by Emma Easter
“So, Nick,” Frank said. “Have you thought about what I asked you?”
Nick raised his brows and asked, “Asked me about what?”
“About staying with Trisha and I.”
Nick groaned. “I already told you I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that, Frank. And you told me it’s Trisha’s house, didn’t you?”
“We are a married couple. It’s our home. Besides, what does it matter if it’s her house? It’s big enough for you to stay comfortably in.” Frank grinned. “We won’t get in your way or cramp your style, I promise.”
Nick tilted his head toward Frank. “Really? So, you wouldn’t mind if I brought a different girl back to the house every week?” He chuckled. “Because that is what I plan to do.”
Frank sighed and shook his head. “Okay! That would be a problem. Well, I guess Hattie’s Bed & Breakfast it will have to be.”
“Yes,” Nick simply said.
“You will like staying at Hattie’s. I just wish you would change your plan about dating a different girl every week.”
“Who said anything about dating?” Nick muttered, and then stared out the window, gazing at the small town. It was a beautiful town. He didn’t expect it to be this beautiful. All he knew about Rosefield was from what Frank had told him. He’d always imagined it to be a small, old, sleepy town, with very few houses and nothing much to do. It was small, and a little sleepy, but it wasn’t old and everyone he saw seemed to have a smile on their face. Still, just like Frank said, there didn’t seem to be anything he would enjoy doing here except going to the park.
He turned to Frank and asked, “What do you even do for fun in this place?”
“Our church has a lot of activities and programs,” Frank said. “When I’m in Rosefield, Trisha and I are always very busy with church. We rarely ever get enough time for other things. You can say our social life revolves around church and our friends. All our friends mostly attend our church as well.”
“That sounds super boring,” Nick said.
“Not for me or Trisha.” Frank chuckled and said, “If you’re thinking of nightclubs and places like that here in Rosefield, then forget about it. You will hardly find any here.”
“Yeah! You’ve told me that before. I guess, then, that I will have to focus on finding pretty girls online.”
Frank shook his head. “Oh, Nick, Nick, Nick. Just like I said before, it’s time to change your ways.”
“Not yet.” Nick laughed at the look on Frank’s face. “Maybe when I’m as old as you.”
Frank howled with laughter. “Yeah. Since we are the same age, I guess it is time for you to change.”
Nick stared out of the window again and then pressed his lips together. He was used to Frank constantly urging him to change his ways. But now that he was in this quaint town with nothing to do except spend time with Frank and his wife, he knew Frank would be on his case continuously. He groaned softly. Frank’s incessant preaching was something he wasn’t looking forward to.
*****
Lauren got to her house two hours later, having stopped at the grocery store after leaving Trisha’s house. Her home was tiny compared to Trisha’s. Going straight to her kitchen, she put away the groceries she had bought and then went to her bedroom. She flung her purse on the bed and went to stare out the window. It was a warm, sunny day, but she hardly noticed. Her heart felt cold. Trisha didn’t really understand what it meant to be truly lonely. She had never really been alone for any length of time. She’d always had a man who loved her, fawned over her. Frank had always loved her. She was married to Stan for years before she divorced him. She wasn’t long divorced from him before they got back together again, and then shortly after they broke up, she married Frank.
If only I had a guy like Frank who loved me. She sighed longingly and then walked away from the window. She sat on her bed for a while, allowing herself to wallow in self-pity. Saturdays weren’t her favorite days. Since it was a work-free day, she had more time to think about how lonely she was. She hardly had friends, as Richie had isolated her when she lived with him. Here in Rosefield, she had Trish and Sally, but they were both married and she could only spend so much time with them before their kids and spouses required their full attention.
She finally stood up and went to the living room to watch some TV. She spent the day on the sofa, watching her favorite TV shows and then reading a novel. When it was some minutes past ten p.m., she retired to her bedroom. Tucking herself under the covers, she tried to fall asleep, but couldn’t. She felt particularly lonely at night as she had to go to bed alone. Many nights, she wet her pillow with her tears. Tonight, she fought the tears.
After cuddling with her pillow for a couple of minutes, she got up from the bed. She got her laptop from the bedside table, sat on the bed again, and put the computer on her lap. Opening it up, she took a deep breath and then clicked on the dating website app that she had researched and then downloaded the day before.
The online dating site opened and the words LOVE FOREVER stared back at her in bold white letters on a scarlet background. She’d been trying to talk herself into setting up her profile for days now, but she had not been able to find the courage to do so. Somehow, like Trisha, she had always believed that online dating sites were full of creeps, scam artists, and the hopelessly desperate. Now, she was one of those desperate people. But there was nothing she could do. She had not met anyone she wanted to date. Not in church, not at work, not anywhere in Rosefield. This might be her only chance to find love.
She whispered a prayer asking the Lord for courage, and then immediately, so she wouldn’t change her mind, began to fill out her profile on the dating website, her heart beating wildly. When she finished, she took another deep breath and logged out of the website. She closed her laptop, and then went to look at herself in the mirror.
Everyone said she was beautiful, but, unfortunately, her beauty had not helped her to find a man who truly loved her and who she could spend the rest of her life with. Hopefully, just like the dating website promised, she would find some perfect matches for her, and she could finally meet ‘the one’.
She shut her eyes, trying to fight the voice in her mind telling her she was wasting her time. She asked the Lord again to help her meet the right guy because if she didn’t meet him soon, she might never have her own children, as it would be too late for her. Worse of all, she would spend the rest of her life alone. That was not a future she was looking forward to.
Chapter Four
Sienna smiled at Bryan as he took baby Ethan from her and opened the car door. He put their precious son into the car seat, buckled him up, and shut the door. He went around to the other side of the car, opened the door, and got into the driver’s seat. He smiled when Sienna got in beside him. She shut the car door and said to him, “It’s good to finally be able to come out and get some fresh air. That prolonged bed rest was beginning to drive me mad.”
Bryan laughed. “I can attest to that.”
Sienna hit him playfully on his shoulder.
Bryan started the car and said to her, “The kids at the orphanage have missed you. They will be very happy to see you again.”
“And I have missed them,” Sienna said. “I can’t wait to finally see the kids and the orphanage again.”
Bryan nodded and pulled out of their driveway. As he drove to the orphanage, Sienna recalled the first time Bryan told her that Dr. Lincoln, his mentor and the senior chaplain at Beulah College, wanted them to run the orphanage for him. Dr. Lincoln and some of the leaders of his denomination had founded the orphanage and he had decided to put Bryan and her in charge of it.
At first, she had been unsure about her ability to run an orphanage. Not only did she not have any experience, there was also the language barrier. She didn’t really speak the language. Audrey, on the other hand, spoke the language quite well, as she took Spanish throughout high school. She had also spoken Spanish with their father, who had picked up the language in th
e predominantly Spanish neighborhood he lived in with his mother when he was a child. It was Audrey and their father’s “special thing”.
Sienna understood some words and could speak simple sentences, but she couldn’t communicate fluently. Bryan had urged her to learn the language with him when they first arrived and he had to take Spanish classes, but she had refused. When Bryan, because of the pressures placed on him by his pastoral and ministerial duties, fully handed the running of the orphanage to her, she had been totally shocked. She told him he needed to find someone else, especially since she was pregnant.
He agreed to do that, but told her she had to take up the running of the orphanage until he found someone who could take over from her. She had been forced to take daily Spanish lessons while taking over the reins of the orphanage and had gotten closer and closer to all the children. Consequently, her heart opened more and more to the needs of the orphanage. She soon became consumed with trying to find solutions to the many problems the orphanage faced, and soon she couldn’t imagine not running it. She knew then that the Lord had actually called her to do just that—run the orphanage. That was why He had brought her here with Bryan—to take care of the precious orphans.
With all her heart, she loved finding homes for the kids. And when a child found adoptive parents, she felt overwhelmed with joy, seeing how excited the kids were to have real parents they could go home with. She grieved for some of the children who were almost growing out of the age where they could stay and were still not adopted. They would have to go into the world and fend for themselves unless a job position was found for them at the orphanage. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough of those.
Sienna finally found a good purpose for the money she had inherited from her father. Since she’ gotten her share of the inheritance, she and Bryan had hardly touched the money. Now, she pumped money into the orphanage, building a new hostel and renovating the dining hall for the children. She upgraded facilities, bought a new bus, and erected a small chapel where the children could go and be taught the word of God.
She had felt really fulfilled with the work she was doing, but after her difficult childbirth and being tired all the time, the doctor had told her to rest as much as possible. She hadn’t been able to come out of the house much, not to talk of going to the orphanage and taking back the reins. Bryan had thankfully found someone to take over temporarily from her. Now, she could finally go back and continue running the orphanage that had totally captured her heart. She couldn’t wait.
She turned when Bryan took her hand and kissed it. “A penny for your thoughts,” he said.
“I was just thinking of how happy I am to finally go back to running the orphanage.”
“I am glad about that,” Bryan said. “However, because of the baby, I am not sure you will be able to give as much of your time and energy to running it as you did before.”
Sienna frowned, knowing Bryan was right. Baby Ethan required a lot of her time and attention. She said, “Well, thankfully Mary is there to see to the daily running of the orphanage. Now that I am back, she will act as my assistant. Whatever I cannot do, she will have to do for me. And she’s done a good job so far running the place.”
Bryan sighed loudly and Sienna frowned. “What is it, Bryan?”
“I have been meaning to tell you, babe,” Bryan said, his eyes focused on the road. “Mary will soon be leaving the orphanage. She’s getting married and her husband-to-be doesn’t live in Lima.”
“Oh no!” Sienna exclaimed. “When exactly will that be?”
“She said in two weeks.”
Sienna pressed her lips tightly together, feeling a little put out. Finally, she said, “Wow! That means we definitely need to find someone as soon as possible to assist me.”
“I guess we do,” Bryan said.
For the rest of the drive to orphanage, they both said nothing to each other. Sienna kept running through her mind what Bryan had said. Where would they find someone to assist her in such a short time?
They got to the orphanage, and Bryan parked in front of the hostel for the younger kids, a building which was painted a bright yellow. Sienna had personally picked this shade of yellow because she loved how bright it was. She knew the kids would love it. There were flowers and animals and boys and girls painted on the sides of the building. She unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and got out of the car before Bryan could come around to open the door for her.
Bryan opened the backseat door, unbuckled Ethan’s seatbelt, and carried him out of the car.
Sienna peered at Ethan over Bryan’s shoulder and smiled. “Thank God he is still sleeping,” she said to Bryan.
He nodded in understanding and smiled down at their son. “He might not be asleep for too long, though,” Bryan chuckled. “The boisterous kids here will probably wake him up with all their noise.”
Sienna nodded. “I didn’t even think of that. Thank God it’s their naptime now.” She chuckled again. “It will give me and Ethan a bit of time before the kids swoop down on us.”
One of the children exited the building, and she said, “I spoke too soon.” When the child saw her, he ran toward her.
“Here we go,” she said in amusement. The child, a six-year-old boy named Roberto, reached her and wrapped his arms around her legs. He hugged her tightly and then looked up at her with a bright smile.
She ruffled his dark hair and said in Spanish, “How are you today, little man?”
He gave her a gap-toothed smile and nodded.
She chuckled. “I guess that means you’re fine.” She looked at her wristwatch and said to Roberto, “Isn’t it still your naptime?”
Roberto shrugged and said with laughter in his voice, “No. Naptime is over.”
She looked over at the hostel again, and her eyes widened as kids rushed out of the building, laughing and chattering. She braced herself. Any moment now, they would leap on her and surround her, giving her huge hugs and wet kisses. She looked at Bryan and was grateful that he held Ethan even more firmly. She wished they had brought the stroller.
Before she could plant her feet firmly on the ground, a seven-year-old girl named Esther pointed at her and raced toward her. Another child saw her and then others did, too.
She held the children tightly, trying not to drop them while also trying not to fall over. Soon, she was surrounded by the children. She hugged each of them tightly. They were about thirty of them. She brought out the sweets and candies she had bought specifically for them from her purse and handed one to each child.
Esther, who she fondly called Queen Esther because of how beautiful, well behaved, and poised the child was, smiled widely at Bryan and pointed at Ethan. “Can I carry the baby?” Esther asked. She had a pleading look in her eyes as she looked at Bryan and then at Sienna. The other kids also began to beg to carry Ethan, especially the girls.
Sienna finally nodded and said, “Okay, children, you all can carry him as long as you first wash your hands and are seated. Let’s go inside so you all can wash your hands and then you can carry him.”
Sienna beamed at them as two of the children took her hands. She walked into the hostel with the children. They kept chattering and excitedly skipping and she couldn’t help smiling at how impossible it was for kids to stay still for any length of time. Bryan followed behind, still holding Ethan. Esther was the first to wash her hands. She came and stood in front of Sienna, smiling.
“I’ve washed my hands now,” she said. She had a bright smile on her face.
Sienna grinned at her. “Okay. Take a seat right here beside me.”
Esther sat beside Sienna on the bunk bed, and Sienna carefully handed Ethan to her, placing the baby carefully on her lap. “Hold his head this way, Queen Esther,” Sienna said, and then watched as Esther held up Ethan’s head in her arm. “Good, now….” She didn’t finish her sentence as the other children came bounding toward them.
Bryan made them all sit down so they could take turns carrying Ethan.
/>
Sienna handed him carefully to each child while she sat beside each of the children to make sure Ethan was being held properly. After everyone had held Ethan, she carried him and smiled while the children ran out of the hostel to play outside. She looked up at Bryan, who was standing over her and Ethan, gently running a finger across Ethan’s curly blond hair. “It is amazing how Ethan slept through all the noise,” she said.
Bryan smiled. “It is. Thank God for that.”
She heard the sound of shuffling feet and turned to her right. She raised her brows in surprise when she saw Esther standing in front of the next bunk, looking longingly at Ethan. She chuckled and said to the little girl, “I thought you had gone outside to play. Do you still want to play with the baby?”
Esther nodded vigorously and then grinned at Sienna.
Sienna told Esther to sit. She stood beside Esther, handed Ethan to her, and then watched as Esther stared fondly at the baby, smiling widely. She looked like she had been handed a box of precious jewels or, for a kid her age, a huge bag of candy.
“Let me go and talk to Mary,” Bryan said.
Sienna nodded and told him she would join him later on. She watched as Bryan walked out of the hostel, and then she quickly turned back to Esther. She marveled at how well Esther held Ethan in her arms. It looked so natural. She couldn’t help but smile and say to Esther, “You will make a great mother one day.”
Esther’s eyes widened and she looked up at Sienna with a look of astonishment on her face. “I will be a mother one day?”
Sienna nodded. “If you want to.”
“I do,” Esther said, her eyes shining.
“Then you will be,” Sienna said to her.
Esther beamed and looked down at Ethan. She gently caressed his cheeks and kissed his tiny fingers. After a while, she said to Sienna with a mournful expression on her face, “When will I get a mommy and daddy like Rachel?”
Sienna blinked and looked intently at the child. Her eyes were so sad that Sienna’s heart began to hurt for her. Rachel had been Esther’s very good friend at the orphanage. They had done everything together. But Rachel had been adopted last month by a couple who lived in Cusco. Bryan had told her that Esther had asked him a week ago when she would be adopted. Now, Esther was asking Sienna the same question.