15
There are no secrets in Last Chance. Chris had heard the words almost from the day he arrived, but he was still astounded at how many people who came into the Dip ’n’ Dine already knew that Olivia would be staying. It had barely been three days, for crying out loud. Even Sarah had swept into the diner and carried Olivia off to the ranch for the afternoon. She seemed to think that an afternoon on horseback could help any situation, and from the way Olivia’s face had lit up, so did she.
“Well, have you heard anything more from you-know-who?” Juanita, who prided herself on discretion, kept her voice low.
Chris glanced around the dining room. Juanita’s whispers had a way of permeating every corner of any room she was in, but this time all the diners seemed intent on their own conversations.
He had intended to deliver just the barest of facts—that Kaitlyn was going to be delayed and that Olivia would be starting school in Last Chance—but he hadn’t reckoned on Juanita’s ability to get to the bottom of things, another trait she prided herself in, and before he knew it, she had the whole story.
“She’s talked to Olivia a time or two, but not to me.” Chris tried to keep moving so he wouldn’t have to talk about it, but when Juanita just raised her voice so he could hear her, he stopped to let her catch up.
“Chris, you know I’m the last person to go around butting into other people’s business, but have you thought about taking legal steps?” This time she caught him by the sleeve and hauled him into the kitchen. And if she had actually lowered her voice, they might even have found some privacy there. “I know she’s your sister and all, but my goodness, Chris, our dog’s a better mother, and we had to lock her in the shed with those pups to make her feed them.”
Chris just glared down at Juanita. He was getting accustomed to Juanita’s proprietary attitude toward any information she might come across, but she had stepped over the line here. Big time. He tried to push past her without answering.
“Now, you just get off your high horse, mister.” Juanita blocked his way. “I’m sorry if I stepped on anyone’s toes, but you know as well as I do that if someone doesn’t take hold real quick, that child is headed for a world of trouble. She’s half wild right now, and it’s only going to get worse the older she gets.”
“Excuse me. I need to get by.” Chris was head and shoulders taller than Juanita and his voice was like granite, but Juanita, not a bit intimidated, stood her ground. Faced with either shoving her aside or talking to her, Chris gave up.
“No, I’m not going to take legal steps, at least not for the time being. Olivia doesn’t need more upheaval in her life right now.”
“And if her mother turned up tomorrow and wanted to take her, you’d just hand her over?”
“She’s her mother.”
“Good night, nurse, Chris! If that’s not upheaval, I don’t know what is. You need to get legal custody of that child and see that she’s raised right. And you need to do it right now.”
Chris smiled a half smile. “And you think a bachelor uncle is the one to raise her right?”
“Well, if you were still in the city, I’d probably have to say no. But it’s different here in Last Chance. You’ll have all the help you need.”
“I’m sure you’re right about that.” Olivia had only been with him about two weeks, and he’d already had way more help than he could appreciate, most of it in the way of advice offered by the woman standing in front of him. “But I still think the best thing for Olivia would be to be with her mom, and for her mom to be the one to raise her right.”
“And I think it would be a good thing if the sky rained chocolate kisses. But I don’t think I can count on it.”
Chris looked past Juanita to the dining room. He really did not want to talk about this anymore. “We’ve got a room full of people to take care of, Juanita. We need to put this aside for now.”
Juanita gave him a look that said that he wasn’t fooling her one bit and that she had every intention of returning to the subject.
“Wait, Juanita. There is something you could help me with.” Juanita had just turned away when Chris stopped her. “School’s starting pretty soon and I’ll need someone to watch Olivia after school. Do you have any ideas?”
“Let me think on that. I’m sure I can come up with someone.” She headed out the kitchen door and almost immediately stuck her head back in. “I think I know just the one. Sue Anderson. She has a little girl about Olivia’s age and that child is just the sweetest, politest, most helpful child you’ll ever hope to meet. Just between you and me, I think she might be just the influence Olivia needs. I’ll give her a call for you.”
“No, there’s no need for that. I’ll call her later.”
“Don’t be silly, Chris. She doesn’t know you from Adam, except that you bought the Dip ’n’ Dine from Fayette. And it’s not like she’s advertising for children to take in after school. Let me call her first.”
She was already reaching for the phone, and Chris gave up and let her call. Any other place and he would ask around, get references, and interview people. But this was Last Chance. Apparently things were done differently here.
“They’re on their way to the dentist in San Ramon right now, but Sue said they’d stop by on their way home.” Juanita hung up the phone and turned around. “Do you think Olivia will be back by then? She wants to meet her before she makes up her mind.”
“Did you tell her I was offering her the job?” This whole thing was moving a little fast for Chris. After all, he was the one hiring.
“It’s not like you have a whole lot of options, Chris. And truthfully, if results are anything to go by, you can’t do better than Sue Anderson. Wait till you meet Emma. You’ll just love her.”
Chris wasn’t sure he could say he loved Emma when she and her mother stopped by on the way home from the dentist, but he certainly had to admit her manners were flawless. And she was very clean to boot.
“Well, look who’s here!” Juanita met them at the door. “Chris, come meet the Andersons.”
Chris stepped in from the kitchen and shook Sue Anderson’s hand.
She stepped back so she could look at him without craning her neck and smiled, while placing protective hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “So nice to meet you. This is my daughter, Emma. This is Mr. Reed, Emma.”
“How do you do, Mr. Reed?” Emma extended her own hand.
“Hi, Emma.” Chris took her hand and bent down to smile at her. “But you can call me Chris. I don’t think anyone has ever called me Mr. Reed.”
“Mr. Reed has a niece about your age, Emma.” Sue Anderson’s message was clear. There would be no first-naming. She turned to Chris. “Is she here? We’d love to meet her.”
“We’re expecting her any minute. She’s been out at the Cooley ranch with Sarah.” Juanita led them to a table. “Meanwhile, why don’t I bring you a dish of ice cream and a soda? It is hot out there today.”
“No, thank you.” Emma slid into the booth and folded her hands.
“No ice cream?” Juanita stopped on her way back to the kitchen. “Would you rather have pie?”
“We don’t eat a lot of sugar.” Sue slipped her sunglasses into her purse. “And it’s getting toward dinner anyway. Do you suppose we could just have a glass of ice water? It is hot out there.”
“What about a diet soda then? It’s sugar free.” Juanita wasn’t going to give up.
Sue wrinkled her nose. “But there are way too many chemicals. Really, water is fine.”
“Okay, water it is.” Juanita placed two glasses on the table. “How about some fruit? Carlos has been using watermelon slices to garnish today. I could bring you some of those.”
“No, thank you. We don’t want to spoil our appetite, do we Emma?” Sue took a sip of her water and glanced at her watch. “Do you think Olivia will be along soon? We really should be getting home.”
On cue, Sarah’s car turned off the highway into the parking lot. Sarah stopped her car and waved through the windshield as Olivia got out and ran into the Dip ’n’ Dine.
“Sarah said to say hi, but she couldn’t come in.” Olivia didn’t acknowledge the Andersons in the booth by the window as she climbed onto a stool at the counter. “Can I have some lemonade? I’m about to croak, it’s so hot.”
The contrast between Emma in her white sandals and crisp sundress and Olivia in dusty jeans and the lopsided ponytail she insisted on putting up herself couldn’t have been greater. Chris felt a surge of protective love well up for his motherless waif as Olivia’s gaze found Emma’s and the two girls sized each other up.
“Olivia, come over here. There are some people I want you to meet. This is Mrs. Anderson and her daughter Emma. I think Emma’s going to be in your class when school starts.” Chris lifted Olivia off her stool and led her across the room. From Sue’s expression, he thought he’d better hold off a while before mentioning the after-school arrangement.
Olivia yanked her hand from his and sauntered alongside him. Sue was smiling expectantly, but Olivia ignored her. “I’m going to be in Sarah’s class,” she said to Emma. “She takes me to ride her horses all the time. Whose class are you going to be in?”
Sue’s smile had faded, but when she took charge of the conversation it was back, even if it did look a bit pasted on. “Hello, Olivia.” She reached for Olivia’s hand and shook it. “Emma’s going to be in Miss Cooley’s class too, so I imagine you’ll be friends.”
“And you’re going to get to go over to her house every day after school. Won’t that be fun?” Juanita wasn’t about to let the fact that this was all her idea go unacknowledged.
Olivia’s head whipped around and she glared at her uncle. “That’s what you think.”
Both he and Sue jumped to amend Juanita’s statement.
“We’re just talking about it,” Chris said.
“We just stopped by to meet you since you’re going to be in Emma’s class,” Sue said, opening her purse and fishing out her sunglasses. “You’ll have to come over and play sometime.”
Olivia, still staring at Chris in undisguised outrage, did not even look at Sue, much less answer her. Emma, who hadn’t said anything anyway, followed her mother out the door.
Juanita watched them go. “That went well. I have absolutely no idea who we can get to watch Olivia after school now.” She grabbed up the two nearly untouched glasses of ice water and took them back to the kitchen.
“I’m not going over to her house after school every day.” Olivia found her voice.
“No, it doesn’t look like you are. But we do have to think of something. You can’t spend all your time in here.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s not good for you, that’s why. You need to spend time playing outside, or just doing things kids do.”
“I don’t want to play with kids. I hate them and they hate me. I just want to stay in here with you.”
Chris propped himself on a stool and lifted Olivia onto the stool next to him. “Kiddo, we’ve got to get that worked out. And it’s not going to happen with you just hanging out with me all the time. I’ll bet if you let them get to know you better, the kids would like you just fine. And you might even like them.”
“Yeah, right.” Olivia slid off the stool. “I’m going to go hunt for lizards.”
“Stay where I can see you.”
Olivia gave him another withering look as she threw her weight against the heavy front door.
Chris stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned his elbows on the counter. Kids should come with an operating manual. No two ways about it.
“Chris, I’ve been thinking, and so far I haven’t come up with anyone who Olivia could stay with after school.” Juanita was back. “You can see what I mean about Sue being just the one to help polish some of those rough edges Olivia has, but I think that bridge has burned to the ground.”
She waited for Chris to say something, but he went right on watching Olivia through the front window. “You can’t think Olivia made a good impression this afternoon.”
Chris’s laugh sounded more like a bark. “No, I can’t say that.”
“Well, for pity’s sake, why didn’t you do something? You heard how Sue did it. Never once did she say, ‘Now, Emma, you need to do it this way,’ but Emma got the message anyway.” Juanita was clearly exasperated with him, and truth be told, he was exasperated with himself, though not for the same reasons.
He stood up and put his hand on her shoulder. “I thank you, I really do, for trying to help me. It doesn’t take a genius to see that I am in way, way over my head. But I’m doing the best I can.”
He gave another glance at Olivia, who was wandering around the vacant lot next to his parking lot hitting at bushes with a stick she had found. He had no idea what he was doing, but he was going to have to figure it out.
Sarah sat on her front porch and pulled off her boots before padding inside in her stocking feet. She had actually planned to go inside the diner and brag a bit on what a horsewoman Olivia was becoming. And since she didn’t think it would be a good idea to single out one student for so much out-of-class attention once school started, she had found another place Chris could take Olivia for riding lessons. She needed to talk to him about that too.
But seeing Sue and Emma Anderson sitting in the window of the Dip ’n’ Dine when she drove up had changed her mind. She wasn’t exactly avoiding Sue Anderson. Sue was a parent, after all, and deserved the time and attention of her child’s teacher. But Sue had already taken the time to express her misgivings at Emma having a first-year teacher. Oh, she was nice enough about it, but if she had pointed the first two fingers of her right hand at her own eyes, then at Sarah’s, her message couldn’t have been clearer. I’m watching.
She checked her phone again for messages—no voice mail, no text. Understandable, she supposed, since it was his first week at the new job. But Brandon had texted her whenever he stopped for gas on his trip east, and he had called her nightly. At first she had been apprehensive when her phone signaled another communiqué from him, but all the messages had been breezy and the phone conversations light and friendly. “DFILY” had not made another appearance, and she found she actually looked forward to hearing from him.
When the phone did ring a few minutes later, she snatched it from the table where she had left it. But it was only Gran.
“Hi, darlin’. I just saw you drive by. How did it go this afternoon?”
Sarah settled into her chair. She had no doubt that Gran had a reason for calling, and she had just as little doubt that Gran would get around to it in her own sweet time. Finally, after discussions about the welfare of folks at the ranch, Olivia’s equestrian progress, and Sarah’s readiness for school to start, she did.
“At church last Sunday I invited Chris and Olivia over for a light supper tonight. Why don’t you come join us?”
Sarah took a deep breath, but before she could say a word, Elizabeth jumped back in. “I know, I know. You think I’m matchmaking, but I’m not. I know how things stand with you and Brandon. I just want a little party, that’s all. And it’s only dinner.”
“Sure. Why not? What time should I come?” Sarah had answered before she realized it and surprised herself.
She was not the only one surprised. A long silence followed. “Well. How does 7:00 sound? It’s a little late, I know, but that’s about as early as they can get here.”
“Okay, see you then. Can I bring anything?”
“Just your own sweet self.” Pleasure had replaced the surprise in Elizabeth’s voice. Sarah smiled as she headed off to the shower. It didn’t take much to please her grandmother. Just do whatever she said.
Two things occurred to Sarah as she sat down to dinner across the table from Chris and right next to Olivia. One, Gran had absolutely no concept of a light supper, and two, if Gran had read even one of the missives put out by nutritionists in the last thirty years, she had immediately dismissed it as nonsense. The table held fried chicken, mashed potatoes with cream gravy, green beans long-simmered with bacon, and piles of fluffy white biscuits with homemade plum jam. A cake, plenty tall enough for three layers and covered with white frosting and coconut, waited on the sideboard.
“This tastes so much better than the stuff you fix.” Olivia, with one elbow firmly planted on the table, waved her drumstick at her uncle. “Why don’t you cook this?”
Chris tried to catch her eye while making subtle signs with his own elbow. If Olivia saw it, she ignored it.
“I’m just so happy you like it.” Elizabeth smiled. “Here, let me pass those biscuits to you so you don’t have to reach.”
“I see you met Emma this afternoon.” Sarah moved the mashed potatoes a little closer to Olivia. If Gran could ignore the manners of a guest, so could she. “She’s going to be in our class too.”
“She told me.” Olivia turned her attention to her plate, clearly disinterested in the direction the conversation was headed.
Sarah raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Chris, who shrugged. “I’ve been considering after-school options for Livvy, and Juanita thought Sue Anderson might . . .” His voice trailed away.
“I’m not going there after school. And you can’t make me.” Olivia put down her fork and glowered at her uncle.
Sarah shot a look at her grandmother, expecting crashes of thunder, flashes of lightning, and the earth to open up. No one talked back in Gran’s house. It had never happened. But Gran acted as if she didn’t even notice.
“No, I can see how that might not be the best plan. But what about here?” She looked at Chris. “Why doesn’t Olivia come here after school and spend the afternoon with me? You can pick her up on the way home after you close up.”
Neither Sarah nor Chris said a word, but Olivia brightened. “That would be cool. You said I couldn’t hang around the restaurant all the time. I can come here.”
Finally Chris found his voice. “I don’t know, Miss Elizabeth. She’s such a handful.”
“That’s right, Gran.” Sarah chimed in. “This would be a huge undertaking. Don’t you need some time to think this through?”
“Oh, shoot, you two. You’re just trying to figure out a way to remind me how old I am. Well, you don’t think I know how old I am? And I say Olivia and I will get along just fine.” She turned to the little girl who was following the conversation like a spectator at a tennis match. “Won’t we, Olivia?”
Olivia nodded and her face split in a grin, but Chris still looked as if he had his doubts.
“Tell you what, Chris.” Elizabeth got up to pour more iced tea. “Let’s give it a month. You can keep looking if you want, and then if Olivia isn’t happy or it does turn out to be more than I can handle, well, we can just reconsider the whole thing. What do you say?”
Chris looked from Elizabeth to Olivia, who was nodding like a dashboard cocker spaniel. “Well, I guess I say, let’s give it a try.”