After work on Wednesday, Ryker called Kaia’s dad for the umpteenth time while he drove back to town. Why didn’t the man ever call or text back? If he didn’t answer this time, Ryker would find a way to force the issue.
As if somehow sensing his threat, a gruff voice full of annoyance answered.
“Mr. Delaney.” Finally. “It’s Ryker Hayes.” He cut right to the chase. “I really need to know if Kaia is okay. Have you heard from her?”
“I don’t know anything.” The man’s reply was too quick, too curt. Something was up or off.
“Well, I’m at the point where I’m wondering if I need to call the police and report her as missing. I get that she might have needed to blow off steam after losing custody of Honor, but she’s been gone for over two weeks now, and there’s still no sign of her. I’m worried. So unless you can tell me something—that at least she’s okay—I guess that’s what I’ll have to do.”
Silence reigned for at least thirty seconds, and Ryker let it. He couldn’t shake the sense that the man knew something about his daughter. Otherwise, wouldn’t he be stressing regarding her whereabouts?
“She’s fine.”
That was all Milton Delaney offered, but Ryker latched on, relief cascading through him. Thank You, God.
He gripped the phone tighter in his hand. “Can you give me anything else? Does she need anything? Is she doing okay? Tell her that Honor—”
“I have nothing else to say.” Kaia’s dad hung up.
Ryker sighed and tossed the phone onto the seat of his truck. At least he could stop worrying that something had happened to Kaia, though now his curiosity was through the roof. Just what was his sister up to?
He parked outside the house where he’d rented a room. Even with the landlords requiring a full month’s payment, he was still saving money over the Lazy Bones Motel, though of course he missed those luxurious accommodations desperately.
Despite currently being a sieve for expenses, Ryker was doing everything as affordably as he could. He’d had a small savings account in Texas, which was the only thing still keeping him afloat. He just wasn’t sure how much longer it would last. Between now and his first Sunny Farms paycheck, he needed to make the smallest dent possible in his dwindling reserves.
After showering and changing into jeans and a T-shirt, Ryker threw together some bread, turkey and mayo and hopped back in his truck. He was supposed to be helping Honor with her lines for the play tonight, but working late at Sunny Farms—something he couldn’t afford not to do—had him running behind. He’d texted Charlie to let her know, but she hadn’t responded.
Guess communicating with him was on everyone’s back burner.
Ryker wolfed down the pathetic excuse for a sandwich on the way over. When he parked and got out of his truck, he wiped crumbs from his shirt and jeans before heading up the wooden stairs to Charlie’s well-lit apartment.
He gave a quick knock. “It’s me.”
The door swung open, and Charlie barely spared him a glance as she waved him inside. She wore ripped jeans with a fitted T-shirt that looked soft and worn and showcased a logo so faded he couldn’t decipher it.
Ryker shut the door behind him. Honor was at the breakfast bar, numerous stacks of papers in front of her, and the tension in the room was Jell-O thick and just as wobbly.
“How are the lines going?”
Charlie raked a hand through her short red locks. “We haven’t gotten to them yet. We’ve been working on some school stuff.”
Honor perked up, her body straightening from slouched to interested. “But now that Uncle Ry is here, we’re going to memorize lines for the play, right?”
“I don’t know,” Charlie chimed in. “We still have plenty to do.”
“I don’t want to do any of this stuff.” Honor shoved the stack of papers and then hopped down from her stool. She stalked off to her bedroom, slamming the door with more force than her little frame should be able to muster.
Huh. Interesting. “So...how’s it going over here?” For the first time since Ryker had met her, tears pooled in Charlie’s eyes.
“Honor’s school called today. She’s way behind.” Charlie plopped onto one of the stools that lined the breakfast bar and dropped her forehead into her palm.
“Behind on what?” Ryker rounded the bar and scanned the papers. Some had math, some letters. Others looked like they had something to do with reading.
“Pretty much everything.” Charlie straightened papers, separating the ones Honor had completed from the blanks. “The teacher sent me some packets of things Honor needs to work on at home in order to catch up.”
“And you’ve been working on this stuff since after school?”
Charlie glanced at the clock on the microwave. “We stopped for dinner.”
Wow. That was a lot of extra work. No wonder Honor had thrown a hissy fit. Ryker sat on the third stool, leaving one between them so that he could face Charlie.
“With what she’s been through, I’m not surprised she’s behind. Are you?”
Charlie rubbed fingertips under her lower lashes. “I don’t know. I guess not.” She toyed with the edge of the papers. “She’s so smart. It’s just hard to think that’s not coming through at school.”
“She’s definitely smart.” Ryker motioned to the printed sheets. “None of this changes that. But I’m sure Kaia wasn’t working with her before kindergarten. Add to that the fact that she was ripped from her mom, or her mom from her... I guess I’m not shocked by this development.”
“True.” Charlie squared her shoulders. “It’s my job to help her, but she’s been ornery about it from the moment we started working on this stuff tonight. How is she ever going to improve if she refuses to try?”
Sweet, strong, overachieving Charlie. Not everyone could rule the world with such precision. Especially not a hurting five-year-old.
He scooted down a stool so that they were next to each other and kept his voice low. “I doubt that she’s completely unwilling to try. She’s probably just tired from a long day at school. Remember when we went to kindergarten? We had half days. It’s a lot for her. Especially since she only turned five in June. Maybe her age has something to do with all of this. Who knows? But emotionally, she might need to ride the slow train right now. I think a lot of this will work itself out once she feels settled and safe.” He held up a finger. “And I’m not saying you’re not providing that environment for her. Just that she’s been through a lot in the last couple of weeks.”
Charlie swallowed, her gaze cast downward. “I thought if we got right on it she’d improve quickly and not fall even more behind. That she’d fit in.”
“Is that really what this is about? Fitting in?”
Those mesmerizing eyes of hers turned sorrowful. “No. I just want her to succeed. If I can help her—”
“You are helping her. You’re amazing.” He covered her hand with his. “You could direct a million-dollar company with only half of your attention span.” That earned a faint lifting of her lips. “Do I think Honor can turn this stuff around with school? Yes. Probably. With time. It took her a while to get where she’s at. It’s going to take a bit to get her out of it.” He tempered his next comment with a grin. “And I don’t think you can reverse all of it in one night.”
Charlie half laughed, half groaned. “That’s what I was doing, wasn’t it? Did God lure me into fostering so that He could show me how inept I am at life?”
Ryker chuckled. “Actually, you’re about the most equipped person I know. Which is probably why this is hard for you. Wanting to fix this and help Honor isn’t a bad thing. It’s who you are. But you’re going to have to slow down to a more normal human pace this time because it involves someone outside of yourself.” Her features turned begrudgingly amused. Good. Ryker was glad he hadn’t offended her. “And no, I don’t think that’s how He works.”
“Should we still let her do the play? She has so much to catch up on.”
We. Finally that word was coming from Charlie’s direction, too, and not just from him. “Maybe it’s not a bad idea to let her keep doing the play because she’s so excited about it. It’s probably good for her to have something she’s looking forward to. Plus, she’ll be with other kids, making friends, learning something new. She’s even going to figure out how to memorize and say lines in front of an audience.”
“Lines.” Panic sprouted wrinkles across Charlie’s forehead. “I spent so much time on the school stuff tonight that we haven’t even started on them.”
“She’ll be fine. We’ll knock them out.” Providing that memorizing wasn’t incredibly hard for Honor. Not a concern Ryker planned to bring up as a possibility right now.
“Okay.” Charlie inhaled and released two deep breaths. “So, I talked you down from freaking out after you saw Finn in my car, and now you’ve done the same for me over Honor being behind...in kindergarten.”
His mouth curved to match hers. “We make a good team.” Surprising. Especially with how they’d started out. “On my way here, I saw that the nursery down the street has pumpkins out front. Maybe we should walk down there with Honor and get some for carving. Take a break. Sounds like she’s done plenty tonight in terms of work.”
“Because of her taskmaster.”
“Because of her superhero foster mom.”
Mom. That word had just dropped from his tongue. Charlie could never replace Kaia, but she’d done so much for Honor already, in such a short amount of time. She loved the girl sacrificially, that was for sure.
It made Ryker question why someone like Kaia, who struggled to make good decisions, would end up with a child, when someone like Charlie—who was so put together and safe and loving—didn’t have the family she was obviously made for.
“That sounds like a really good idea. Do you want to mention it to her?”
“I think you should.”
The corners of Charlie’s eyes crinkled as if she knew exactly what he was doing. Letting her suggest the outing to Honor would ease the turmoil that had been simmering between them when he’d walked through the door.
When Charlie called for Honor, she came out of her room slowly, her pout in full effect. Once Charlie explained their offer—giving both of them credit—the hurt cleared from Honor’s expression.
“I want to do that.”
“Then let’s go.” Charlie popped up from her stool and retrieved a sweater from the coat closet. “Grab your jacket, Honor. It’s supposed to cool down overnight.”
The girl practically flew to her room.
Ryker pushed off from his stool. “I’ll grab another layer from my truck when we go down. I was thinking we could carve the pumpkin later since we won’t have time tonight—like maybe on Sunday after church? That way we can use the activity as a prize of sorts once Honor has finished out this week and done her extra work each day.”
“Smart. I like it. Sunday works for me, and I think there will be a lot less fighting that way.” Charlie’s lips bowed. “And I’ll be sure to keep things to fifteen or twenty minutes a day. Nothing crazy.”
“Good. We can come up with some more prizes, too. I always needed some external motivation to care about school.”
“Oh yeah? And what was that?”
“Usually it had something to do with a girl. Like in sixth grade when I realized how smart Michelle Star was and thought getting better grades might make her want to be my girlfriend.” Michelle had never signed up to be his girlfriend, but Ryker had gotten better marks that quarter. “You women hold a lot of power.”
“Maybe some do, but I’ve never been that type.”
You are now. Yes, Ryker cared about Honor’s schoolwork, but he also assumed she would figure things out in her own time, at her own pace. Likely when her emotions weren’t so bruised and raw. But a big draw to why he felt the need to step in was to make things easier for Charlie. To make sure she was okay and not stressing.
So while Charlie might not think she was the type to influence a guy’s actions...on this account, she’d be wrong.
Charlie had assumed picking out a pumpkin would be a short-lived activity. She’d assumed incorrectly. Honor had spent as much time inspecting, holding and analyzing pumpkins as most women would allot for choosing a wedding dress.
She was currently distracted by the gourd section. “It’s so cute.” Her whisper, directed at the small green one she held, was filled with far too much longing for a garden vegetable not grown for consumption.
“Why don’t you pick out a few gourds plus a pumpkin? We can put the gourds out for fall decoration.”
Honor’s eyes grew wide at Charlie’s offer. “Okay.”
Charlie sidled up to Ryker, keeping her voice low enough that Honor wouldn’t overhear. “Do you think she’s never picked out a pumpkin before?”
His shrug and the concerned pucker claiming his brow said he’d been asking himself the same question.
Honor examined each gourd as if she was choosing a puppy instead of a perishable decoration. At this rate they would be here all night. But getting to see the joy on her face over such a small thing was definitely worth it. Ryker had been right—this was way more fun than schoolwork. And he’d also been right that tutoring Honor in small chunks of time made a lot more sense. As opposed to jumping into the deep end and forcing Honor to swim until exhaustion pulled her under—like Charlie had done when she’d heard from Honor’s teacher and immediately determined to fix all the things.
She thanked God that Honor’s uncle had barreled into their lives when he had. What would Charlie have done without him during these last two weeks? It was crazy to think that it had only been half a month since their lives had crashed into one another’s. With all the time they’d spent together, Charlie felt as if she’d known Ryker much longer.
“I like this one.” Honor handed the white gourd to Charlie. “And this one.” The next had green and yellow stripes.
“What about this little guy?” Ryker held up a gourd that resembled a miniature pumpkin.
“I already pickeded two.” Stress bogged down Honor’s whisper.
Oh, sweet girl. You can have a million gourds if it helps you understand that you’re loved and noticed and not alone.
“I think you should choose a third so that we can put them in a bowl. And two wouldn’t be enough.”
Honor nodded. After copious amounts of deliberation—and some prompting from Ryker—she chose a third. The same one Ryker had previously suggested.
Charlie met Ryker’s matching smile as the girl skipped outside to deliberate over pumpkins. Cooler air met them when they followed, the breeze picking up speed as it rustled the leaves still clinging to branches.
The small shop sold some local vegetables along with plants and small trees. Charlie had never visited before, but the quaint place made her want to return. Though next year at this time she likely wouldn’t have need of a pumpkin. She highly doubted she’d do any carving without Honor to instigate.
Unless I foster again. An ache grew and expanded at that. There was still too much up in the air for her to know what the future held. Charlie much preferred to have a game plan, but fostering was all about reacting to each moment.
Pumpkins were spread across the ground, and some were perched on a vintage trailer. The wooden base was worn and warped, but the setup would make for a cute photo.
“Honor, will you sit up there with the pumpkins? I want to take a picture.”
The girl contemplated seriously before finally agreeing.
Ryker picked her up and set her on the edge of the trailer. Surrounded by a sea of orange and wearing her pink belted jacket—an impulse buy that Charlie hadn’t been able to resist—Honor could model for the place’s brochure.
After snapping a few, Charlie held out her palm to Ryker. “Give me your phone. Let me get one for you.”
He complied with less grumbling, clearing a spot to sit next to Honor. Charlie took a couple of shots, her breaths shortened by the sting expanding inside her rib cage.
If only these two were her people. If only she didn’t have to start over with hoping and praying for a family of her own once fostering Honor was done.
“Let’s take one with the three of us.” Ryker’s suggestion interrupted her mopefest. Charlie joined them, and Ryker held up his phone and snapped a few selfies.
Honor went back to combing through pumpkins after their impromptu photo shoot, dismissing any that had black marks or strange spots or flat areas.
“I should have offered to take one of the two of you.” Ryker winced. “I totally missed that, sorry.”
“It’s okay. We’ve taken some photos together.” Enough that Charlie wouldn’t have to wonder if the memory of Honor was real or not. She had the proof on her phone...and etched into a place on her heart that would always relish getting to love Honor. “She is serious about her pumpkin picking.” Charlie copped a seat on the trailer as they watched her, and Ryker did the same next to her.
The place was quiet tonight, maybe because it was a school night or perhaps because it was still early in the season. Most people probably didn’t pick out their pumpkins until mid-October.
“She is. What you asked me earlier—about if Honor had ever picked out a pumpkin before—the answer is, I’m not sure. Which made me angry at my sister all over again. I know she was a good mom because I witnessed it. Not perfect, by any means, but none of us are that. I know she loved Honor. Loves Honor.”
“Do you think the boyfriend had anything to do with sending her so off course?”
“I think he had everything to do with it. That’s around the time I stopped hearing from Kaia. And when her neighbor said she noticed changes, too. Kaia lost her job...it must have all been a spiral.” Ryker’s exhale held the weight of regret. “I finally talked to her dad today, and it was a good thing he answered, because I was about to lose my mind. He admitted she’s okay. Or fine. And that was it. He wouldn’t give me any more details.”
“How frustrating. I’m sorry.” Charlie picked up a yellow leaf and twirled it. “At least you know she’s alive and okay in some way, shape or form.”
“Exactly. Seems like he’s covering for her. Trying to protect her somehow. She was charged with neglect but not arrested, which I guess happens. Maybe she’s afraid of returning to Westbend? If I could talk to her, then I could figure out what’s going through her head and help her.”
“You’re a good brother, Ryker.”
He snorted. “If I was a good brother, I would’ve caught wind of her derailing earlier and stepped in to help.”
“I get that. I do. We can all play the blame game on repeat. But ultimately, Honor isn’t yours, and it wasn’t your job to raise her.”
“I know. But it still stinks.”
“It does.” While Charlie wanted to encourage Ryker, she also understood his position, because if she were in his boots, she’d likely fight the same guilt and follow the same path he had. It said a lot about him that he cared so much—about his sister and Honor.
Charlie tucked her hands into her sweater pockets as the wind kicked up a few notches. The predicted cold front was heading their way.
“Whoa.” Ryker burrowed deeper into his lined flannel. “Weather’s turning. We should probably pack up. Head back.”
“Your Texas is showing, Hayes.”
“So.” He leaned closer, the faint scent of his soap tempting her senses. “You’re telling me you’re not ready to get out of here?”
His playful smile and close proximity were torturous, sending her stomach spiraling to her toes and the temperature skyrocketing. Charlie was about to fan herself when a new gust whipped past them, turning her bones to ice.
She whooped. “I’m definitely ready. Honor, pick a pumpkin before we all turn into Popsicles!”
Ryker hopped down from the trailer, then turned and held out a hand to assist her. “I think your Colorado is broken, Brightwood.”
His fingers were somehow warm and right at home against hers. I think my heart is a little off-kilter, too.
After some encouragement, Honor chose a pumpkin. They were about to check out when she panicked.
“Aren’t you guys getting pumpkins, too?”
They hadn’t been planning on it.
“We all need to carve them together.”
“Of course we’re getting pumpkins,” Charlie filled in. “We just forgot. Silly us.”
Charlie and Ryker made quick work of grabbing pumpkins and paying, and they started the walk back home.
“Are we going to carve these tonight?” Honor asked.
“We don’t have time tonight,” Ryker answered. “But I was thinking that if you do your extra schoolwork without complaining the rest of this week, we can carve them on Sunday afternoon.”
Honor contemplated that for the next few steps. “Okay. I guess.”
Charlie and Ryker’s grins met over her head at her lackadaisical response. “We’ll work on the extra school stuff a little each day. We won’t do nearly as much as we did tonight, okay?”
“All right.” More agreement laced her tone this time.
When a blast of cold skirted around them, they all picked up the pace. At Charlie’s apartment, Ryker suggested that he and Honor check out her lines for the play.
Charlie prepped her lunch for tomorrow and packed Honor’s as the two of them sat at the breakfast bar together.
“First line is ‘I want to play in the fairy forest.’” He shot Charlie an amused look, then repeated the line, adding rhythm to the words. When he broke into a terrible rap, Honor playfully screeched and covered her ears. But in seconds she’d abandoned her dramatics and joined in.
By the time Charlie finished lunches and prepping items for dinner tomorrow night, they’d done three lines like that—silly, with rhythm, memorable.
Ryker didn’t make the experience last nearly as long as Charlie had with the extra schoolwork. Jerk.
When they finished, Charlie asked Honor to shower. She ran off without having to be told twice. Through the bathroom door, they heard her repeating her lines in the same goofy manner.
“Show-off.” Charlie tossed the cheeky comment Ryker’s way before opening the fridge and grabbing a sparkling water. “You want anything?”
“No, thanks. I’m pretty exhausted. I think I’m going to take off if that’s cool.”
“Of course. No problem.” She prayed Ryker couldn’t decipher her disappointment. For some reason she’d expected him to hang for a bit. But why would he? Ryker was here to help Honor with her lines, not act as Charlie’s companion.
So much for Addie’s flirting theory. Her friend was way off.
“Thanks for your help tonight with the lines. That was really smart. She’s going to love learning them that way, I think. And carving pumpkins as a reward was a great idea, too. I’m sure we’re going to do a lot less fighting about the extra schoolwork now.”
“Hopefully it will make it easier on both of you. You’ve already done so much for Honor. Adding another thing is a lot to ask.”
Charlie shrugged off the compliment. It came with the territory.
“Maybe for the next week’s reward, you two can come out to Sunny Farms. Or I can ask Angela for permission to take Honor for the day so we’re not monopolizing more of your time.”
“I don’t mind going.” And it wasn’t about not trusting the man. Ryker had been talking about his work in such fond terms that Charlie wouldn’t mind seeing the place. She also wouldn’t mind spending time with Ryker in his element.
She was beginning to fear that her like meter regarding Ryker was slipping into the red zone. The one covered in hearts. The last thing Charlie needed was to engage in a lopsided relationship with the man. And she couldn’t just be straightforward and ask him if he felt anything for her, because if he said no, that would make the time they spent together with Honor incredibly awkward.
So, she’d do what made the most logical sense. She’d bury anything blooming inside her and focus on what mattered.
Which was Honor. Not herself.