Читать книгу Baby On Her Doorstep - Rhonda Gibson - Страница 15

Chapter Three

Laura smiled at her friend. “Yes, Hope. I’ll tell you more about her tomorrow morning. Maybe we can grab a cup of coffee and a sweet roll?”

Pearl looked to the handsome man standing beside Laura and nodded. “I would enjoy that.”

Confusion lined Clint’s forehead as he looked from her to Pearl. His gaze shifted to Hope and then back up to Laura. She sighed, knowing he had questions about the little girl who snuggled against her as if seeking assurance that she wasn’t going anywhere.

“If you two will follow me, I’ll get you a quiet corner in the back.” Pearl grabbed two menus and began leading the way.

Laura followed Pearl, aware that Clint and Grace followed her. She wondered how much Hope and Grace would understand when she explained Hope’s circumstances to the rancher.

Pearl stopped beside a small square table with four chairs and asked, “Is this all right?”

Clint nodded. He helped Grace into one of the chairs. Laura was aware of the muscles that worked across his shoulders as she helped Hope into her chair. She pulled her gaze away from him and focused on the place settings in front of her.

Pearl ran a respectable restaurant and made sure that each table had nice place settings. The linens were clean and the food always good.

Once they were seated, Pearl handed them menus. “Today’s special is roast beef sandwiches and fried potatoes. What can I get you to drink?”

Laura answered, “Hope and I will have milk, please.” She looked to Clint.

He grinned up at Pearl. “I’d like a hot cup of coffee for myself and a glass of milk for Grace.”

For the first time, Laura allowed herself to really examine him. His rich brown hair curled about his collar as if it had a mind of its own. The deep richness of his hair seemed to pull the bottomless blue from his eyes. He was muscular and lean. A working man.

Laura’s gaze moved to Pearl, who still stood beside their table. The other woman seemed captivated by the blue of his eyes, as well. She smiled like a schoolgirl at him. A soft pink filled her cheeks in just the few moments she’d been standing there.

Laura cleared her throat. “Hope and I will share the special. Can I substitute mashed potatoes with gravy for the fried potatoes?”

As if taken by surprise, Pearl jumped. “I’ll, uh, go get your drinks.”

Pearl hadn’t heard anything she’d said. Laura shook her head in amusement. Mr. Shepard was a nice-looking man, but personally she didn’t see him as a distraction.

Laura turned to make sure Hope was behaving. The little girl had decided to stand up in the chair and reach across the table to take Grace’s hands in hers. “No, sweetie. We do not stand in chairs.” Laura gently sat her back down. She handed Hope the ball of yarn from her handbag, then gave Grace a spoon that rested on a napkin beside her plate. The little girls immediately began to play with their items.

Clint chuckled. “You have a way with children, Mrs. Lee.”

“I’m a schoolteacher, Mr. Shepard. It’s my job to have a way with children.” She smiled to take the sting out of her words.

Pearl returned with their drinks and a basket of bread. She placed each person’s drink in front of them and the bread in the center of the table. “I have your order going in the kitchen, Laura, but I seem to have forgotten to take yours, Mr.—?” She turned and smiled sweetly at Clint.

“Shepard. Grace and I will share the special also, but I’d like to add a steak to my order.” He smiled up at her, flashing white teeth in her direction.

Laura noticed a small gap in his front two teeth and thought it charming. She quickly turned her attention to the girls. Grace had decided to stand up in her chair and help herself to the bread. Laura took the bread from her and frowned. “Grace, sit down, please.”

Clint turned at the sharpness of her voice. He started to say something, but Laura stopped him with a stern look. If he wanted her to help him with the child, he’d have to let her do it her way. He turned back to Pearl. Grace was a handful, and because she’d never had a mother, he’d let her get away with much more than he probably should have. “I’d like that steak cooked medium well.”

Laura focused on Grace. When the little girl was seated once more, she tore the slice of bread in half and gave each of the girls their portion.

Grace babbled, “Tant too,” then tore into the bread with her tiny teeth.

Hope smiled and did the same.

“I’ll be right back with your orders,” Pearl stammered as she backed away from the table.

Laura giggled. Pearl was clearly smitten by Clint Shepard.

He turned and looked at her and the girls. “What is so funny?”

She leaned forward. “I do believe you have an admirer, Mr. Shepard.”

Clint frowned. “I’m not interested.”

Laura sat back and studied him. “Why not? Pearl is an attractive woman with her own business. Most men fall all over themselves for her attention.”

He shook his head. “I suppose I’m not most men.” He pulled the napkin off the table and tucked it into the front of his shirt.

“I suppose not.” She looked to where Pearl could be seen pouring coffee into one of the local lumbermen’s cups. The man looked as smitten with Pearl as she had with Clint.

“Mind if I ask you a question?” Clint asked, reaching for a slice of the bread.

Laura knew what he wanted to know. “Does it have anything to do with being Grace’s nanny?”

“Yes and no.” He bit off a chunk of the bread and chewed.

She smoothed her napkin on her lap and nodded.

Clint leaned across the table and asked in a very low voice, “Is Hope your daughter? Or not?”

Laura sighed. “Yes and no.”

He chuckled. “I see. Which is it?”

She took the note from her bag and handed it across the table. Laura watched his blue eyes scan the paper. He looked to her and quirked an eyebrow.

“As you can read, that paper says she is. I spoke to the sheriff this morning and he confirmed that she is mine, at least for the time being. He’s searching for her parents, and when the judge arrives next month, well, he’ll have the final say.” Laura held out her hand for the note. The last thing she wanted to do was lose that piece of paper. It was the only thing that proved Hope had been given to her.

Clint handed it over. Pearl walked back to the table with her arms laden with plates. Laura waited until the other woman left and asked, “Does this make a difference in your job offer?”

“No, if Matt thinks you are fit to take care of one little girl and the school board has placed the care of all the children in the community to you, who am I to say you aren’t fit to be a mother and a nanny?” He spooned potatoes onto Grace’s plate.

Laura smiled. “Thank you.” She prepared Hope’s plate. She prayed the circuit judge thought the same way as Clint Shepard.

“Does that mean you will take the job?” He cut the sandwich into four pieces and handed one of them to Grace.

“Maybe, but I still want to pray about it this afternoon before I decide, Mr. Shepard. I’m sure I will have an answer for you tonight or first thing in the morning.” Laura knew she needed to pray before making this important decision even though she felt comfortable with Clint Shepard and his daughter.

He nodded. “Speaking of prayer, how about I bless this food and let’s eat?”

She smiled. “That would be very nice, thank you.” Laura listened to his short blessing and knew that he was her answer from God. With the job Clint Shepard offered, she’d have enough money come summer to buy a small house for her and Hope to live in. If the judge let her keep Hope.

After lunch, Laura took Hope to the doctor. The little girl sat on Laura’s lap while Dr. Stewart shone a light into her ears. He whispered into her ears, first the left, then her right. She responded as long as he stayed on the right side of her. Laura watched, fascinated with Dr. McAlester’s manner of learning about the child’s hearing.

He stood and looked at Laura. “This little girl doesn’t hear with her left ear. Her right seems to be fine, but I think you’ll need to make sure that you are on her right side, if you want her to hear you.” He picked up a candle and tilted Hope’s head to the right so that he could see into the left.

Concern filled Laura. Could Hope function like any other child, when she could only hear with one ear? “What can we do? Is this something we can fix?”

Dr. McAlester shook his head. “I’m just a country doctor, not one of those fancy city docs with lots of new equipment, but from what I can see...” He bent down and shone a light into the little girl’s ear once more. “Her ear is grown up on the inside.” His gaze met Laura’s as he stood. “A city doctor might be willing to try going in and cutting that layer of skin, but I’m not.” He set the candle on the table beside him and sighed.

“I see.”

Dr. McAlester said, “She doesn’t seem to be in any pain and isn’t running a temperature. Mrs. Lee, I believe little Hope can have a long, good life with hearing in just one ear.” He grinned at her. “Us old folks do it all the time.” His light blue eyes and silver hair gave him a friendly look that set most of his patients at ease.

Shock at his words had Laura gasping, “You can’t hear with both ears?”

“’Fraid not. Gun went off too close to my ear a few years back, and I still have a ringing in it, but no other sound can get through. Haven’t you noticed I turn my head slightly to the left when I want to hear what you’re saying?”

She shook her head. “No, sir. I hadn’t.”

Dr. McAlester put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Little Hope will adapt, too. I believe this is a result of what we call a birth defect. She doesn’t even realize she can’t hear in one ear.” He patted Hope on the head. “You can always take her to the big city and let one of those doctors look at her.”

Laura stood. “Maybe when she’s older.” She didn’t tell him that she couldn’t make that decision right now. It wasn’t hers to make, at least not until the judge came to town and gave her that right. So many decisions would need to be made when that happened.

Laura returned to the boardinghouse with a heavy heart. She and Hope both weren’t complete. Hope couldn’t hear, and Laura couldn’t have children. Bitterly she thought, it was up to her to make a life for herself and the child. What man in his right mind would take her as a wife and Hope as a daughter?

* * *

Clint pulled the wagon to the front of the boardinghouse. Relief washed over him at the sight of Laura standing at the door. She hadn’t changed her mind. Several bags and a couple of large boxes rested about her feet, and if he wasn’t mistaken, that was a writing desk on the porch.

The night before, shortly after dinner, Laura had expressed her desire to take the job of being a nanny to little Grace, with the understanding that she’d only do so until school resumed. He’d assured her that he’d begin looking for another nanny when it got closer to time for her to leave.

Hope’s head rested on Laura’s shoulder, and the little girl grinned sweetly at him. His gaze traveled downward to his own child. Grace held Laura’s other hand tightly. The schoolteacher might be just what Grace needed in her life.

He leaped from the wagon. “Right on time, ladies.” Clint winked at Grace.

“You did say to be ready by eight, didn’t you?” Laura asked. Confusion laced her pretty features.

He picked up several of the bags. “I did. If you will get the girls in the wagon, I’ll load up these bags.” There weren’t as many as he’d expected. His wife, Martha, had always taken everything with them, even for the short trip to town. Clint pushed thoughts of Martha away and carried the bags to the wagon.

“Very well. Come along, children.” With her head held high, Laura led the girls to the wagon. She sat Hope on the seat, then bent down and picked up Grace.

Clint watched Grace touch Laura’s hair. His little girl smiled at Laura and patted her cheek, much like she did his to show her affection. Clint forced himself to look away from the sweet scene. His heart ached that Grace would never know a mother’s love. She deserved a mother, but he couldn’t see himself ever taking another wife.

Grace’s baby chatter filled the crisp morning air. He grinned as he set the bags into the already partially full wagon.

Laura answered as she set the child in the bed of the wagon. “Of course, Hope can sit with you, but you have to be a big girl and stay seated on the way home.”

Grace babbled something and nodded.

“Good girl.” She pulled Hope from the bench and set her beside Grace. Then she turned to him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I packed a few of my school books, and I also brought along my writing desk.” Her gaze moved to a wooden crate. “I plan to work on my schoolroom lessons, and there are a couple of new novels that I want to read during the break.”

“I don’t mind.” Clint hurried to grab the last two carpetbags and the box that he assumed held the books. His surprise at the weight of the crate must have shown on his face.

Laura asked, “Do you think I might have overpacked the box?”

Clint grunted as he picked up the crate. He’d exaggerated a bit with the sound but not much. “Naw, it’s not the least bit heavy.”

To his surprise, Laura laughed. It sounded warm and low, not your typical giggle. He found himself grinning at her over the box.

She looked away first. “Would you like for me to ask Mrs. Potter for a lunch box to take on the trip while you load the desk?”

Clint shook his head. “No, if all goes well we should be arriving at the ranch around noon. Mrs. Murphy will have something for us to eat.” At her doubt-filled look, he continued, “I’m sure.”

Laura nodded. “Very well. I’ll go inside and see if there is anything I’ve left behind.” The door shut softly behind her.

He turned to look at the two little girls who were peeking between the slats in the wall of the wagon. “What are you two big-eyed calves looking at?” Clint asked as he pushed the book box into the wagon bed.

Grace giggled and Hope smiled broadly.

Clint finished loading the wagon and then dug under the bench for the blanket that he kept there. He laid it behind the seat and then put both the girls on top of it. His gaze moved to the house. What was taking her so long? Clint moved the bags and the boxes of purchases he’d made while in town to form a line to block the girls in between the bags and the back of the seat.

Then, Clint untied his horse from the back of the wagon and swung into the saddle. Laura Lee had said she was capable of driving the wagon to the ranch. He leaned against the saddle horn and waited.

His gaze moved to the boardinghouse. So far, everything was going well. Laura seemed to be the perfect nanny for Grace, and he could finally get back to work with no worries about Grace’s care or his housekeeper leaving.