a warning, but I watched as Paxton looked at his brother, then over to Emery, who had taken the empty chair beside him.
“I got to see Tracker a couple times, and I cried because I missed him. He told me he would find a way to get us back together. And he did, but they found us. Now we got no place to go.”
I turned my head and discreetly as I could, wiped the corners of my eyes.
“Who are you?” Tracker asked me.
“Mackenzie. It’s nice to meet you, Tracker.”
“There’s nothing nice about me,” he said, and I found it strange how he said it.
“Did someone tell you that?” I asked.
“Does it matter? Not like you can do anything about it.”
“Hey, you don’t get to talk to her that way,” Emery said.
I touched his shoulder. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” he said to me, then turned back to Tracker. “You don’t ever disrespect a woman, and you definitely don’t disrespect my woman. Anger isn’t going to get you anywhere. Other than in a heap of trouble. You are going to come across a lot of people in your life, Tracker. Some won’t have a problem with you. But others won’t like the color of your skin, how you talk, how you dress, where you come from. Their opinions of you don’t matter unless you make it matter. Respect yourself, accept who you are, where you come from—let the other people show their ignorance, and you don’t let it reflect back on you.”
Tracker looked up at me. “Sorry.”
“Takes a big man to realize when he’s wrong,” I said.
“I’m twelve.”
I grinned. “Well, that is why you realized it was wrong.”
“I’m seven,” Paxton piped up.
I smiled at him. “I bet you know when you’re wrong, too.”
“Yeah. You’re pretty,” he said, and Emery nudged his shoulder.
“You trying to hit on my woman?” Emery asked, and Paxton grinned.
I touched Emery’s shoulder and waited for him to look at me. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to run to the restroom.”
“Okay, these guys will keep me entertained,” he said and winked at the boys.
I walked out of the door and looked up and down the hallway. When I spotted Mrs. Stone talking with a man, I walked toward her. As I approached, she turned and then excused herself from their conversation to address me.
“I tried to give Mr. Cortez a little extra time with the boys. Are the two of you ready to leave?”
“Emery’s talking with them. But, I came to look for you.”
“Oh.”
“Yes. Mrs. Stone, I’ve passed the requirements to be a foster parent, but I’ve never actively taken any kids since I was approved. Would you be able to check with the state and see if my original acceptance is still valid? It has been a while, but all my information is the same.”
Mrs. Stone smiled. “If you’ll walk back to the office with me, I can look that information up now.”
“I’d rather call you back in a couple days. Would there be an issue if I wanted
to foster Tracker and Paxton? You said the ICWA likes for the children to have access to tribe so the children don’t lose the knowledge of their culture due to circumstances that may take them away from it.”
“Yes. But depending on where you live, we understand that not all fosters or even adoptive parents of Native American children are going to live close to a reservation. There are other ways for parents to show and teach a child about where they come from and their background.”
“I understand the reasoning for that, Mrs. Stone. In mixed-race families, no one should have to give up their ethnicity to fit into someone else’s.”
“When I spoke with Mr. Cortez before, he said he was single. Has that changed, or will it be changing perhaps?”
“Maybe, but he doesn’t know it yet. He doesn’t even know I’m speaking with you.”
Mrs. Stone chuckled, then looked at me, and her expression was serious. “If everything is in order with your license, putting two Native American children in your care, it would definitely play in your favor to be married to a Native American man. Marriage isn’t required per the state’s qualifications to become a foster. You could take it on as a single foster parent.”
“Do you think the state would place them with us? I knew I didn’t have to be married, but they’ve had the single mom and it didn’t work out for them. I want to show them the other side. The side where a dad sticks around to take care of obligations. The side where two parents are committed to take care of and protect you.”
“Mr. Cortez talked with the boys when they first came into foster care. He showed patience. He gave sound advice. And though I didn’t see it with the children, I’d bet he would be strict and fair. Two boys with Tracker and Paxton’s history will need someone like that at some point if they are to succeed. Plus, I know he has family here on the reservation, so the boys will not lose out on any opportunity in keeping up with their culture from being placed in your home. We will have to do an in-house inspection update since you haven’t had any children in your home.
“If all goes well, I’ll support you both and help in any way I can. My gut tells me Mr. Cortez may be exactly what those two boys need. I tend to follow my gut, it has done well over the years. I’ll be waiting on your call, Ms. Minton.”
“Actually, it is Doctor Minton,” I informed her.
She smiled. “This just keeps getting better. I really hope your serious, Dr. Minton in your inquiry.”
“I am. And thank you, Mrs. Stone. I better get back before Emery wonders what’s taking me so long.”
Mrs. Stone fell in step with me. “Can I ask why? Why Tracker and Paxton?”
“When I walked into the room and saw their heads bent, it was the sign of defeat and acceptance in what life dealt them. Then I saw their eyes, and they reflected the same. But as they started to talk, I realized that they haven’t lost all their spark. When I watched Emery with them, and how they respond to him. How could I not want to intervene? If I can give them a better life, and a home, why shouldn’t I. I’m unable to have children, Mrs. Stone, so I look at Tracker and Paxton and not only can I help them—I think they’ll help me.”
She nodded and we both walked back into her office.
“Got something on your mind, cariño?” Emery asked as we walked into his house.
After talking with Tracker and Paxton, and Mrs. Stone, we’d driven back to Kiyaya’s place. I knew I’d been subdued at dinner, even the next day for the drive home. I caught Emery glancing at me several times in the truck, and even Flirt and Cruz were looking at me oddly.
I was nervous and excited at the same time. I’d made a rash decision while talking with the boys and watching Emery with them. Now, I either had to set it aside or make good on the decision.
I felt Emery’s eyes on me as he waited for me to acknowledge his question. Instead, I took a deep breath and asked a question of my own.
“Would you marry me?”
The stunned look on his face had me rethinking everything. How could I parent two boys if I couldn’t even handle my issues without second-guessing myself at every turn?
I turned toward the stairway, my intention was to go shower and crawl into bed and forget everything. Hopefully, I hadn’t ruined what we were building between us.
“Oh no, you don’t drop something like that and run,” he said. When I turned back to face him, he was right there, looking down at me. “Do I not rate the whole deal? You know, down on one knee and the proclamation of your undying love before you pop the question?”
“If you are going to make fun of me, then forget I asked.”
“I don’t think so. If you recall, you caught the bouquet, and I caught the garter. Who are we to thumb our noses at tradition?”
“Do you want me to get down on my knees?” I asked, and when his lips quirked up, I realized what I’d said.
“Oh, definitely want you on your knees, but later. I love you, Mac. Spending the rest of my life with you makes saying yes, the easiest thing I will do in my life. But what brought this on?”
I took a deep breath, then spilled about my talk with Mrs. Stone about fostering the boys. He stood silent when I finished and I was worried I might have read him wrong in regards to his interest in what happen with them.
“Jesus, I’m not sure what I’ve done in my life to deserve you, but I’m not questioning it now. “Yes, cariño, I’ll marry you.” He held his arms open, and I walked into them and laid my head on his chest.
“Since you’re being so cooperative, can we do it as soon as the three day waiting period is up on the license?”
“Are you in a hurry to make an honest man out of me?”
I pinched his nipple through his t-shirt. “No, but I’d like Tracker and Paxton to have a home before their time is up at the temporary foster’s placement. Or at least the holidays. And I think the perfect home for them would be with us.”
“You never cease to amaze me. I have to tell you, when I first met the boys, Mrs. Stone told me I should apply to be a foster parent. If I’d thought the state would have approved my application, I might have put one in. Something about those boys got to me.”
“I will always give you what you need, Emery,” giving back to him the words he’d given to me on more than one occasion. “Those boys need a home, a real one. And watching you interact with them, did it. I think the boys were what I was waiting on, too.”
“You, cariño, were meant for me, Tracker, Paxton. We were only waiting for you to find us,” he said, then lifted me up and carried me upstairs.
Four days later, standing in front of the judge at the courthouse, Emery and I exchanged vows in front of our friends. Afterward, we celebrated and watched those same friends hand over money to Cruz.
Flirt tried to argue that Cruz had an unfair advantage. But Emery’s dad had argued that as Emery’s best friends, maybe they should have spent less time watching him and more time watching me. That if they paid any attention on how I looked at his son, they would have known. They’d all groaned when he added, “Besides, no woman can resist us Cortez men.” Then he turned and winked at me.
Unknowingly, I had been his ace in the hole. I also wasn’t going to dispute the comment on resisting the Cortez men. River had been right; the dads were just as hard to resist as their sons.
Chapter Fifteen
Coast
“Jesus, mi esposa, my wife, you’re going to bounce out of your seat,” I said as I watched Mac nervously try to stay seated. Tracker and Paxton would be lucky if she didn’t latch on to them and not let go until they were old enough to leave the house.
It had taken two weeks to get the all-clear on fostering the two boys. They hadn’t been told who was fostering them, only that they had a family with room for two. It had worked out perfectly. They’d been at the temp foster home expecting to be moved into two separate places again until Mrs. Stone had visited them and told them a change had been made and they would be together.
My house had gone from ju
st me to Mac moving in after we’d married. Now it would house two more. Their rooms were ready and filled with things to reflect their ages. Per my wife, because I’d thought it would be more efficient to buy two of everything and call it a day in the furniture store.
“I can’t help it. Things have gone so smooth, I keep waiting for one thing to come along and ruin it,” Mac said and looked toward the door for I know the hundredth time.
I placed my arm around her shoulder and pulled her into me. “You’re going to be a great mom.”
“Hah, see how much you know. I’m going to be a neurotic mess, and you are going to have to keep it together so the boys don’t run scared.”
“Anything for you.”
The door opened, and Mrs. Stone walked in with Tracker and Paxton carrying a trash bag with their stuff. It wasn’t even a large trash bag.
“Oh, Emery.”
“I see it. Those bags will be a distant memory by nightfall.”
Mrs. Stone walked passed us and winked.
I looked at Tracker. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“We’re being moved again. But this time we’ll be together, and I hope we can stay until we’re old enough to be on our own,” Paxton said and looked around the empty room.
“They’re not here yet, Pax,” Tracker said and sat down, dropping his bag on the floor to the side of him. Paxton followed his older brother and did the same.
“What are you doing here?” Paxton asked.
“Waiting to pick up two boys,” Mac said, and I wanted to laugh because if not for my hand on her thigh, I was sure she would have been out of her seat.
“They’re not here either. Bet you’re be cool foster parents,” Paxton said and sighed.
“Ya think so, huh?” Mac grinned.
“Uh huh, ‘cause you talked to us and you didn’t even have to.”
Mrs. Stone walked to the printer in the corner and pulled off the sheets that had come through. She flipped through them, then looked at us and nodded.
We couldn’t do anything without the official paperwork in hand.
Coast (Black Hawk MC Book 6) Page 13
