Orchard Hill Volume Two

by Kara Lynn Russell

  His gaze moved back to the other woman—Sarah. Dressed in denim shorts and a loose fitting t-shirt, she looked a bit younger than he was and a little shy. He guessed she was the type of person who related better to children and animals than to adults. And he thought Misty might be right about her being helpful—and right now he needed all the help he could get. He flashed her his best “close the deal” smile.

  “Charity really does seem to like you. Can I buy you a coffee or something? Maybe you can give me a few tips.”

  Sarah looked undecided. He thought she might refuse, but then Charity reached up and took her hand. He saw Sarah’s face soften as she looked at the little girl and she nodded. “All right.”

  “I’m a stranger here, so you’ll have to suggest a place.”

  “There’s only one coffee shop in Orchard Hill, and it’s just down the street a bit here.”

  “Then lead on.”

  Charity clung to Sarah’s hand all the way to The Grace Place. David opened the door to let the ladies precede him. Before Sarah reached the counter someone called her name. Her head turned and she smiled and waved at a couple seated in a corner.

  “What do you want? I’ll order and you can go talk to your friends.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to…”

  “And you don’t have to sit with me while I pump you for information on Charity.”

  “I guess not.” She gave him her order, made a suggestion for Charity, and then excused herself.

  “Hi Hope, Oliver,” Sarah greeted her two friends who were still acting annoyingly lovey-dovey after recently becoming engaged.

  Oliver acknowledged her with a nod, but Hope gushed. “Who’s the hottie, Sarah? Do you have a boyfriend you haven’t told me about?”

  Sarah felt her face grow warm and she struggled for a bit of composure. “No, nothing like that. He’s Maggie Daniel’s brother, and Charity’s new guardian, I guess. He wanted to ask me a few questions about her speech difficulties.”

  Hope took a second look. “I didn’t even see Charity there, poor kid. I guess I was distracted by her handsome uncle.”

  Oliver pretended to take exception to this. “Hey, I’m right here. You shouldn’t be looking at other men.”

  Hope laughed. “I’m only looking at him, but I’m going to marry you.”

  There they went again, all mushy. Sarah decided it was time to make an exit. “I should go, so…”

  “Wait a second.” Oliver momentarily turned his attention back to Sarah. “How is Charity doing?”

  Sarah shrugged. “I just ran into them a few minutes ago. Misty told David I could help him.”

  “Call me and give me a report later,” Hope demanded. “I want to hear all about Charity and…” she winked, “her uncle.”

  “I saw that,” protested Oliver.

  Sarah slipped away while they were in the middle of another mock argument that would end up in kisses, no doubt.

  Not that she wasn’t happy for her friends. She was. But right now, she preferred to be happy for them from a distance.

  David had found a table and was getting Charity settled with a glass of milk and a big oatmeal cookie.

  Sarah joined them, but they couldn’t seem to get another conversation started. Sarah sipped at her drink and David stared into his. An uneasiness descended over the table.

  Finally, David said, “I don’t understand why Maggie left Charity to me. I’m single, no kids, I travel a lot for my job. Maybe…Maybe I should find someone else to adopt her. Someone who can really give her the time and attention she deserves.”

  A familiar anxiety stirred within Sarah. “Is there anyone in your family that might take her?”

  He sighed. “I’m thinking. I thought maybe our sister Karen would, but she says she can’t handle the three kids she has now. So I’ve been going over all our cousins and aunts and uncles in my head. I don’t know.”

  “Does Charity know any of these people?”

  Shaking his head, David replied, “Not really. I don’t think she met any of them more than once or twice in her life.”

  “Think very carefully before you place Charity in foster care. It’s rough for most kids, but for one with a disability…it can be a nightmare.” She knew it wasn’t her place to say so, but Sarah couldn’t hold back.

  “You sound like you know from personal experience?”

  Sarah shrugged. She wasn’t about to get into that.

  “Besides, I never said anything about foster care.”

  He hadn’t. But she felt she had to speak up, just in case. “For right now, you are caring for Charity. What can I tell you that will help?”

  David leaned forward and rubbed his temples. Again she was struck by how tired he seemed. “Have you been handling everything since your sister’s death?”

  He nodded. “My mom couldn’t cope so I had to step in. She’s not in the best of health. I guess that’s why Maggie didn’t leave Charity with her.” His gaze slid to his niece, quietly eating her cookie, bit by bit. He reached out and stroked her head. Charity didn’t respond. “What do I do with her?”

  “Well, you feed her, dress her, bathe her, give her plenty of hugs. You love her, that’s all.”

  A corner of his mouth twitched. “That’s all.”

  “Pretty much.”

  “How do I communicate with her? It’s so frustrating that she won’t or can’t talk to me. I don’t know if I’m doing things right, if I’m giving her what she needs…She’s probably scared to death, and I don’t know how to comfort her.”

  Sara had always been a sucker for a sob story. One look into David’s troubled eyes, and she knew she was hooked. She should have run when she had a chance, before Misty dragged her into it.

  “Let me explain a few things to you. First of all, Charity’s receptive language skills are exceptionally good. She understands what you’re saying to her. Second, you’ll have to let her show you some things, like what cereal she wants for breakfast. Ask her to get it, and she will. Third, you’ll just have to be very observant. Watch her reactions to find out how she’s feeling or what she’s thinking.”

  David nodded. “That makes sense. Can you explain a little about this thing she has.”

  “Charity has been diagnosed with developmental verbal dyspraxia. Dyspraxia indicates a neurological problem. Her brain isn’t sending her body the right signals, or her body isn’t interpreting them correctly. This makes it difficult for Charity to coordinate the sounds and movements necessary for speech. It doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have something to say. She just can’t always get it out.”

  “That must be incredibly frustrating. But is it treatable?”

  “Yes. The amount of success depends on how much the individual is affected, what kind of help he or she gets, and of course family support. It was lucky that Maggie realized there was a problem and got Charity help early on. She’s already been enrolled in the early childhood class for this fall.”

  “Early childhood?”

  “It’s a class for three- and four-year-olds with significant developmental delays. I work with a lot of kids in that class. In fact, I did Charity’s evaluation when she was referred.”

  David raised his eyebrows. “I guess we were lucky to find you.”

  Sarah, always uncomfortable with compliments, looked down into her coffee cup. “I’m happy to help.”

  Charity started to cough and choke on her cookie, distracting them. Sarah held her glass of milk while the little girl took a drink. David hovered uncertainly until the coughing stopped.

  “She does that a lot,” he admitted. “Is that part of the dyspraxia? Not being able to coordinate the movements for chewing and swallowing?”

  “It can be. You catch on quick.”

  “Not quick enough.” He was back to brooding, staring into his coffee cup. “Sarah, I hate to be a pain, but would you…would you mind giving me your phone number, so I can call if I have any more questions?”

  “I guess that wo
uld be all right.” Sarah pulled a pen from her bag, wrote her work number on a napkin and slid it across the table to him.

  “Thanks,” David said. “I really appreciate this.”

  ****

  David spent the rest of the day attending to the details of Maggie’s estate. He was so tired of dealing with all of this. Part of him still couldn’t believe that Maggie was gone. He knew he’d see her again someday in heaven, but for now, her absence left a gaping hole in his heart.

  Charity sat quietly and colored while he talked to the lawyer. This bothered him. No three-year-old should sit so quietly for so long. Was this normal behavior for her? Or was this a reaction to the chaos caused by her mother’s death?

  Then, it was back to Maggie’s house. He didn’t plan on staying in Orchard Hill forever, but he thought for Charity’s sake, he might as well stay here until Maggie’s estate was wrapped up.

  Then supper and bedtime. Remembering what Sarah had said about Charity, he asked her to pick out a book for story time instead of just grabbing one. She quickly went to the bookshelf and brought back a worn, well-used book. This must be a favorite, he thought.

  When Charity was finally sleeping, David headed back to his computer and worked on a couple of projects that had deadlines looming. It was well after midnight by the time he shut down his laptop.

  Tired, but still restless, David settled himself on the couch with the remote and turned on the TV. He surfed the channels for a while and finally settled on a late night interview show. The wise-cracking host failed to distract him from the many problems twisting themselves about in his brain.

  First and foremost was the problem of what to do with Charity. He loved his niece, but a heavy work schedule had prevented him from visiting often. Truthfully, he hardly knew her, and he had great doubts about his ability to be a decent parent to her.

  He traveled a lot in his job as a computer systems consultant. He was good at his job, and always in demand. He supposed he’d reached the point where he could probably afford to hire a nanny, but was that really what Maggie would want?

  He mentally reviewed the list of relatives that could possibly take Charity. In the end, he thought that Maggie had probably appointed him as Charity’s guardian because there really was no one else. But accepting Charity would mean some major changes in his life.

  Maybe a close friend of Maggie’s would be willing to care for Charity. He tried to remember the people who’d attended her funeral, but it was all a blur. David lay back against the cushions and rubbed his face. He needed to sleep, but sleep had eluded him lately. He felt so clueless where Charity was concerned, so afraid he’d let Maggie down after she’d entrusted him with her greatest treasure. He’d been praying for guidance and he was hoping that Sarah Rogers might be the answer to those prayers.

  Hey, he thought suddenly. Maybe she’d know who Maggie’s close friends were and if any of them would be suitable for Charity. Maybe she would even be a candidate. Charity was comfortable with her and seemed to like her.

  He liked her, too. He thought of how her expression softened when she looked at Charity. She wasn’t pretty in the conventional style. But behind her shaggy bangs she had marvelous blue eyes that changed colors as her emotions changed. There would never be any question of how she was feeling. Her eyes were more telling than a mood ring.

  It was while he was thinking of Sarah’s eyes that David slipped into slumber, and that was probably why he saw them in his dreams. No other reason.

  TITLE

  Orchard Hill: volume Two

  Chapter 2

  “Kit did great today,” Sarah told the child’s mother after her therapy time. “She’s really improving on using complete sentences.”

  “That’s great.” The woman held out her hand to her ten-year-old daughter, a dark haired girl with a sweet face. “Ready to go, honey?”

  The girl smiled and, with a look to Sarah, replied carefully, “Let’s go home.”

  Sarah’s duties as a speech therapist included seeing some of the students over the summer. The ones who needed the most help would regress if she didn’t work with them. This had been her last appointment for the day, and after Kit and her mother left, Sarah moved around her tiny room, tidying up.

  “Hey there,” Hope called from her doorway. “What’s up?”

  Glad to see her friend alone for once, Sarah responded with a smile. “Not much. I was just about to go home and have some lunch.”

  “How about we stop at the Apple-a-Day Café? I’ll buy.”

  “Great. What’s the occasion?”

  Hope came all the way into the room. “I plan to pump you for information on how things went yesterday.”

  “Yesterday?” asked Sarah, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” Hope shot back. “I mean with the cute guy you were with at The Grace Place.”

  Sarah rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t ‘with’ him. He had some questions about how to handle Charity’s disability. That’s all.”

  “Maybe that’s how it started, but wouldn’t it be great if it led to something else.”

  Sarah bit her lip. “Nothing happened. You don’t have to buy me lunch. There’s no news to pry out of me.”

  “I’ll still buy you lunch. I just thought…I guess, I mean I hoped…”

  “You hoped you could match me up as neat and tidy as you and Oliver. Look, Hope, I’m really happy for you guys, but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen for me.”

  “I’m sorry Sarah. I didn’t think…” Hope looked truly contrite.

  Sarah was prepared to swallow her irritation and forgive her, but the phone rang first.

  She turned back to her desk and picked up the receiver. “Hello.”

  The voice of school secretary, Faith Fielding, came across the line. “Hi, Sarah. I’m glad I caught you. I have a phone call for you from a David Daniels. I’ll transfer it.”

  “Oh, OK. Thanks.” What could this be about?

  “Hello, Sarah.”

  “Hi David.” She turned her back to her friend as a smile suddenly burst across Hope’s face. “What can I do for you?”

  “I hate to impose on you, but…I need a favor.”

  “What kind of favor?”

  “It’s a little complicated. Can you come over, and I’ll tell you about it?”

  “Are you at Maggie’s?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m just finishing up here. I’ll be right over.”

  She turned and gave Hope a stern look as she hung up the phone. “Not a word.”

  “I won’t say anything, I promise.”

  “I’ll have to take a rain check on lunch. I’m sorry.”

  “That’s okay. Just call me later and give me a report.”

  “Forget it,” Sarah grumbled, but even that didn’t wipe the cat-that-ate-the-canary smile off of Hope’s face as she sailed out of the room.

  Sarah shook her head at her friend’s retreating back. Then, she grabbed her things and set out.

  Maggie’s house was a little white cottage in the older part of town. Sarah loved the full, shady trees that lined the street. The way the houses were tucked back from the street under the sheltering limbs, gave her a safe, cozy feeling.

  She hurried up the walk and knocked on the door. Sarah was glad she was dressed a little nicer today, in a full skirt and loose summer sweater. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so out of place with the handsome David.

  He answered the door and even in a t-shirt and jean cut-offs, she knew he was still way out of her league. But that didn’t matter, because she was only here for Charity.

  “Thanks for coming, Sarah,” David said, stepping back so she could precede him into the house.

  “No problem. I was just finishing up for the day when you called.”

  Charity was in the living room, sitting on the floor by the coffee table. She looked up when Sarah came in with David. “Hi,” said Charity softly.

  “Hi yourself.�
� From the corner of her eye, she saw David’s mouth gape and hoped he would follow her lead and not make a big deal out of Charity talking. She dropped down on the carpet next to the little girl. “What are you coloring?”

  Charity pointed to the picture of a kitten on the page of her coloring book. “I like it,” Sarah said and signed to her. “You’re doing a good job.”