by Linda Warren
Dusty nodded vigorously. She looked at Rico.
“He might be too small.”
She went over and asked the man if Dusty could jump on the trampoline.
“Sure, but little kids usually get scared.”
“If he does, we’ll take him off.”
The man strapped Dusty into the harness and Rico placed him on the trampoline.
“Jump,” the man instructed.
Dusty jumped and his eyes opened wide as the harness took him up and down again. He jumped over and over and over, giggling.
They sat on a bench watching him. She linked her arm through Rico’s. “He’s having so much fun.”
“Yeah.”
Something was wrong. She could feel it. He seemed uncomfortable and she didn’t know what to do to get him to talk.
After they had put Dusty to bed that night, Rico sat in his recliner with a sad expression on his face. It twisted her heart. She slid onto his lap and rested her head in the crook of his neck.
“What is it?” she asked softly.
“We have to give him back and I don’t know how I’m going to do that. I’m attached to him and he’s attached to me. How did I get myself into this mess?”
She rubbed her hand over his heart. “Because there’s nothing but good in there and a little boy desperately needed you.”
“I should have let him go into foster care.”
“No, you made the right decision and we can handle this.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “I couldn’t do this without you. I have to work and my first loyalty is to the Rebels.”
“I’m here and I don’t plan on going anywhere.” But she had worries too, but in a different way. After Dusty left, would she still be a part of Rico’s life?
CHAPTER NINE
THEY SETTLED INTO an easy comfortable routine. He worked on the ranch and Ana took care of Dusty. It was working for them, but he knew she was taking most of the load. They had started hay season and he worked from sunup to sundown and had very little time for Dusty. That bothered him, but it was a way to detach. And he needed that, too. He kept waiting for news that Darlene was getting out. He was still waiting.
On Friday that week they stopped working at six. The tractors needed oil and they planned to do that first thing in the morning while dew was still on the hay. He was dog tired but deep inside a spark of energy ignited at the thought of seeing Ana. She’d have something good cooked and she’d be playing with Dusty. That allowed him to rest for a moment and drink a glass of iced tea.
After supper, Dusty leaned on the arm of Rico’s chair, smiling at him.
“What’s up, buddy?”
“I’m gonna take a bath.”
“You want me to help?”
Dusty shook his head. “No. Ana lets me play in the water.”
“Okay.” There was a stack of new coloring books on the coffee table and a big box of crayons. “Did you get new coloring books?”
Dusty straightened, his mouth a big O. “I forgot.” He ran to his room.
He had no idea what that was about, but soon Dusty came back with a penny in his hand. He gave it to Ana. “I forgot to pay you for my stuff.”
Ana looked at Rico and he shrugged. He didn’t know how to handle the situation but he knew someone had to. As words rolled around in his head, Ana knelt in front of Dusty.
“Did your grandma ever buy you a gift like on your birthday or Christmas?”
“Yeah.” Dusty twisted his fingers. “She bought me a tractor for my birthday and a big truck for Christmas.”
“Did you pay her for them?”
“No.”
Ana pulled Dusty to her. “Because it was a gift. You don’t pay for a gift. You say thank you and give the person a hug or a kiss. The coloring books and colors were a gift from me.”
“Oh.” He took the penny out of Ana’s hand. “Thank you.” Then he gave her a big hug.
The look on Ana’s face said it all. There were tears in her eyes and she quickly fought against them. She pushed Dusty slightly back. “But if you go somewhere like a store, like Walmart, you have to pay for what you get in there. Do you understand?”
He nodded.
“How much money did your grandma give you a week?” Rico asked, wondering where he got his money since they seemed to be penniless.
“I show you.” Dusty ran to his room again and came back with a quarter in his hand.
Rico fished in his jeans and found a quarter. He handed it to Dusty. “As long as you’re with me, this will be your allowance each week.”
“Oh, boy, now I have lots of money.” Dusty ran to his room to put it on his nightstand where he kept his money.
Ana looked at him with her hands on her hips. “What’s my allowance?”
“This.” He stood and kissed her forehead. How had he ever lived without her?
The buzz of his phone interrupted them.
Ana drew back. “Someone’s calling you.”
“Yeah. It might be Miss Kate or Falcon. I have to get it.”
Ana handed him his phone from the counter.
“It’s Wyatt.” He tapped his phone. “Hey, Wyatt, what’s going on?”
“I need you to come into the office. I know it’s late, but this is important.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“What’s wrong?” Ana asked.
Rico went into his bedroom and slipped on his boots. “I don’t know. He just said he needs to talk to me. I guess Darlene is getting out and he wants to tell me in person.”
“Oh.” Her face crumbled like a heated marshmallow.
He paused for a moment. “It’s time to let go.”
“Rico.” She went into his arms and he held her, trying not to show any sign of weakness when inside he felt like someone had rammed a bowling ball into his gut.
“It’s okay. We can get through this.” He reached for his hat on the dresser.
* * *
ANAMARIE GATHERED HERSELF and gave Dusty a bath, determined to keep all those shaky emotions inside. She poured bubble bath into the water and bubbles came up over the tub. There was a small boat and he played with it in the water.
“Look, Ana. We have to get through the snow.” He called the bubbles snow and sailed the boat across the bubbles, giggling.
She sat back on her heels, watching him. Until that moment, she never realized how hard letting go would be. She choked back a sob. She had gone into this with her heart wide open and... Getting up, she managed to brush away a tear before Dusty could see it. She hoped and prayed Darlene Miller gave her son the home he deserved.
* * *
RICO MADE IT to the sheriff’s office in record time. He wasn’t thinking. He was just trying to get through it. Bubba sat in the office, working on a file.
“Hey,” Bubba called as he made to walk into Wyatt’s office. “I was out of line the other day. I apologize for that.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re my friend just like the Rebel guys are.”
Rico didn’t want to get into it with Bubba. He had other things on his mind. But he appreciated the apology. Walking into Wyatt’s office, he stopped short. Ms. Henshaw was there. Darlene was getting out. There could be the only reason she was here—to take Dusty.
“Sit down, Rico,” Wyatt said.
Taking a seat, he looked from Wyatt to Ms. Henshaw. “What’s going on? Is Darlene getting out early?”
Ms. Henshaw shook her head. “Darlene’s not getting out anytime soon.”
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
“She got into a fight with another inmate over drugs. The other girl had a knife and she tried to stab Darlene. She has a big cut on her arm.”
“What?” He had expected a lot of things, but this wasn’t one of them. “Sh
e said she was going to stay clean for Dusty. He’s waiting on her. What am I supposed to tell him?”
Ms. Henshaw didn’t answer the question. Instead she said, “Dusty is the reason I’m here. I found a foster home for him. The couple has five other children. He will be number six. It’s a nice home and the couple takes good care of the kids.” She glanced at her watch. “The warden is going to call here in a few minutes and she’s taking Darlene out of lockdown and allowing her five minutes on the phone so we can settle Dusty’s future.”
After all he had done, Dusty was still going into foster care. That was all he could think. The letting go would be even harder now. Rico had to push down all his feelings about foster homes. How could Darlene do this to her kid?
Wyatt’s landline rang and he put it on speakerphone.
“Sheriff Carson, are you there?”
“Yes, Darlene. I’m here and so is Ms. Henshaw.” Wyatt glanced at him and he must’ve left out his name for a reason so Rico stayed quiet.
“Where’s Mr. Johnson?”
“Why do you need to know that?” Wyatt asked.
“I want to know how my baby is.”
“Dusty is fine. He’s waiting for you to come get him.”
There was a pause on the line. “Sorry. I screwed up but it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t have the pills. The other girl did and she tried to force them on me. She said if she wasn’t getting out, I wasn’t either and then she pulled a knife. No one will listen to me and I’m taking the fall for this. I didn’t do anything but defend myself. I was staying clean for Dusty.”
“The authorities will sort that out,” Ms. Henshaw told her. “Right now my main concern is your son. We have to decide what to do with him.”
“Doesn’t Mr. Johnson have him?”
“Yes, but that was for short-term. There will be several years tacked onto your sentence. A judge will decide that, but in the meantime I have found a foster home for Dusty. The couple has five other children, but it’s nice and so is the couple.”
“No!” Darlene cried. “I don’t want my kid in foster care. I want my kid to have a better life. Why isn’t Mr. Johnson there?”
Wyatt glanced at Rico. “I’m here,” Rico said.
“Oh, Mr. Johnson, how is my baby?”
“He’s doing great. He’s a good kid with good manners and I’m trying to figure out what possessed you to get into a fight when you’re so close to getting out.”
“I didn’t, but no one will believe me.”
“Because you’re a drug addict and addicts are notorious for getting drugs any way they can.” He didn’t pull any punches.
“I know,” she said softly. “It was there and I wanted it, but I fought her off.”
“Darlene, we’re getting off topic here,” Ms. Henshaw cut in. “We have to make a decision about Dusty.”
“I want him to stay with Mr. Johnson.”
“Mr. Johnson works long hours and doesn’t have time to raise Dusty. It was very nice of him to keep him for a short time, but...”
“Mr. Johnson, please, take him—” Darlene broke in. “I’ll sign over my maternal rights to you. I want him to grow up in a place like Rebel Ranch where he will be happy and with good people. Please, Mr. Johnson.”
Everyone in the room was stunned and it took a moment for Rico to find words to answer her. “You’re giving me your kid?”
“Yes. I’m a screwup and I’ll be in here for a long time. By the time I get out Dusty won’t know me.”
“You don’t even know me. I’m a stranger. An ex-con.” Saying the words brought bile into his throat and he forced it back. That’s who he was, though.
“Ms. Henshaw and the sheriff say you’re a very nice man. That’s good enough for me. Please keep Dusty. My lawyer will draw up the papers.”
“Darlene, you better think about this,” Ms. Henshaw said. “You’re giving away your child and if you change your mind down the road, it will be very hard to get him back. I wouldn’t want to put Mr. Johnson through that...or Dusty.”
“I won’t change my mind. Dusty deserves better than being put in a foster home and if I can make that happen, I’m going to do it. Mr. Johnson, please.”
“Let’s get this straight, Darlene,” Wyatt said. “You’re going to sign over your rights as a parent to Mr. Johnson. What guarantee does he have later down the road you won’t change your mind?”
“My lawyer said I’ll probably get four years tacked onto my sentence. Dusty will be almost nine when I get out. I wouldn’t take him out of a happy home. He deserves to be loved and a part of a family. I want that for him. When I sign my name to that paper, it will be forever. And though it will break my heart, I will do it for Dusty.”
“What am I supposed to tell him about his mother?” Rico asked.
“Mom always told him I was sick and you can use the same gimmick. I just won’t ever come back.”
There it was. A gift. A child. What he and Ana wanted more than anything—to be a family. Then why were there doubts in his head? Why wasn’t he grabbing this with both hands? They loved Dusty and Dusty loved them. He should be excited, but something held him back.
“I need to think about this,” he finally said.
“Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Take good care of my son.” The phone went dead and Rico felt a little dead inside, too. She was giving away her son. What type of mother gives away her child?
Ms. Henshaw closed her laptop and gathered her things. “I need an answer by ten o’clock tomorrow morning, Mr. Johnson. If Darlene signs away her rights, the state will allow you to keep Dusty. You have to go before a judge to make it legal. But if you say no, I’ll pick Dusty up in the morning to take him to the foster home. Please have his things ready.” She walked out the door as if she was making a deal for a car and not a little boy’s life.
Rico sat with his hands clenched between his legs, trying to figure out what to do. He worked long hours and had no time for a kid. Ana took care of Dusty, but soon she would go back to the bakery. She’d built that business into what it was today. She was angry with her mother over him. In time that would pass. He didn’t want to hold her back from doing what she wanted. Where did that leave him? Where did that leave Dusty? In a foster home, probably.
“Rico.” Wyatt’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Don’t feel obligated to take Dusty. He will do fine in foster care.”
He glanced up. “Will he, Wyatt? I’ve been in foster care and look how I turned out.”
“You’re one of the finest men I’ve ever met.” Wyatt leaned forward in his chair. “You said your great-grandmother raised you. She did a bang-up job. As for Darlene I think she’s sincere about wanting what’s best for Dusty.”
“Yeah.” He stood up. “I’ll talk to you later.”
As he drove home he searched for answers but they eluded him at every turn. It was either yes or no and he had to choose. But which choice was right for him? And Dusty? And Ana?
* * *
ANA PUT DUSTY to bed and waited and waited. She couldn’t understand what was taking so long. She heard his truck and ran to the front door. He came in looking haggard. His face was tight and his skin pale. What had happened? She had coffee made and brought him a cup.
He sat in his chair and wrapped his hands around the mug, staring into the dark liquid.
“When is Darlene getting out?” That could be the only reason he looked so dejected.
“She isn’t.” He took a sip of the coffee.
“What?”
He told her what had happened in Wyatt’s office.
“She’s giving you Dusty?”
“That’s what it amounts to.”
Her legs felt shaky and she sat on the coffee table. “What did you say?”
“I told her I had to think about it.” His hand tightened on the cup. “I mean, I work all d
ay, sometimes long hours. How can I raise a child? But if I don’t take him, they have a foster home ready that will. How do I let him go into a foster home? I’ve been there and I know how it feels. It feels as if the world has forgotten about you. I don’t want Dusty to feel that way. I...”
“I’m here, Rico. I will help you.”
He raised his head. “But for how long? Aren’t you going back to the bakery? The bakery has been your life since you were a teenager.”
Anger sparked in her stomach. “I wish everyone would stop telling me that the bakery is my life. It isn’t. I have other dreams, too.”
“What kind of dreams?”
“You know that I bake cakes for anniversaries, weddings and birthdays. That is separate from the bakery and my own money. Last year was very profitable because news has gotten out and people from other small towns have called wanting cakes.”
“So you’ll make wedding cakes at the bakery?”
“No. I want a separate business without my mother looking over my shoulder. There’s a big office space next to Angie’s office that’s for sale. It used to be a dress shop and then later a resale shop. But it’s vacant now. I thought about buying it and opening up my own place. I think I’ll call it The Cake Shop or Cakes, etc. or maybe Bite Me. The place is big enough to have a party room for kids. There’s no place for kids to have birthday parties in Horseshoe except the park. I’d put games and stuff in there and they could have a good time. And, of course, I’d make the birthday cake.”
“I never knew you wanted to do that.”
“You’re the first person I’ve told and I’ve been thinking about it since I’ve been living with you. I’m tired of my mother complaining about the cakes getting in the way of making kolaches.”
“So you’ll be busy.”
“Not so busy that I can’t take care of Dusty.” Why wasn’t he asking her to marry him? They loved each other, didn’t they?
“Well, then.” He placed his hands on his knees. “I guess we should get married. We can go to the courthouse or Wyatt can marry us.”
In all the years she dreamed about someone asking her to marry them, it wasn’t like this. She stood up, anger in every part of her body. “I’m not getting married at the courthouse or by Wyatt Carson.”