Читать книгу The Secret Christmas Child - Lee Tobin McClain - Страница 15

Gabby had always loved the fact that, despite being a small town, Bethlehem Springs had a train station. As a kid, she’d come here with her grandfather to watch the trains. As a restless adolescent, hanging around the station had given her a sense of being able to leave at a moment’s notice, to get to the bright lights of Chicago or New York or, more realistically, Cleveland or Columbus. She’d gone to and from college on the train. And when everything had blown up in Bethlehem Springs that horrible summer after her sophomore year, she’d packed her things and taken the train to start a new life.

Today, though, she wasn’t leaving; she was staying, getting more tied down and domesticated. It had been eighteen months since she’d seen her half brother at her mother’s funeral, and they hadn’t exactly gotten along. He’d been understandably grief stricken about losing their mother and upset at the prospect of going to live with his father, and he’d begged Gabby to let him come live with her.

But at twenty-one and pregnant with a baby she’d in no way planned for, she hadn’t felt qualified to become the guardian of a brother she barely knew. Besides, surely Jacob’s father would do a better job taking care of him.

The father, unfortunately, hadn’t supervised Jacob well. Her brother had gotten into trouble for some minor vandalism, and rather than help him work through it, his father had shipped the poor kid off to military school. Jacob had just completed his first term, and somehow, he was coming to spend the Christmas break with Nana rather than going back to California to stay with his father. He was to arrive on the 6:00 a.m. train.

The platform was spooky-dark, with mist rising from the ground and clouds ominous overhead. Huddled in her heavy parka on the outdoor platform, she wished she’d thought to bring mittens and a hat.

Maybe she should’ve borrowed a dog from Reese’s kennels, too, because it was awfully creepy here. Lots of rustling in the bushes that lined the far edge of the platform. Loud, screeching noises of what might have been an owl on the hunt.

Another car arrived at the parking lot beside the platform. A man, solo, got out.

Chills shook Gabby’s already shivering body. It was still black darkness outside, and according to her app, the train wouldn’t arrive for another twenty minutes. Running late, like so many passenger trains did these days.

The man sat down on a bench at the other end of the platform. That was weird, right? If he’d been a normal person, he’d have come over here and said hello.

But maybe he just wasn’t sociable. He carried no luggage that she could see, so he must be picking someone up. Maybe he just treasured his last minutes of solitude.

He was looking in her direction.

Maybe he was a criminal who was going to cut her into a million pieces and throw her onto the train tracks.

“Gabby?”

Relief made her limbs go limp. It was Reese, and he was walking toward her.

“What are you doing here?” She stood to greet him, her heart still pounding just as hard as when she’d thought he was a dangerous stranger.

“I’m here to pick up a boy who’s starting our program. His mom works the night shift and won’t be off for another hour, so I offered to pick him up for her.”

Above and beyond. That didn’t surprise her; Reese had always gone the extra mile without thinking of his own convenience. “I’m here for my brother,” she told him, even though he hadn’t asked. But talking seemed to calm her nerves, at least a little. “He’s staying with me and Nana and...me and Nana. For the holidays.” She should have just casually mentioned Izzy—Oh, didn’t you know I have a baby?—but she didn’t, even though this would be Izzy’s first Christmas, and Gabby hoped to make it special. Keeping Izzy’s existence a secret from Reese was a cowardly thing, and fruitless—he’d find out soon enough—but she was pretty sure it would upset him, and at 6:00 a.m., she couldn’t handle that. “I thought there’d be coffee here. Didn’t the station used to be open, with a little concession area?”

“Hard times.” He nodded at the steaming cup he was carrying. “I’d offer you some of mine, but...”

He didn’t have to say it. There had been a time when sharing a beverage would have been as normal as breathing, but that time was past. “It’s okay,” she said. “Good for me. I’m too addicted.”

“Where’s your brother coming from?” He frowned down at her. “Did I even know you had a brother?”

“Probably not,” she said. “He’s my half brother, and I didn’t really know him, didn’t talk about him much. He grew up with Mom.” She was over her resentment about that, mostly. Mom had raised her son—well, she’d done the best she could—but she’d dumped her daughter on Nana without a backward glance. “He’s been at Smith Military Academy since September.”

“That’s where the kid I’m picking up—” he gestured toward the tracks “—that’s where he’s coming from, too.”

A whistle, high and mournful, blew their way on a gust of cold wind, and then a light appeared way down the track. A moment later the train’s engine was audible. Both Reese and Gabby stood.

Dawn was just lightening the edge of the sky when two boys disembarked from the train, the only passengers to do so. As they put down their duffels, stretched and looked around, the train pulled away again.

“Hey, Mr. Markowski!” The blond boy stuck out a hand in polite greeting.

“Connor. Hope you had a good trip. This is Gabby Hanks.”

“Hi,” Gabby said with a quick smile for the boy, but she was distracted with staring at her brother. He’d shot up several inches since she’d last seen him, and young as he was, it looked like he needed a shave. Dark circles beneath his eyes and a pallor to his skin made him look less than healthy.

Maybe it was just that it was early. Teens didn’t do well with early.

She opened her arms and pulled him into a hug. “It’s good to see you, Jacob.”

He didn’t hug her back, but he submitted to her affection, probably the best you could expect from a fifteen-year-old boy.

They all turned and walked toward the parking lot. Each of the boys carried a small duffel bag, and they wore khakis and heavy wool jackets, identical. Must have been some kind of civilian uniform from the military academy.

“So you two know each other?” Reese asked, clearly trying to make conversation.

“Yeah. Some. He’s a year ahead of me.” Connor looked more than a year younger than Jacob, but then, kids developed at such different rates.

As Gabby walked along, half beside and half behind her silent brother, the reality of what the next few weeks would be like started to settle in.

Nana was sick. She was insistent that she could take care of Izzy, but even if that turned out to be the case, she wouldn’t have much energy left to entertain Jacob. Gabby herself would be busy working full-time. And anyway, a fifteen-year-old boy didn’t want to hang out with his grandmother and his older half sister whom he barely knew.

The wireless connection in Nana’s house was spotty at best, so the internet as entertainment couldn’t be counted on.

Watching Reese talk easily with the other boy, Gabby got a brainstorm, the obvious solution. “Go ahead and get in the car,” she said to Jacob, tossing him the keys. “I’m going to talk to Reese for a minute.”

She caught Reese’s eye and beckoned him over. “What’s the age range for boys in your kids’ program?” she asked.

“We don’t have an official limit, but I think our youngest is eleven and our oldest, let’s see, he’s fifteen.” He clicked open his car for Connor. “Why do you ask?”

“How do kids get into the program? Could Jacob participate?”

“There’s paperwork to be done,” he said, frowning. “It’s based on financial need.”

“Pretty sure he has that. He’s on scholarship at school, I know.”

Reese’s brow wrinkled, and he started to shake his head. He was going to say no.

“Please, Reese? It’s just for the Christmas break.” She lowered her voice. “He’ll go nuts with boredom at Nana’s, and that wouldn’t be good for a kid with his history.”

Reese looked thoughtfully toward Gabby’s car, where Jacob was fiddling with the radio. His face softened. “I know what that’s like. I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.” She shot Reese a grateful smile and then hurried over to the passenger side of her car and opened the door. “Jacob, come out and talk to Reese a minute. He’s involved with a program that might be really good for you over this break.”

Jacob didn’t look particularly thrilled, but he dutifully came out of the car, walked around to where Reese was standing, wiped his hand on his jeans and held it out to shake.

Gabby did the introductions. “Reese Markowski, I’d like to present Jacob Hanks, my brother.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Reese said.

But Jacob’s lip curled and he pulled back his hand. “Markowski? As in, the Markowskis who live on Elder Lane?”

Reese nodded. “That’s my aunt and uncle. Do you know them?”

“Oh, I know them,” Jacob said. “I know them well enough to know that I don’t want anything to do with them, or any program they’re connected with.”

“Jacob! Be polite!” Gabby knew the Markowskis could be hard to deal with, but she didn’t want Jacob to ruin his chances to do something constructive with his break. “I didn’t know you’d ever spent enough time here to meet Reese’s aunt and uncle.”

“Last summer,” he growled, and then Gabby remembered. She’d been so overwhelmed over on the other side of the state, what with working and caring for Izzy, that she’d barely registered the fact that Jacob had visited Nana last summer. Now that she thought about it, Nana had told her the visit was going on a bit longer than scheduled.

Reese’s eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

“I don’t want to go into it.” Jacob dug his hands deeper into his pockets and stared at the ground.

Reese watched him, and compassion crossed his face. “My aunt and uncle can be difficult,” he said. “If it makes you feel any better, I was the outcast kid in that family. The poor cousin who came to live with them after my parents died. So I’m not exactly one of them.”

Jacob’s eyes flashed toward Reese’s face for a second of raw connection. Gabby guessed he hadn’t met many people who had lost their parents young. She knew herself that it made her feel different from others her age. How much more that must be the case for a teenager.

Reese had always seemed a little sad, a little haunted. It had given him strength and understanding beyond the other high school boys; that had been a part of his appeal. She could see that he still had that going for him, just from the kind way he spoke to her half brother.

“It would be something for you to do over the break,” Gabby said. “Why don’t you give it a chance?”

“I’d like to have you join us,” Reese said. “I could use another older boy. Role models for the younger ones.”

“Are you kidding me? You think I might be a role model?” Jacob rolled his eyes at Gabby. “Talk to your aunt and uncle, is all I can say.”

“I will. But a lot of the kids in the program have issues. The past is the past.”

Gratitude washed over Gabby. Reese was really trying to make this work, just on the strength of her and Jacob’s and Nana’s needs.

“I don’t want to do it.” Jacob shrugged and blew out a breath, making his long bangs puff up, and suddenly, despite the beard stubble, he looked like a little kid. “All I want to do is take a nap. Do we have to decide about this right now?”

Reese chuckled. “That’s about the smartest thing anyone has said all day,” he said. “Gabby, I’ll see you Monday morning. You can bring Jacob if he decides he wants to come, as long as his official guardian agrees. We can do the paperwork then.”

“Thanks,” Gabby said faintly. She couldn’t believe that Reese had so readily agreed to take in the teenager. But she shouldn’t have been surprised. That was who he was.

The problem was, seeing him be a compassionate man was making her fall for him again, even harder than she had when she was in high school. And because of what had happened, he was the last man she should get involved with.

Two days later, right after Sunday services, Reese wiped his brow in the overly heated meeting room just off the fellowship hall. The presentation to the church board and a small audience from the congregation wasn’t going especially well, but it wasn’t going badly.

Reese felt like he had some impressive charts and statistics, but members of the board kept looking out the window at the flurries that had started to fall. A lot of them were nervous drivers and didn’t like to drive in any kind of bad weather, even in broad daylight.

Ideally, they’d agree to fund his program for the next year and hurry home to Sunday dinner. He answered a couple of questions and then looked to the chairperson, hoping to get a quick vote.

And then Santiago Romano stood, leaning on his cane, dark eyes challenging. “When you proposed this program, I didn’t think it would be for that kind of kids,” Mr. Romano said. “I was picturing more of a friendly day camp for kids whose parents have to work while they’re on school break.”

“That’s what it is.” Reese tried to keep the irritation out of his voice, because he knew exactly what Mr. Romano meant. But he wasn’t going to say it himself. If the man wanted to show his snobbery, the words needed to come out of his own mouth. “The kids in the program, for the most part, have parents who are working, some of them two jobs. The Rescue Haven program has been giving them something constructive to do after school since September, and now, that support is continuing through the Christmas vacation.”

“But these are kids in trouble,” Mr. Romano said stubbornly. “Kids who may get into more trouble when they’re all together in a gang, at loose ends all day.”

“The point is, they won’t be at loose ends if you continue to fund the program,” Reese said. “They’re working with dogs other people have abandoned, helping to train and rehabilitate them. And doing sports, and games, and having meals together.” Reese hesitated, not wanting to call the older man out, but he needed to speak up for his boys. “Rather than calling them kids in trouble, I prefer to call them kids at risk.”

“Are we a church who won’t take risks?” Nana’s best friend, Bernadette Williams, was the oldest member of the board, though only by a year or two. “Risks are how great things get accomplished. I like what Reese is doing. These young people need something to bring out the best in them. Reese knows about that, and he’ll do a good job with it.”

“Hear, hear,” came a voice from the small audience. It sounded like Nana, but Reese couldn’t see her.

If Nana was here, did that mean Gabby was, as well?

Reese scanned the room. Board members sat at a large conference table, and interested members of the congregation occupied several rows of chairs at the back of the room.

He hoped some of the other board members would speak up in support, but they were silent.

Reese knew why. They respected Bernadette’s opinions, but Mr. Romano’s money funded so many of the church’s outreaches that everyone was hesitant to offend him.

Time to bring out the big guns. “I have here a copy of the church’s mission,” Reese said, pulling it up on his smartphone. “To spread the gospel of Jesus, through actions as much as through words, with a special mission for the poor.” He looked up and focused on Bernadette’s smiling face. “That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. I’d like to respectfully request continuation of funding for the next calendar year.”

Mr. Romano must have heard the murmurs of approval throughout the room, because he switched tactics. “I wasn’t expecting the program to be right next door to me,” he said. “You have those kids on the edge of town, close to some of our bigger homes, where stealing is a big temptation. Don’t they pose a danger to the community?”

“They’re well supervised, and we haven’t had any problems with the after-school program.” Thus far, the kids had limited their bad behavior to arguing with each other. Well, and nearly coming to blows, but there was no need to mention that. “As for the property, I did a lot of due diligence,” Reese went on. “I leased the best property I could find, for the best price. I want to be a good steward of the donors’ resources.”

“Yeah, well, that property has always been an eyesore.” Mr. Romano’s grumble was quiet, but Reese heard it and winced inwardly. He hated to see the old man reduced to insults.

“Permission to speak?” The clear voice from the audience belonged to Nana. So she was here. There was some shifting around as Gabby helped her to stand and walk out to a small podium set up in the aisle between the rows of chairs.

Reese’s heart gave a great thump. He hadn’t seen Gabby at church, and now the sight of her in a green sweater, denim skirt and high boots went directly to his heart.

Reese’s neck heated. He wanted to impress her—still, which was ridiculous—and he wasn’t looking exactly stellar right now.

Not that that mattered. Not at all. He wasn’t trying to build a relationship with Gabby; it would never work, and besides that, he wasn’t even interested. She’d dumped him before and she’d do it again.

“I believe there’s something in the Bible that talks about not building up mansions on earth,” Nana said. “If I don’t want to spend money making my house a showpiece, I have my reasons for it. I donate to the church’s outreach programs. And while I can’t donate as much cash as some—” she eyed Santiago Romano “—I do what I can. Including giving this program an excellent deal on rental of the barn and fields.”

“There’s no Bible verse about not building mansions, Estelle,” Mr. Romano said, a smile in his voice.

“I can quote it.” Nana glared at him. “‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.’ Matthew six, verses nineteen and twenty.”

“There’s more to that passage,” Mr. Romano sputtered.

“Yes, there is.” Nana was still standing, and now she pointed a bony finger at Mr. Romano. “It has to do with laying up treasures in heaven, which is what this young man—” she nodded at Reese “—is trying to do.”

Mr. Romano still looked ready to argue. He opened his mouth.

“And what’s more,” Nana said, cutting him off, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. That’s in the book of Matthew, sir, said by our Lord Himself. Even you can’t argue with Jesus.”

Reese could barely stifle a laugh at how thoroughly Nana had shut down Mr. Romano.

Gabby put an arm around Nana and encouraged her back into her seat as murmurs went through the crowd. Some were amused, because the feud between Mr. Romano and Nana went back years. Some sounded more disapproving; a board member behind Reese was speaking, and Reese overheard the words inappropriate and not the right place.

Bernadette cleared her throat and stood, and the room quieted down. “I do have a concern, Reese,” she said. “Do you have enough help to run this Christmas-break program, given that your main assistant had to leave unexpectedly?”

“I’m in the process of hiring a new assistant,” Reese said.

“Tammy?” Bernadette’s voice held the faintest tinge of skepticism. Around the room, people were looking at one another, and Reese knew why. Tammy’s heart was in the right place, but she didn’t have a reputation for being focused and responsible.

“No,” Reese said before the murmurs could rise louder. “The candidate I’m working with has most of a degree in education and a lot of good ideas.”

“May I ask who it is? Someone from Bethlehem Springs?” Bernadette was still standing.

While Reese was glad she had taken charge of the discussion, getting Mr. Romano off center stage, he knew how insistent Bernadette could be when it was a question of doing the right thing. “It’s Gabby Hanks,” he said.

A murmur rose in the room. Reese looked around, wondering what it was about.

But Bernadette gave a nod, put her hands on her hips and looked around the room until the murmuring stopped. “I suggest we see what Reese can do. If he manages the children well through this break, then we’ll know the program can be expanded, and we’ll have a better basis to fund it through the next year.”

“But how will we know if he manages it well?” the board’s accountant, Mike Watson, asked. “What criteria are we using? How will we assess the outcomes?”

Bernadette opened her mouth to speak, but there was another flurry back in Nana’s part of the room, and then Gabby stood. Her cheeks were pink, her mouth determined. “How about if we have the kids and animals do some kind of a performance for the church? A Christmas performance?”

“What’s your vision, Gabby?” Bernadette asked. “How would that help us assess the results?”

Reese didn’t know how he’d lost control of this discussion, but he needed to take it back. He opened his mouth to speak.

Gabby gave him a look, and because of their history together, he read it instantly. I’ve got this, relax, she seemed to say with her eyes. “If the boys are able to work together toward a productive goal that entertains the community, that’ll show that they can work toward other productive goals,” she said. “And by attending and supporting the performance, the church members can show that they understand our mission.” She looked pointedly at Santiago Romano as she said it.

Reese hid a small smile. Despite the fact that this was likely to be a disaster, he admired Gabby’s spunk.

Gabby glanced at Reese, then went on. “The Sunday before Christmas, or the early Christmas Eve service, might be good times to give the pastor and choirs a break. But we could do it on a weeknight instead. Whatever would help out the church.”

Mr. Romano started to laugh. “Boy, if you can pull that off with those kids, you’ll be doing something very surprising.”

“Christmas is the season of wonderful surprises,” Gabby said gently.

“That it is,” Bernadette said. “If we can all agree to this proposal, we can get on the road and home to our families. I’d suggest Tuesday evening, the twenty-third, which gives you just over a week. All in favor?”

Thank you, Bernadette. Everyone wanted to get home. There was a chorus of ayes, and just a couple of nays, one belonging to Mr. Romano. No surprise there.

As people hurried to gather their coats and hats, Reese blew out a breath. Thanks to Gabby, he now had a clear-cut goal. With a breathtakingly short time line.

He had to make this program a success. With his disability, he couldn’t do what he’d always planned to do, carpentry. And he seriously doubted that he could form a family; even before he’d become disabled, he’d never been especially smooth with women. The one woman he’d fallen in love with—Gabby—had dumped him.

If he could make a go of this program, he could have a different kind of a family, and meaning in his life.

Few people gathered around the coffeepot afterward, but Gabby was among them, and he tapped her on the shoulder and gestured her off to the side. “You’ve set us up to do something difficult,” he said.

“I’m sorry. It just came to me.”

She looked so penitent that he felt bad. “I’m not upset about it. It’s a good idea,” he said, and when her face brightened, his heart lifted, too. He needed to get himself under control. They were working together and that was it. “It’s definitely going to be a challenge, and we need to get started right away. Can you meet me this afternoon so we can start to figure out how we’re going to make it work?”

She glanced at Nana, still seated. “I think I can,” she said.

That made Reese realize that he hadn’t seen young Jacob at the church service. He wondered how things were going in the household.

Still, it was Gabby who had brought up this possibility, and Reese knew next to nothing about putting on a show. “I really need you to step up and help with it,” he said.

She nodded. “I’ll do my best,” she said, her voice subdued.

So now, rather than his usual quiet Sunday afternoon avoiding his aunt and uncle’s family gathering, Reese was going to be working with the very pretty lady who’d already broken his heart once.

He just had to make sure he didn’t let her do it again.