A One-of-a-Kind Family. Holly Jacobs

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СКАЧАТЬ gestured toward a chair and then, rather than going behind her desk, she took the chair next to it. “I’ve got the papers you sent over, and everything looks like it’s in order.”

      “Great. So you’ve got a babysitter for us, or can get one?” he asked, somewhat anxiously.

      Her smile faded and she shook her head. “Yes. But while Sunrise will be able to help you find respite care, we offer so much more. I’d like to schedule a meeting with your brother as soon as possible. His file is very light. We could do a few tests and—”

      The urge to spring to his feet and leave was almost overwhelming. Liam resisted. He clutched the arm of the chair and forced himself to speak softly and slowly. “Listen, Ms. Chapel, I didn’t come to you in order to have my brother assessed in any way. He went through all that years ago. Well, Colm is special and he’s not something you can label and chart. He’s not an IQ number or any other sort of definition you want to assign him. He’s a person. A totally unique person. So I don’t want your tests. And I really don’t want him to be some name on a file. All I need is someone able to deal with his particular needs when I have to travel. I was told that your foundation could see to that.”

      “We can help you with that,” she assured him. “But we offer so much more. We can help your brother—”

      “Colm. His name is Colm. Not ‘the patient’ or ‘the client.’ He’s far more than either of those things.”

      “Mr. Franklin, the last thing I want to do is make you feel that your brother would be or is simply a client or file for me. My job is to help Colm be as self-sufficient as he can. Sunrise Foundation’s purpose is what our mission statement says—we help exceptional people lead exceptional lives. We provide advice and assistance with every aspect of housing, employment, medical care, education—”

      “Colm has me,” Liam assured her. Even before his parents died, he’d always known Colm was ultimately his responsibility. And he was willing to do whatever he had to in order to keep his brother happy and content. “I’m all he needs. And all I need is some help—”

      “I’m not trying to railroad you into anything. I simply want to meet your brother and see what, if anything, we can offer him in order to make his life better. And that’s what you want, right? To see Colm live his life to its full potential?”

      Okay, so what could he say to that? What he wanted to say was back off and leave them alone. They were doing fine.

      What he wanted to do was tear up the papers he’d signed for Sunrise and take the manila folder that had Colm’s name on the tab away from this curly-haired, smiling woman.

      They were fine.

      Granted, he’d never planned on assuming total responsibility for his brother so soon. He could still remember the day. His parents had gone to a show in Buffalo and he’d been staying with Colm. At some point, Liam had drifted off. He’d awakened disoriented when there was a knock on the door and he’d opened it to find a policeman with a sober expression standing on the porch.

      “Mr. Franklin?” It took Liam a moment to realize that Ms. Chapel was saying his name, not the cop from the past.

      He shut out the sad memory. “Fine. You can meet him, but tread lightly. I don’t want him upset. Since we lost my parents two years ago, I’ve worked hard to see to it he’s got a sense of stability and normalcy.”

      “Mr. Franklin, honestly, I’m a life coach. My only goal is to help your brother, not upset him.” She stood and extended her hand. “I’ll see you at your place tomorrow at nine, if that works for you.”

      He didn’t want to shake her hand. It felt as if he’d be agreeing to let her into their lives, even after tomorrow. But she stood there, hand extended a fraction of a second longer than he’d probably have waited, and he found himself taking it anyway.

      “I’m only agreeing to let you arrange for a babysitter, and to meet him tomorrow,” he warned her. “It’s only a meeting.”

      She nodded, her curly hair boinging every which way. “Let’s start with tomorrow and take it from there.”

      She escorted him to the front door and waved as he left. Just the motion of her hand was enough to set her shoulder-length curls bouncing.

      Liam left the office not sure what had happened.

      He’d simply wanted to arrange a babysitter.

      And he was leaving with Anna Chapel coming to the house tomorrow.

      No. That meeting hadn’t gone the way he’d expected.

       CHAPTER TWO

      THE NEXT DAY, Anna arrived at the Franklin house promptly at nine. She was as prepared as she could possibly be. She’d read Colm’s thin file. He’d been oxygen deprived at birth. The medical term was hypoxia, but medical definitions weren’t her concern.

      He’d been labeled slow by one doctor, intellectually disabled by another. The last assessment had placed his cognitive age at eight. She put all those previous reports aside. She didn’t care how he’d been tested and labeled. She only cared about how she could use that knowledge to help Colm live his life to the fullest.

      His brother, Liam, had certainly been on the defensive yesterday. Anna knew some people might find it off-putting, but she found the way he defended his brother attractive. Unfortunately, it was just one of many qualities she found attractive about Liam Franklin. But since he was Colm’s guardian…No, she couldn’t think of him as attractive in any way.

      She took a long, deep breath to clear the image of Liam from her thoughts and instead, concentrated on the weather.

      It was one of those balmy, mid-April days that made it easy to believe another winter was officially over.

      The minute she saw the Franklins’ white two-story house surrounded by a blaze of red tulips, she was struck by a case of porch envy.

      Some people dreamed about picket fences or tons of acreage or living in the right fashionable neighborhood.

      Anna dreamed about porches.

      Porches like this one.

      It extended at least eight feet away from the house, and wasn’t simply a front porch, it was a wrap-around one as far as Anna could see from the sidewalk.

      Of course, the porch was a bit barren-looking. Only two old folding lawn chairs sat on it, and the paint had long since started fading and peeling. But with a little elbow grease…

      Someday.

      Someday she’d move out of her apartment and buy her own house with a huge front porch. Then she’d paint it some merry color—maybe green—and furnish it with big white wicker furniture that had overstuffed cushions. In the mornings she’d sit on the porch, have a cup of coffee and read her paper before going into work. Then in the evenings, she’d come home, and after dinner, she’d be on her porch watching the day turn to dusk and maybe smiling at neighbors who strolled by.

      Anna sighed. It was a lovely fantasy.

      But right now, she didn’t have time for fantasy. She had a job to do.

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