A Mother's Strength
Page 19
So that was the way he was going to play it. Stern and silent. Maggie’s lips twitched. Working at the bakery had given her plenty of experience dealing with all kinds of people. As Angelo had gotten older and grouchier, he preferred to hide in the kitchen, leaving Maggie to cope with the customers. Maggie prided herself on being able to connect with pretty much anybody, and she viewed the surliest folks as a personal challenge.
Neil didn’t know who he was up against.
“It’s a good little hike, isn’t it?” she observed cheerfully. “No wonder Oliver’s zonked out.”
“What?” He threw a concerned look at the slack-jawed toddler dozing in his arms. “He’s fallen asleep. I don’t think he hit his head when he fell, but I can’t be sure.”
“I don’t think we need to worry. It’s his nap time, and he walked a long way. I expect he’s just worn-out, but I’ll keep a close eye on him. So, Ruby told me you teach over at Cedar Ridge High?”
He hesitated briefly before answering. “Yes.”
“That’s a great school. I graduated from there myself.” She waited, but he didn’t pick up the ball. She tried again. “What subject do you teach?”
“History.”
“History? Ew.” Maggie hurried to bend the sagging branch of an oak sapling out of Neil’s way.
He shot her a sharp glance as he passed. She met it innocently. “Ew?” he repeated.
Maggie smothered a smile. Sometimes you had to poke the silent ones a little to get them going. Once they started talking, things got easier.
“Sorry. History wasn’t my favorite class. It was all dead folks and dates, you know?”
His eyebrows arched all the way above his glasses. The man had amazing eyes, Maggie decided, autumn-leaf brown with little golden flecks.
“Dead folks and dates? That’s all you think history amounts to?”
He didn’t sound offended. He sounded curious, as if she were some sort of odd creature he’d never encountered before. She offered him another bright smile.
“Oh, I’m not saying history’s not interesting, but wouldn’t you rather be making it than reading about it? I’ve never seen much point in looking backwards.”
“Haven’t you?” Something in the way he said the words made the back of her neck tickle. It prickled in the same way whenever she clambered up on Sawyer’s Knob to look over the breathtaking mountain vista.
Be very careful here, her instincts warned, so she answered softly.
“Well, the past’s over and done with, isn’t it? If it was bad, you can’t change it, and if it was good, you can’t relive it. The present’s a lot more interesting. I think—”
“This is a long way for a kid to walk by himself,” Neil interrupted. “How long ago did you and your mother lose track of him?”
Maggie blinked. So much for trying to connect through some friendly banter. The teacherish disapproval in his tone made her feel like she’d just been caught peeking at somebody else’s test paper.
Still, it was a valid question. She was worried, too. Oliver slipped away anytime they took their eyes off him, and he never answered when they called. Maggie had faithfully done all the attachment-fostering activities the social worker had recommended, but so far, Oliver showed no signs of settling in.
“I’m not sure. He must’ve slipped out the back door after Ruby put him down for his nap. She didn’t realize he was missing until she went to check on him later. She called me at the bakery in a panic, and I came right over. We searched the house first, then the yard and the barns. I saw the path leading over your way, and I thought—”
“He could’ve been seriously hurt. There are hundreds of uninhabited acres behind this farm. If he’d strayed off the path, he could have died out there in the woods before anybody found him.”
Maggie winced. Neil obviously didn’t believe in mincing words, but she couldn’t argue with his point.
“You’re absolutely right,” she agreed. “It’s a dangerous area. Did you notice the marker we passed a few minutes back? It marks the trail leading out to Sawyer’s Knob.” He shook his head briefly, indicating that he had no idea what she was talking about. “It’s an overlook, and the land around it’s been eroding pretty badly over the last few years. If he’d turned that way—” She stopped short. She couldn’t allow herself to think about that. “Trust me, I’m every bit as thankful for God’s mercy today as you are.”
Neil’s face shifted, but he averted his eyes before she could read his expression. They walked the next few minutes in silence.
As the Sweet Springs farmhouse came into view, Maggie stopped in the middle of the path. “Hold up a second.”
He halted a step ahead and turned, gently shifting Oliver in his arms. He was dappled with the dancing shadows of the summer leaves, but his face was grim. “What is it?”
“I understand you’ve got this whole righteous indignation thing going on, and I don’t blame you. If I were standing outside this situation looking in, I’d probably feel just as outraged as you do. Fuss at me all you want, but please don’t fuss at Ruby. She feels awful enough already. I promise you, I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
“How?”
“Excuse me?”
“How are you going to make sure this doesn’t happen again?”
Good question. “I don’t know yet, but I’ll figure it out.”
A muscle jumped in Neil’s jaw. “Miss Byrne—”
“Call me Maggie. Please.”
He sighed. “Maggie, as a teacher, I’m a mandated reporter. That means that if I suspect any instance of child abuse or neglect—”
“I know what a mandated reporter is.” She tried to hide her alarm. She ought to know. She’d been the subject of more than one teacher’s report herself, growing up.
“—I’m required by law to report it,” Neil finished as if she hadn’t spoken.
“I appreciate your concern, but you’re actually not mandated to report anything here.” He looked skeptical, but her childhood had given her life’s equivalent of a PhD in child-welfare laws. “Oliver is well-fed, clean and cared for. He’s struggling to adjust to a new placement, and he wandered off when his caregiver thought he was napping. This is nothing but an accident.”
“An accident that we both agree could have turned into a tragedy.” Neil gazed down at the toddler asleep in his arms, and Maggie studied the change in his expression. A second ago, he’d come across as judgmental. Now he seemed only worried.
Her alarm ebbed. She couldn’t fault any man for stepping up to protect a helpless child. She wished she’d had someone like Neil looking out for her when she’d been Oliver’s age.
Her childhood might have gone a lot better if she had.
“I have to figure out the details, but you have my word that I’ll tend to this. Oliver won’t turn up on your doorstep again.” Maggie’s gaze lingered on the child cuddled against Neil’s chest. Even in his sleep, his fingers gripped the fabric of Neil’s shirt. Again, she felt that pinprick of envy. “He’s taken to you like a duck takes to water, hasn’t he? Why don’t you come inside, and—”
Neil looked uncomfortable. “Thanks, but I’d better get back to the cabin.”
“Oh, but Ruby will want to thank you, too. And—”
“I’m glad I could help. But, please understand, if this child—or any other child under your care—shows up in my yard again unsupervised, I’ll be on the phone to the police. And next time, no amount of pretty-girl-next-door charm will talk me out of it. Is that clear?”
Maggie inhaled a slow, calming breath before she answered. “Perfectly clear, yes.” She held out her hands, and Neil carefully transferred Oliver into her embrace. Fortunately, the little boy was so deeply asleep that he barely stirred.
For a second after Oliver was out of his arms, Neil stayed where he was, so close tha
t Maggie could smell his scent—laundry detergent mixed with a spicy man-shampoo. His eyes stayed fixed on Oliver, and after a brief hesitation, he reached out and smoothed a lock of hair that had fallen over the little boy’s forehead.
Then Neil seemed to come to himself, and he looked sharply at Maggie. “Please take better care of him.”
She nodded without speaking, and he held her eyes for a long heartbeat. Then he turned on his heel and stalked back up the path through the woods.
Maggie waited until he’d vanished into the trees before resuming her trek toward the farmhouse. Ruby would be overjoyed to see Oliver safe and sound, and Maggie couldn’t wait to tell her about the toddler’s uncharacteristic response to Neil. Maybe it would help them figure out a new plan to connect with this traumatized little boy.
Or at the very least find some way to keep him from running away until he learned to trust them.
That might be tough since at the moment Maggie’s brain only seemed able to focus on one totally silly detail.
Stern, sad-eyed Neil Hamilton thought she was pretty.
Copyright © 2021 by Laurel Blount
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ISBN-13: 9780369715166
A Mother’s Strength
Copyright © 2021 by Alyse Stanko Pleiter
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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