Читать книгу Instant Father - Donna Gartshore - Страница 15

Charlotte tried to focus on setting up tables and chairs in the room where the literacy class was being held, but she was puzzled. She was sure that she had seen Paul and Tyson come in and start heading in her direction, but by the time she was finished instructing the volunteers, they were nowhere to be seen.

Well, she would try to catch up with them later. They had a full house tonight. She noticed that the tired, rather bedraggled-looking woman and her young son, whom Bridget had asked about at Seth’s, were there again. They stayed close to the snack table, and she pondered approaching them to see if they wanted to join in any of the activities. But the last time she had done so, the woman had responded in a prickly manner that had set Charlotte back on her heels. Still, she believed that the church was open to all and guessed that they just wanted a place to be without being bombarded with questions.

The little boy—if she remembered correctly, his name was Michael Cannon—had joined the other children for stories and games last week, but he hadn’t interacted much, and his mother had been anxious to leave as soon as the evening was over.

Charlotte reminded herself to ask around to see if anyone knew more about them, and to pray for them.

“Charlotte, can you give me a hand setting out the materials?”

She snapped herself out of her musings to see Stephanie Winslow, a pretty young pharmacy assistant who worked at Dudley’s, holding an armful of books, sheets of paper and a box of pencils.

“Sorry, Steph, be right there.” She hurried over to relieve Stephanie of some of her load.

As the two women got things organized, other volunteers came through the door—Seth and Rena were there, Dudley and his wife, and a couple of teenage boys from youth group.

“Good of you to come out.” Charlotte smiled at them.

The literacy volunteer group worked mainly with immigrants who were learning English. Usually Charlotte loved interacting with the students. She loved their eagerness and willingness to learn and seeing the way their eyes would light up with pride and understanding when they grasped something. But, for some reason, on this particular night she couldn’t concentrate.

Her thoughts kept returning to Paul and Tyson. She wondered where they had gone—if they had even stayed—and what activities they had chosen. She tried telling herself that she was only concerned for Tyson, but she had to admit that she was also worried about his handsome uncle. She wondered what had prompted him to come tonight when she had been so sure that he wouldn’t.

But perhaps the biggest question was why did it matter to her so much? Was she already getting too involved, not only in her concern for Tyson but also by accepting Paul’s offer of help around her house? She was Tyson’s teacher and committed to helping him, but she didn’t want to risk too strong a connection knowing full well that she could be gone by the end of June.

But asking herself those questions didn’t stop her from wanting to track them down.

“Would you mind getting things started?” she asked Stephanie. “I have something I have to check on.”

Stephanie quirked a curious eyebrow at her but nodded.

“Thanks. I promise I won’t be long.”

Charlotte stepped out into the main fellowship room and looked around. She spotted Tyson by the snack table, where he was exchanging wary glances with Michael. The latter boy’s mother was nowhere in sight, although Paul lingered close by, keeping a watchful eye on both boys.

“Where’s your mom, Michael?” Charlotte asked. He looked surly and older than his years.

“Went to read in the library. She said she needed quiet time.”

“There are stories and games for you boys, if you like,” Charlotte said. She glanced at Paul, who looked ready to pounce.

“If that’s okay with you,” she said to him. “Eugenie, from Seth’s café, is supervising the kids tonight. I promise she’s very good with them.”

“Would you like to go, Ty?” Paul asked.

“I guess...” the little boy said.

Tyson looked uneasily at Michael, who shifted from one foot to the other and said, “I guess I’ll just go sit with my mom. I know I have to be quiet,” he said, answering a question that hadn’t been asked.

As soon as Michael was gone, Tyson said with more conviction, “I want to go.”

“I’ll show you where the room is.” Charlotte offered him her hand, which he grasped onto.

Paul followed closely behind them. “What’s with that kid? Michael?” he asked in a low tone so Tyson couldn’t hear him.

“I’m not sure,” Charlotte admitted. “They don’t live in Green Valley, and he’s not at my school. I get the feeling they haven’t had an easy time of it.”

“Probably not,” Paul said. “I hope things work out for them, whatever the issue is, but I have to say I’m glad he’s not in your class.”

“Why is that?” Charlotte asked.

“Let’s just say, I know the type.”

She turned a questioning face to him, but his was unreadable.

Charlotte handed off Tyson to Eugenie. He soon had a book in one hand, a cookie in the other and a nose-crinkling grin on his face.

“Have fun, sport,” Paul said to Tyson. “I’ll be right out here at...?”

“At eight o’clock,” Charlotte said. “Eugenie will tell you when it’s time to go.”

She knew she needed to get back to her group, but she wondered what Paul planned to do for the remainder of the evening.

“Would you like to join our group?” she asked him. “The more the merrier.”

As she extended what was meant to be just a friendly invitation, she suddenly realized how much she wanted him to say yes.

* * *

For one mindless moment, Paul felt like he’d follow the teacher and her bright smile wherever she was going. But then it struck him that, of course, she meant that he could come along and help teach. He felt his mouth quirk into an unamused smile. It didn’t help either that he still carried his discomfort from what he had overheard earlier.

“When I came to see you about Tyson,” he began.

“Yes?” Charlotte encouraged.

“You said that it was important for us to work as a team.”

“Which is true.” She tilted her head and gave him a puzzled smile.

“So, why didn’t you happen to mention that you’re planning to go away?” In answer to her startled face, he added, “I overheard one of the volunteers.”

“I’m only thinking about going,” Charlotte confirmed. She straightened her shoulders and met his gaze. “I haven’t made a final decision yet, but even if I do end up going, it won’t be until after the school year has ended. I meant what I said, Paul. I have no intentions of leaving while Tyson is still in my class.”

Paul studied her. It all sounded good, but only time would tell if her actions matched her words. He had been hurt and disappointed by too many people in the past. He wished her eyes weren’t quite so big and expressive and made an effort to gentle his tone. “I guess we’ll see how it goes, then.”

Her shoulders relaxed a bit. “Okay, thank you. Would you like to join us?” She extended the invitation again.

“No, thanks,” Paul said. “I’m more of a physical-activity type.”

“There’s the basketball hoop outside,” Charlotte reminded him. “You could join your fellow jocks.”

Your fellow jocks... A memory slammed into him involving some grade eight boys from the basketball team.

It took every ounce of self-control he had to say lightly, “I guess I meant I’m more of a fix-it kind of guy. I don’t suppose you have any light bulbs that need changing, or a furnace filter that’s overdue for a swap?”

Charlotte studied him with a puzzled look on her face. “You want to spend your time here fixing things?”

“Or whatever needs doing.”

“I thought you’d come here to get to know people better?” she asked.

She was right, of course, and he would do whatever it took, as long as Tyson was safe and happy here. He just wouldn’t go shoot hoops with a group of men who would bring back memories of how the jocks in school had treated him.

“I do want that,” Paul said. “But I think you can get to know people working on projects together. Plus, these older buildings usually have a lot of neglected areas because no one has the time or inclination to get to them—kind of like you and your house,” he couldn’t resist adding and grinned to see how flustered the sometimes prim schoolteacher could look.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, waving her hand. Then she said, “I just thought of something—wait right here.”

Paul stood there, wondering what she had in mind. Charlotte returned a few minutes later, looking pleased with herself.

“We have more than our quota of volunteers tonight,” she said, “so I’m getting Stephanie to take over for me and I’m going to take you on a tour of the place and introduce you to a couple of gentlemen who have been keeping a long-running list of the things that never get done.”

Again, he had conflicted feelings about Charlotte. She appeared to be so engaged in helping him and Tyson, which he supposed went along with her role as a teacher and a volunteer. But he couldn’t allow himself or Tyson to get too attached to her. The end of the school year would come before they knew it, and it was very likely she would be gone.

Besides, what reason would he possibly have to get attached to her besides wanting what was best for Tyson?

Soon, he found himself engaged in conversation with Ralph Meyer, a retired police officer, and Joe Rockaberry, who had owned the grocery store in town for years before selling it to his son-in-law. They both had an avid interest in keeping things shipshape at the church. It was clear that their white hair and aging bodies had no impact on the sharpness of their minds or the validity of their ideas.

As they chatted about what Paul could help with, a quietly optimistic voice in the back of his mind said, I can do this. This is all going to work out. He caught Charlotte’s eye then, and was warmed by the encouraging nod that she gave him. But again he reminded himself not to count on her encouragement too much. His entire life had taught him that he couldn’t really count on anyone. Ever.

“We should sit somewhere,” Joe suggested. “Put some kind of plan together.”

The remainder of the time went by rapidly, as the three men sat in one of the meeting rooms and decided what projects would take priority. Soon Paul found himself back at the classroom door, waiting for Tyson to come out. He tried not to, but he caught himself watching for a glimpse of Charlotte’s blue plaid shirt and the bounce of her ponytail.

Just then, Tyson came out of the room, chattering the instant he saw his uncle.

“We had so many stories, Uncle Paul! Did you know David slewed Goliath even though he was way smaller and did you know that Max is my new friend and that she’s a girl, not a boy, even though her name is Max, and I want to come back next week, okay, can we?”

When he finally stopped to take a breath, Paul smiled. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself so much. Yes, we can come back.”

Tyson jumped around excitedly. “Hey, Max,” he said to the little girl who had come to stand beside him, “I get to come back next week.”

Max was tiny and blonde, wore pink overalls and had pink ribbons on her pigtails, so Paul was amused at how deep and froggy her voice was. “That’s great, Ty!”

Just then, he spotted Charlotte across the room. She was smiling at a woman and holding a wriggling child in her arms while the woman put her coat on.

Then he saw the library door open and a bedraggled woman emerged, looking like she’d just awoken from a nap. She held Michael’s hand but seemed detached from him.

He saw Michael look over at Tyson and frown. A shot of apprehension went through Paul, but Tyson was engrossed in making silly faces with Max and hadn’t noticed.

He reassured himself that the boy wasn’t in Tyson’s class. The evening at church had gone better than he’d expected, and he didn’t want anything to spoil it.

Charlotte’s peal of laughter bounced across the room. Paul looked over to see that she was giggling at the antics of a toddler. He noticed other eyes were on her, too. Michael’s mother’s frown mimicked her son’s.

Charlotte had said she didn’t know them. So why was the woman looking at Charlotte like she was angry at her about something?

Charlotte came over to Paul and Tyson and said, “I’m really glad you came tonight. I hope you had fun.”

“I sure did,” Tyson said.

“It was great,” Paul said. “I’m sure we’ll be back. Thanks for introducing me to Ralph and Joe. They’re great guys.”

“You’re welcome,” Charlotte said, her eyes shining with pleasure. “See you soon.”

Paul found himself thinking that was something he hoped would happen. He definitely wanted to see Charlotte again soon.