She waved to her again when she was at her mother’s side. Then waved to a few other girls who told her goodbye. And then, at last, they were gone and it was just her, Shannon, and a bunch of fallen nutcrackers.
The room felt strangely silent.
“Did you have a good time?”
To her surprise, she had. “I did. It certainly cured whatever was ailing me.”
“I find the same thing happens to me with them. Every class has its own personality. But I can’t deny it. These little girls have my heart.”
Ten minutes later, another group of ballet students entered the studio. Shannon greeted the older girls and instructed them to warm up.
Kimber was just about to ask if Shannon wanted her to help out some more when her cell phone rang. Surprised—she’d forgotten it was even in her back pocket—she swiped the screen to connect. “Hello?”
“Kimber, why haven’t you answered my letters?”
It was Peter Mohler. Her skin crawled. “How did you get this number?”
“How did you think? I’m still watching you.”
“You need to stop.” Hurrying to the corner of the room, she whispered, “I have a restraining order against you.”
“Did you think that would keep me away? You’re mine.”
Rattled and seriously creeped out, she disconnected, then turned off her phone for good measure. She knew she should be contacting the police, but they would probably just either think she was exaggerating or ask her why, if she was so scared, hadn’t she gone to see them when she first moved to Bridgeport.
And what would she say then? That she’d wanted to pretend he was going to simply fade out of her life?
“Kimber?”
She looked up at Shannon. “Yes?”
Shannon’s expression went from curious to worried. “You look like you’re about to faint. Are you okay?”
“Sure. I’m fine.” She smiled weakly.
Not seeming to care that the little girls were inching out of their formations and a few brave ones had even started to giggle, Shannon stepped closer. “Who was on the phone?”
“Nobody. It was just the wrong number.”
“The wrong number got you that shaken up?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.”
Just as Shannon was about to speak again, two girls peeked in the room.
“Can we come in, Miss Shannon?”
“Of course, Diana. Warm up and I’ll be with you in a few minutes.” After a pause, Shannon reached for Kimber’s hand. “These girls are the angels. They’re all about seven and eight. Would you mind staying for this class too?”
Did she want to help little girls or go sit alone and worry about her stalker? There was no choice. “Of course. I’m happy to help.”
Ten minutes later, when Shannon put the music on and started counting, Kimber walked over to one of the girls who’d been making the most mistakes and seemed to be near tears. “I promise that you’ll get it, honey. Just take your time and stop worrying so much.”
“I’m having a hard time.”
“I know you are, but things will get better. I promise.”
The little girl stared at her before awkwardly lifting her right arm when Shannon called out the directions.
“That’s right,” Kimber whispered. “You’re doing real well.”
“Thanks.” She smiled.
And so it continued. She smiled and encouraged and redirected. Peter Mohler’s voice echoing in her head all the while.
CHAPTER 20
“A good conscience is a continual Christmas.”
—Benjamin Franklin
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t,” Kimber said. “I leave for New York tomorrow.”
Gunnar was disappointed but he knew he was a fool to think that she would have arranged her day with his schedule so they could see each other. “I understand. So, ah, when will you get back?”
“I’m not sure yet. Either Friday or Sunday”—she paused—“or maybe Monday.”
“The job is that up in the air?” He would have thought they would be on a pretty tight schedule.
“Oh, no. Those days are set in stone. I’m trying to coordinate plans with my parents. I’m still waiting to see if they have time to see me.”
“They don’t know if they can fit you in?” He knew he sounded incredulous, but he couldn’t help it. He would’ve thought her parents would’ve moved heaven and earth to see her.
“It sounds worse than it is. My father’s dad is sick and my mom’s job is crazy right now. Plus, they don’t really like going into the city.”
“I would have thought seeing you would be their priority.”
“Like I said, I’m making it sound like they’re uncaring, but they’re not.” She sighed. “Honestly, everything with them and me is kind of complicated.”
“Sorry, it’s none of my business.”
“I kind of think it is,” she said, surprising him. “I don’t want you thinking that I’m being evasive on purpose.”
“I didn’t think that.” Realizing that she had enough stress in her life, he changed the topic. “So are you ready for your big trip?”
“I hope so. I haven’t gotten up the nerve to get on the scale, but I think I’m good. My measurements were fine last week.” She laughed softly. “And, Lord knows I’ve done enough crunches over the last three weeks.”
Glad she couldn’t see his look of incredulousness, he shook his head. She had already been really thin and toned, at least it had seemed that way to him. “I know you’re going to be busy and all, but text when you can, okay? I’ll be worried about you.”
“I will, but I promise that New York City isn’t as scary as you think.”
“Believe it or not, I’ve been to New York. I’m not worried about you in the city. I’ll be worried about you.”
Her voice softened. “Thanks. Gunnar, I’ll be thinking about you too.”
“You better.”
She laughed. “I’ll see you soon.”
“You will.” Deciding it was time to press a bit, he asked, “Hey, is anyone already planning to pick you up at the airport?”
“No . . .”
“Count on me doing that then.”
“Don’t forget, I’m not exactly sure . . .”
“Let me know and I’ll be there. I want to be there, Kimber.”
“Wow. Um, okay.”
She sounded cute and flustered, and he figured that was enough for now. He liked that he was able to break through her exterior from time to time. It gave him hope that one day she’d let him in all the time.
Five minutes later they hung up. He set down his phone, thinking that even though they weren’t going to see each other for a while, something new had happened between them. Maybe they were making progress after all?
He was still stewing on their conversation a while later when he went into the kitchen to make him and Jeremy some supper.
He found Jeremy at the stove heating up some ramen noodles. As usual, the boy wore cut-off sweatpants, an old T-shirt, and had bare feet. When he’d first moved in, Gunnar had worried that he would get cold, but Jeremy had looked as surprised as he’d used to act when his mother had asked him such things.
What was new was that there were two schoolbooks spread out on the kitchen counter. It looked like he was reading while he was stirring a pot on the stove.
“Hey, ah, what are you doing?”
Jeremy frowned. “I’m studying while I’m cooking noodles. Why?”
“No reason.” This was another one of those weird no-man’s-land moments. Was he supposed to say something about how it would be better to study when he was sitting down or leave it alone because the boy was actually doing his homework?
“Uh, do you want some?” Jeremy asked when Gunnar contin
ued to stare into space. “I could put in another package in the water, if you’d like.”
“You know what? Thanks.”
Jeremy grinned as he opened another orange package and crumbled the noodles into the water. “I make a mean batch of noodles. Just you wait.”
“I didn’t know it was your specialty.”
“It pretty much is. I started making it back when I was eleven or twelve.” He lowered his voice. “The trick is to boil them an extra five minutes and then pour a little soy sauce on top.”
“That sounds great. I can’t wait to try them.”
When Jeremy grinned again as he leaned back over his book, Gunnar took a step back.
Yeah, he probably should be looking into the refrigerator to make the kid something halfway decent, but he decided to hold off from bringing it up. The last thing he wanted to do was make Jeremy feel bad.
Honestly, it was good to see the boy looking so pleased with himself.
He grabbed a beer and sat down. Popping the top, he exhaled, pleased to take a five-minute break. He’d worked on a remodeling job today and while it was going well, he was sore as all get out.
“You’re going to just sit here and watch?”
“Pretty much. It’s been a long day and you’re cooking. I decided things can’t get much better than that.”
Jeremy shrugged. “All righty.”
Taking a first sip, he watched the boy go back to reading textbooks and stirring noodles. “I thought most of your books were on your computer now.”
“They are, but I asked for copies too. I like the real books.”
“Gotcha. Of course, back when I was in school, we didn’t have a choice about such things, but I would’ve picked the books too.”
“Were you good in school?”
“Yeah.” He’d actually done real well in school. Well enough to have gotten a scholarship to college to study something fancy. He hadn’t had the nerve to take the opportunity, though. He was small town enough to be intimidated by the thought of going to a big university. Then, there were his three younger siblings. He would have missed them, and his parents.
So instead, he’d done what had been expected of him and continued his job at the auto shop. He’d ended up going into construction in the summers because he’d wanted to learn something new. It had all turned out fine. He had a good life, so maybe his choice had been the right path after all.
He stopped his musing long enough to realize that Jeremy was staring at him. Whether it was because he was waiting for Gunnar to talk some more or he was confused, he didn’t know.
He was prevented from asking when there was a rap at the door.
“I’ll get it,” Jeremy said.
Gunnar leaned back and had another sip then just about choked when the boy walked back into the kitchen, Melanie right on his heels.
Dressed in gray wool pants, black suede boots, and a chunky black turtleneck, the social worker looked more dressed up and polished than usual.
She also seemed to be just as alert as ever. She didn’t seem to miss a thing. Not him sitting and drinking beer at six in the evening. Not how Jeremy was wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and had bare feet while he was boiling noodles on the stove.
No, she didn’t even miss the kid’s books laid out on the counter.
She smiled. “Hello, Gunnar.”
He surged to his feet. “Hey, Melanie. I didn’t know you were coming. Did I miss a call or did I just forget it or something?”
“You didn’t miss a thing.” Glancing at Jeremy, who had taken his place next to the stove again, she added, “This is one of my surprise home visits.”
She was speaking like they’d just run into each other at the store or something, but there was a sharper look on her face that let him know that she wasn’t missing a thing.
“Can I get you some ah . . . tea? Coffee, maybe?” He wished he could hide his beer but it was obvious that there was nothing he could do about that. “I’d be happy to make you coffee.”
“You know what? Coffee sounds wonderful.”
Glad that she hadn’t asked if he had decaf, he hustled to get on it. “Coming right up.”
While he was measuring coffee grounds, she turned to Jeremy. “So, what’s for dinner?”
“Ramen noodles.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Is that right?”
“It’s chicken too. That’s my favorite. I make great ramen.” Tossing a grin his way, Jeremy added, “I’m making some for Gunnar too.”
Even though his face was probably beet red, he said, “I was about to make us something but he had already started on it.”
“I see.”
Yes, he bet she saw that real good. This visit was getting worse and worse. After pouring water into the machine, he stood there and watched the coffee drip down into the carafe. Anything to not face her.
But she wasn’t looking at him anyway. She was standing next to Jeremy. “Looks like you’re working on your homework at the same time.”
“Yeah, it’s better than doing nothing while it cooks.”
“I bet you’re right. I hate watching noodles boil.”
Jeremy grinned at her.
Gunnar had never felt more unworthy. “The coffee will be ready in a few. Want to have a seat, Melanie?”
“If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go take a look around. Jeremy, are you still in the same room?”
“Yeah.”
“Great. I’ll be right back.”
After she disappeared down the hall, Gunnar closed his eyes and tried not to panic. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d vacuumed in there. Maybe it had been a week?
Had it been longer?
“What’s wrong?”
He opened his eyes. “Nothing. I’m good.”
“You aren’t,” Jeremy said. “You’re acting worried or something. What’s wrong?”
“I just wish I was making a better impression.” Realizing that he hadn’t cleaned the boy’s room in days, he said, “How bad does your room look?”
He stopped to consider. “Not bad.”
“Not bad” could mean anything. “Is there laundry all over your floor?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s no worse than usual.”
He bit back a curse. The kid probably had half his dirty clothes strewn all over the floor and Melanie was going to think that he not only didn’t cook or supervise the boy’s homework, he was too lazy to run the washing machine too.
When he heard Melanie approach again, he reached for a mug and poured her a cup. “Do you take cream and sugar?”
“Nope. I like it black.” Reaching for it, she took a tentative sip and smiled. “Thanks. This hits the spot.”
“You’re welcome.” He got himself a cup too. “So I was just asking Jeremy how bad his dirty clothes situation was. Were you able to walk inside the room?”
She chuckled. “I managed. It wasn’t that bad.” She sat down and unzipped the tote bag he hadn’t noticed she’d been carrying around. “Do you have some time to talk right now?”
“I do.” When she pulled out her tablet and clicked a button at the top, followed by slipping on a pair of glasses, he gazed at her warily. “Is everything all right?”
“I think so, but we need to go over some things right now, if you don’t mind.”
“Do you want me to go over it too?” Jeremy asked.
“Of course,” she replied. “This affects you, Jeremy.”
Jeremy clicked off the stove and joined them at the table.
Watching Melanie open up her laptop, Gunnar worried that everything he’d been sure about was on the verge of blowing up in his face.
What was he going to do if he lost this boy? He could hardly think about it.
CHAPTER 21
“When they saw the star
, they rejoiced
with exceedingly great joy!”
—matthew 2:10
Gunnar looked like he was about to lose it.
Sitting in between him and Melanie at the kitchen table, Jeremy was starting to feel uneasy. He’d been in enough foster homes to not have been all that shocked about the social worker’s surprise visit. That was what they did, and because they were so overworked, they usually didn’t come around all that much.
This was all new to Gunnar though. He looked like he’d just had the worst scare in his life. And now, the way that his voice had a thicker twang than usual?
Well that was a sure sign that he was freaking out. Big time.
After visibly trying to get himself under control, Gunnar said, “Melanie, I feel like you caught me at my worst tonight, and I honestly don’t know how to make things better.”
She’d been sorting papers and writing notes. But after glancing his way, she put her ball point pen down. “Forgive me, but I’m not following you. You’re going to have to be more specific about what you’re worried about.”
Oh boy. Gunnar now looked even worse, like he had a killer migraine coming on.
Hoping to help him out, Jeremy said, “I think he’s worried about—”
Gunnar cut him off. “Thanks, but I can speak for myself, boy.” He shifted, then blurted. “I know what it must have looked like when you got here. Me sipping a beer while Jeremy here was cooking at the stove. I promise, it’s not usually like that.”
“All right . . .”
“And, um, the way he was doing his homework. Usually he does it in his bedroom. There’s a desk in there. Usually he can get to it too. You know, when it’s not covered with old towels and laundry.”
“I saw the desk, Gunnar.” She smiled at Jeremy.
He smiled back, knowing what her smile meant, even if Gunnar didn’t. Melanie had been with him in a lot worse situations than this. And this wasn’t even bad.
He tried again to save his foster dad from himself. “Gunnar, if—”
“Jeremy, let me finish, yeah?”
“All right.” He leaned back and hoped that Gunnar would get a handle on his verbal diarrhea real soon.
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