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Hunter sat on the hard benches in the courtroom. He had his fingers laced with Trista’s as they waited for their case to be called by the Judge. He was worried, despite Eryn’s telling them nothing was expected to change today. She had also warned about surprises that could happen in such cases. How he had come to this place in such a brief time, still surprised him.
He had gone from a hardened bachelor, to a boyfriend, and temporary dad, within a couple of weeks. He tried to think about all the reasons he wished things would go back to the previous status quo. Nothing came to mind. There was simply nothing he could come up with, making him want to change things back. Trista was a dream. They could talk about anything and had fun even if they were sitting sipping Kool-Aid on the back porch. That had happened at Daisy’s request this past weekend.
Daisy made things so much better as well. He had someone who needed him, and having her around gave him a purpose, not even his job could eclipse. She was challenging, fun, spontaneous, and made him want her to stay with him. She had grown so much with the entire tribe of Living River Ranch and Little Bend wrapping her in their embrace. The little girl he had dropped at school this morning was nothing like the scared urchin he found in that cage just a short time ago. Glancing at his watch, he realized just how early they were, as the door opened behind them.
In walked Belle with a smile. She met his eyes. He nudged Trista and indicated she should turn to the back of the courtroom.
“Hi,” Trista said as they all scooted down a bit.
“Keep going,” Belle said when Hunter stopped.
He turned a quizzical look in her direction, just as Jake came up behind her and wrapped an arm around his wife. “We thought you could use some support.”
“Hey, it could simply be a short update,” Hunter said.
“We are here for one minute or sixty,” Stormi said, coming alongside Belle.
“Definitely,” said Annalise, Maxwell, and Naomi, followed by Amy and Ray.
Hunter felt himself tearing up as he reached the end of the aisle, and everyone filled in the gap on the bench. He caught Trista’s eyes. “She is one lucky girl,” he whispered.
“Agreed,” Trista added, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
The court was called to order then, as Eryn scuttled in from the back. She looked at Hunter with the oddest look in her eyes. An older lady followed her, and they moved to a table in front of the Judge. Eryn looked back at them and nodded with tears glistening in her eyes. Hunter tightened his grip on Trista.
After a lot of courtroom etiquette, their case was called. When the Judge asked for an update from the CPS and the CASA worker, the ladies rose in unison. “Your honor, we had an unexpected development last night,” Eryn said.
“I’ve read the case file, is your information not in here?”
“No, your honor,” a lawyer in a dark navy suit stood up. “I was made aware that the birth mother wished to give up her rights to the minor child Daisy Helen Miller. We did try to dissuade her, but apparently,” the lawyer cleared his throat. “She got a record deal in Nashville and didn’t have time to stay here and take care of Daisy,” he finished.
“Has she started any services or done anything to date?” The Judge asked.
“No,” Eryn said. “We are still doing a family search and need a bit more time.”
“Well, let’s continue the case for sixty days and review again,” the Judge finished.
Eryn and the lawyer nodded.
Hunter glanced down at Trista and the group. He couldn’t breathe as Eryn walked to their location.
“What does that mean?”
“We have to finish the family search,” she said cautiously. “Give mom sixty days to ensure she doesn’t change her mind. But it appears that Daisy is going to be freed up for adoption if we continue with the current information.”
Hunter exhaled, “Wow! I didn’t see that as a possibility.”
Trista reached forward, “we still shouldn’t tell her, though.”
“Definitely not. We continue forward, but,” Eryn finally smiled. “My boss told me that this is a huge exception and not to expect these kinds of outcomes.”
“We will continue praying,” Belle said, leaning over to squeeze Hunter and Trista’s conjoined hands.
“This was a good day,” Eryn replied.
The entire aisle stood and filed out. Everyone was so quiet until they got to the hallway. “Oh, my goodness! This is such good news,” Annalise said, embracing Trista and Hunter. Pretty soon, everyone joined in, and an enormous group hug ensued.
Hunter was certain this was the moment he would remember the rest of his life. There was before, and now there was again, the real possibility of his gaining a family on the horizon. Life was awesome, and all the damage that had been done by parents tearing Daisy down, he had a lifetime to mend. Prayers he would continue to offer, as hope settled on this amazing extended family of his, and they celebrated this victory together.
He glanced down into Trista’s face and bent until he was a hair’s breadth away from her lips. “I don’t think you are going to be rid of us anytime soon.”
“I’m okay with that,” she said, stepping up on tiptoe to seal their newfound happiness with a kiss.
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Book 12: A Time To Be Silent and A Time To Speak
Chapter 1 Preview
Eryn was plum worn out by the time she got the three kids in her care today, in session with the therapists they were here to see. The 60-mile drive had taken nearly two hours because of an accident, and the children were all new to care, so they were shell-shocked and have meltdowns for a good portion of the drive. She finally inhaled and took a seat, glancing about. She recognized Jake right away and moved a place further down, so she was just across from him.
“Hey,” she said, catching him off guard as he brought his head out of the magazine he was reading. “What brings you here?”
“I brought Hannah to see a speech therapist. She is the child of two of Living Ranch’s workers, and they couldn’t get away today. Luckily, she will be old enough for school next year, and they shouldn’t have to drive so far,” he said.
“Yeah, since they got rid of the services in Little Bend, it has been rough. I simply do not understand this privatizing of services that the children need. We have to make a petition for three-hour blocks at a time now, and bundle appointments to make the long drive here to Crawford,” she sighed. “Even the school therapists I have been talking with are complaining as there are only two in Little Bend, and they are overtaxed.”
“I don’t sometimes think they take into consideration the number of kids, and others that require these services. If they don’t get them early on, it can change the trajectory of their entire lifetime,” Jake exhaled with a slight shake of his head.
“I was actually contracted to build a bigger building here for the Simons Corporation that runs these clinics,” another voice cut in down the way from Eryn.
She turned to see who it was and set eyes on Ethan Zimmers. He was friends with Hunter and Ray, whom she had hung out with a couple of times now that Treena and Hunter had Daisy full-time. He was a widower, and his sweet daughter Rainey was about Daisy’s age. Eryn knew that he lost his wife in a horrific fire that had started with a freak lightning strike in their front yard. His wife had died saving Rainey, but the little girl still had scars and other serious injuries. Just thinking about it made Eryn rub her arms, remembering her own past.
“I wish they would consider a facility closer to Little Bend, when I get kids from further South it is really rough drive to get them here. I just don’t understand profit over kids' well-being,” she sighed.
“You work in the system; is there anyone you can talk with?” Jake directed to her.
She shook her head, “I tried a few months back, and was threatened about how keeping my job meant sometimes playing politics. I can’t afford to lose my job,” she said, sitting back. “So, I keep my mouth shut and volunteer to be the one that brings as many as I can here.”
Jake looked pensive for a moment, “maybe we should get a little gathering together out at Living River to discuss options. Margaret and the board have a lot of pull in a variety of areas currently if you can pull some numbers together it might be worth talking about any options.”
“I have numbers regarding kids needing services and what is available. I even have a physical and speech therapist we could call upon to give you all some facts,” Eryn said excitedly for the first time that morning.
“I would love to join in. Not sure what I can do to help but Living River has helped Rainey so much I would love to see if there is anything we can do. Ensuring better, more readily available resources to the kids is good for everyone long and short-term, in my opinion,” Ethan interjected.
“Okay,” Jake said, picking up his phone. He appeared to text someone for a few moments. “Maybe, Wednesday at 7 p.m. out in the therapy building at Living River? Spread the word if there is anyone who might be interested. I will also talk with Stormi, Ben, Katherina, and a few others who might have some ideas.”
“Thanks, Jake,” Eryn said with a huge grin. She wasn’t one that liked to rock the boat but sitting on the sidelines hadn’t warranted any results either. Maybe it was time to pipe up and lend a voice to a cause close to her heart.
As the clinician came to the door and called her name, she grabbed her bags to go.
“I’ll see you both Wednesdays,” she said with a slight wave. She turned one last time toward Ethan. His gaze caught hers, and she felt warm. It was such the wrong reaction in this situation, but something about the man had beckoned to her, each time they met.
As she walked toward the back of the clinic, her shoulders sagged. Unfortunately, a man in life was not a possibility. While she had long come to terms with her own scars, that helped propel her forward to helping other children, they did hold her personal life in check. She had not even worn short sleeves in a decade, much less put herself in a situation that could lead to being seen undressed. There were simply some things that no amount of time or therapy could fix. For everything else, she would fight to get the proper services to help others overcome and live the fullest life possible.
With that final internal pep talk, she put on a smile and went to greet the foster children in her care today.
