by Fiona Lowe
“How old is he?” “Eight.”
“Well, luckily, I know more about baseball than I do horseback riding, so I think we’ll be fine.” She grabbed up her clipboard and headed to the door. Then added, “I met Rafe Corbett, by the way. He stopped by with Molly. He seems very nice.”
“He’s your horseback date?” Rick’s words came with a scowl. A very deep scowl, in fact.
“Molly is. She’s having some trouble adjusting.” She noticed the frown, but it wasn’t her place to ask why. She barely knew Rick and didn’t know Rafe at all, and judging from Rick’s reaction to the mention of Rafe, she thought it best to simply ignore the obvious friction. Still, she wondered about it, especially as both men seemed so nice, so easygoing.
Rick drew in a stiff breath then let it out slowly, deliberately, as if trying to quell something inside him. “Well, you tell Molly for me that she’s welcome to come back to work any time she’s up to it. We all miss her, and would love having her back at the hospital again. And I’m worried about her, Edie. As close as she and Grace were … it makes me worry about my son, and what would happen to him if …” He shook his head. “Anyway, tell Molly we all miss her.”
Edie wondered about Molly’s future. Maybe even worried about it. What would happen to her if Rafe didn’t do well taking care of a child? Or, worse yet, if he turned out to be the one person in Lilly Lake who didn’t love Molly?
What would happen to Molly then?
It was something Edie didn’t want to think about … Molly going out to the foster-care system and being put up for adoption. She herself had endured a lifetime with that fear, living with a mother who’d had so many medical problems, a mother who often hadn’t been able to care for herself, a mother who had skirted death for such a long time. At times, it had seemed like the child protective services had perched just outside the door, waiting to take Edie away to some other circumstances, waiting to put her into what they viewed as a better home.
As a child, even as a teenager, it had always scared her. She’d had nightmares about being taken away from her mother, and had spent so many fearful years peeking out the front window, making sure nobody was coming up the steps. Sure, her life with her mother had been difficult, at times even back-breaking. But she’d loved her mother dearly and wouldn’t have done anything differently. Even now, though, when she remembered all those times someone had talked about taking her away.
What they hadn’t understood was that being with her mother, no matter how sick she’d been, no matter how poor they’d been, had been for the best. There’d been no neglect, no abuse. Only love. And Molly needed that now. What she didn’t need, or deserve, was the awful dread that came from the knowledge that she could be ripped out of the life she knew at any moment. No child needed that. So, one way or another, Edie was determined to make sure Molly’s future wasn’t filled with the things she’d lived through.
Of course, her own immediate future didn’t seem so bright, not when she thought about climbing up on that horse.
“She needs a good adoptive family. Actually, she deserves a good adoptive family. She’s a sweet child and I want her to be in a normal situation. My situation isn’t normal, there’s no room for a child in it.” Twenty minutes after he’d arrived home, Henry Danforth confronted Rafe, in person, with the one solution for Molly that Rafe was not going to accept. Keep her, adopt her.
“Well, then, if that’s your final decision, all I can say is that we’re working on it and we’ll do our best. In the meantime, the county child services agency doesn’t see any reason to remove her from the only home she’s ever known, and stick her in foster-care. Which is what will happen if you don’t look after her for now. And just so you’ll know, the closest foster-mother they have is half an hour outside Lilly Lake, and she already has six children, plus three of her own. Molly would literally have to be squeezed in. So, is that what you want for her, son? To be squeezed in? Or maybe I should ask if that’s what Grace would have wanted?”
He was the one being squeezed here, and Henry was so good at it. Almost as good as Aunt Grace had been. Of course Rafe wanted to take care of Molly in the best way possible. Of course he wanted her in a better situation where she wasn’t going to be one of the many foster-children. “So what are you telling me, Henry?” As if he didn’t already know.
“That if you want to do the right thing, you’re either taking Molly with you when you go home to Boston, or you’re staying here at Gracie House to take care of her for the time being. Which is probably what’s best … letting Molly stay in her own home.” He shrugged. “I mean, there aren’t a lot of other good options here. I’m sorry about that, but your aunt loved that little girl something fierce, and would have adopted her if the courts hadn’t said she was too old. And here’s the thing. She set up a sizeable trust for Molly. You already know about that, but what I haven’t told you yet is that Grace made you the permanent trustee … at least until Molly is twenty-one.”
“Without telling me? Could she do that?” He was surprised yet in a way he wasn’t. His aunt had always expected more of him than he expected of himself.
“Yes, she could, and that’s what she did, son. You were the only one she wanted.”
“So, let me guess. She thought I’d refuse if she’d simply asked me, so she locked me in this way instead?”
“She knew you’d refuse. But Grace always got what she wanted, one way or another. Didn’t mean to surprise you like I did, but that’s the way Grace wanted it, too. Didn’t want you having time to think about ways to back out of the arrangement.”
Rafe chuckled. “I guess I should have seen it coming.” He could almost see the smile on his aunt’s face while she plotted this whole affair. Damn, he missed her! “So, OK. For now, that’s fine. I’ll serve as Molly’s trustee. But I’m assuming that once she’s adopted, that will change.”
Henry shook his head, fighting back an obvious, devious smile. Henry was a burly man. Big, soft, with tons of gray hair on his head. And a pair of hazel, very astute eyes that missed nothing, including the fact that Grace Corbett, God rest her soul, had won this round. “The responsibility’s still yours, even after she’s adopted, son. Which in itself is going to be a problem, because finding placement for a child who comes with Molly’s substantial financial means isn’t going to be easy since there are going to be a whole lot of candidates lining up who’ll want her only because she’s a wealthy little girl. Of course, everything could be settled right now if you’d simply adopt her. Or at least let me write up the guardianship papers for you.”
“That sounds like Aunt Grace’s argument.” Rafe shook his head in frustration. “But I already told you, I’d make a terrible father. And guardian. I don’t have time, I don’t have experience. Maybe my aunt thought that tangling me up in all these arrangements would make me want to be an instant father, but it’s not happening, Henry. I care about Molly, but my focus is on my work. No serious relationships and especially no children. So it’s up to you to find Molly a family who wants her because they love her, not because she’s wealthy. And when you’re convinced that Molly is in the absolute best situation, you can see about changing the terms of Molly’s trust … phasing me out as trustee and giving the responsibility to her parents, because that’s the way it should be. Or I’ll have my attorney do it if you won’t. Bottom line, I’m going to make sure Molly gets the best. Personally oversee the interview process. But I’m not going to keep her.”
Henry listened, still smiling and nodding as if he was really listening, which Rafe knew he was not. He’d known Henry since he was a child. Nice man. Devoted to the Corbett family. As easy to read as a child’s picture book. In fact, Henry’s pictures were so obvious, it wouldn’t have surprised Rafe the least little bit if he’d already had Molly’s adoption papers stashed away, ready to sign, with the name Rafe Samuel Corbett at the bottom. “I mean it, Henry. I’m not going to step in as Molly’s father.”
“I know you mean it, son
. And I’m sure everything will work itself out for the best in due course. But that could take a little while. So are you willing to take care of Molly until we get it figured out?”
“Of course I will. And I’ll do it right here, at Gracie House, so she won’t have to be disrupted.” He did have several weeks of vacation time saved up, and a host of medical partners who could take his place, so stepping out of his practice wasn’t going to be a problem for a while. “But she needs her new family sooner rather than later, because I don’t want her getting attached to me, then being pulled away. So work on it, Henry. Don’t put it on the back burner, thinking that the slower you do this, the more I’ll be inclined to keep her. That’s not going to happen. And in the end Molly’s going to be the one to get hurt if that’s what you do.” The last thing he wanted was to hurt her.
Henry nodded again, then continued like he hadn’t heard a word. “I’m not going to hurt that child, son. I’ll promise you that. I have only her best interests at heart.” He crossed his heart. “So, let me go get started, and in the meantime I’d suggest setting up more opportunities to let Molly and Edie Parker be together. Edie’s good with children. Especially good for Molly, and Grace respected that woman in a big way.”
“She’s not married, is she?” Rafe asked, surprised to hear the words coming from his mouth. Why did he care? Why did the image of an empty ring finger flash through his mind?
Henry wiggled his shaggy eyebrows. “Molly has good taste in friends, doesn’t she? Very pretty lady. And, no, she’s not married. As far as I know, not even involved. She’s only been here about three months and, from what I’ve seen, she keeps pretty much to herself. But like I said, Grace really respected her. Took to her right away. Admired the way she worked with the children in the hospital.” Henry’s smile broadened. “Did I mention she’s very pretty?”
“You mentioned it.” And Rafe didn’t disagree. Edie was pretty. Distractingly so … obviously, since that was all he had on his mind at the present.
“OK, then I’ll let the child services here know you’re going to stay here and take care of Molly instead of putting her in a foster-home. It’s a good decision, son, one you won’t regret. And you are doing the right thing for the child.”
As Henry lumbered through the front doors at Gracie House, Rafe thought about the child who was, right now, sitting in Grace’s office, trying her hardest to be a small replica of Grace. So maybe it was a good decision to stay here after all. And maybe he wouldn’t regret it. But it wasn’t fair to Molly. None of it was, and Molly shouldn’t have to find out just how much. That was something he couldn’t prevent, though. At best, he could only ease the transition because, God only knew, he didn’t have anything else inside him. At least, not what Molly needed.
But Edie had it all. Everything Molly needed. It did make him wonder.
She’d spent most of the afternoon trying to avoid the obvious … her pseudo-date with Rafe Corbett. When she thought about it in terms of spending time with Molly, she felt better. But when Rafe’s image entered her mind, it turned into butterflies in her stomach. He was tall, broad-shouldered. Short brown hair, dark eyes she assumed were also brown, deep tan. And a dimple in his chin. She had to admit a certain weakness for dimples, thanks to the old Cary Grant movies she used to watch with her mother on the days her mother hadn’t been able to get out of bed. Butterfly-makers, for sure. And here she was, primping in front of the car’s rear-view mirror, getting herself ready to go. If she had a list of her top ten most frightening things to do, riding a horse would take a solid place at number five, right after climbing a mountain, jumping out of an airplane, going to the moon and getting involved with the wrong man again.
Thinking about Alex Hastings made her shiver. Wrong man, bad marriage, regrettable decision. More than anything, a huge waste of precious time. One year in, one year out, and almost every day of it filled with regrets for the time she couldn’t get back. But she’d been alone, scared, confused, and he’d been the easy port in her storm. Water under the bridge now. Regrets, yes. Huge ones, not really. Fond memories, not one.
OK, so she’d lived a sheltered life, and done dumb things because of it. She’d admit it, embrace it and, hopefully, learn from it. That was, quintessentially, her. Edie Parker, always behind, taking bad detours, slow to arrive at her life. Well, she’d finally traversed the biggest bumps and arrived. Now, no more detours. She needed to advance herself. Take graduate courses, move along even further in her career. Avoid the bumps at all cost. Or, most of them, since this little horseback excursion promised an afternoon filled with literal ones. But she was looking forward to the time with Molly. Even with Rafe. So that was the price. But the horse?
She had nothing against horses in general. In fact, she loved animals … all animals. Horses, though, only from a distance. And this seemed a good distance, sitting at the end of the driveway of Gracie House, looking well past it to the paddock full of horses, trying to convince herself she’d survive the afternoon reasonably intact.
“You accepted the invitation, so do it,” she said, sucking in a nervous breath through her teeth as she turned into the drive. She drove at a pace slower than an elderly snail, all the way up to the house. Horses. Rafe Corbett … all at once? This was precisely the time when she should have been asking herself what she had done because, honestly, she didn’t know.
“What the hell is she doing?” Rafe asked under his breath, watching Edie coming up the driveway, her car creeping slower than he thought a car could go.
“Looks to me like she’s avoiding something,” Johnny Redmond commented.
Well, Rafe knew that feeling. Aversions and avoidances. He was the master of them. Practiced them to perfection. Could write a book on all the various techniques. “Look, will you bring Donder around for me?”
“You up to that?” the stable manager asked. “He’s got a lot of spirit in him, especially now that Grace hasn’t taken him out for a while. Your aunt liked it, didn’t want it broken down.”
Rafe smiled. Donder wasn’t the only one with spirit around here. Even if the spirit stepping out of the car right now was fairly tentative, it was there, as big and bold as Donder’s. But with a heart equally as big. “No, I’m probably not up to it,” he told Johnny. “But I want to give it a try anyway. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. My aunt subscribed to that philosophy.” But Rafe wasn’t sure if he meant Donder or Edie.
“Good thing you fix broken bones,” Johnny said, on his way to Donder’s stall.
But Rafe barely heard the words, he was so focused on Edie’s approach. She was stunning. “I’m not convinced you really want to ride,” he called out to her long before she was near the stable, startled by how excited he was to see her again yet not willing to admit to himself that he’d thought about her more than a time or two that afternoon.
“That makes two of us,” she called back. An old-fashioned wicker picnic basket swung from her left arm, while she clasped a red plaid blanket to her chest with her right. “I wasn’t sure what kind of food you were bringing, so I threw together a few things … fried chicken, fruit salad, freshly baked croissants, chocolate-chip cookies.”
“My aunt’s chocolate-chip cookie recipe?” he asked, hopefully.
“My own. I had a lot of time to cook, growing up. Chocolate-chip cookies were one of my favorites to make.”
Well, she had mighty big shoes to fill in the chocolate-chip cookie department, he thought. “So, you fixed all that food this afternoon?” How could anyone look so downright girl-next-door and sexy at the same time? Even the way her ponytail swished back and forth captivated him.
“I took a few hours off work this afternoon … time left over from the last holiday I didn’t take. Haven’t really done much cooking for a while, and it was fun.”
“Better than the peanut-butter sandwiches I was going to go slap together.” Everything about her took his breath away—her blue jeans and white cotton tank top, her white athletic shoes. Simp
le, nice and natural. Not like the sophisticated, polished women who moved in his social circles in the city. Yet seeing Edie, he did have to admit there was a little emotion trying to creep into a place where he hadn’t felt any in longer than he cared to recollect. Was it … excitement? Could he actually be a little eager over the anticipation of spending some time with her?
No, that couldn’t be it. He didn’t get excited. So it had to be a mild case of relief as Edie was here to stand in as the buffer between Molly and him. Relief. Yes, that made perfect sense. Still, seeing Edie with her hamper full of food, looking the way she did.
OK, maybe his pulse had sped up a beat or two. But, hell, he liked home-made fried chicken. Hadn’t had it ages. That alone was worth a couple of extra beats. And the cookies. “Anyway, how about we find you a ride? Any kind of horse you’re particularly drawn to? We’ve probably got just the one you want.”
“Or I could walk,” she ventured.
Molly stepped into the conversation at that point, went straight to Edie’s side and leaned into her the way an affectionate cat leaned into a person’s leg. “You could ride Ice Cream, Edie.”
“Ice Cream?” both Edie and Rafe asked together.
“Aunt Grace let me name her. She was really sick when she came here to stay, and she wouldn’t eat anything. But I brought her a bowl of ice cream … vanilla. And she loved it. Aunt Grace said that’s what made her better again, so I thought it was a good name. And when I’m big enough to ride on my own, Aunt Grace is going to let me keep Ice Cream as my very own horse because she’s so gentle.”
“I think it’s a perfect name for her,” Edie said, slipping her arm around Molly’s shoulder. “And I’d be honored to ride Ice Cream.”
It was a natural gesture, Rafe noted. Not forced. Not even thought about. From where he stood, it looked like they could have, maybe should have, been mother and daughter. For a moment, he wondered if that could happen. “I think I saw her smile a little when you said her name.”