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

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СКАЧАТЬ roundish, the woman had salt-and-pepper hair, with a heavier emphasis on the salt. When she saw Anna, she smiled and a pair of dimples swallowed her cheeks. “Hello, you must be Ms. Chapel. Come in, dear.”

      Once Anna was inside, the woman introduced herself. “I’m Betty Taylor.”

      The fact that Anna had a mere second ago thought that the woman resembled Sheriff Andy Taylor’s aunt on the Andy Griffith show made her smile.

      “Liam wanted to be here, but he had a last-minute emergency with some local account and had to go. He wasn’t very happy he couldn’t be here to meet you himself.”

      Anna almost laughed at one of the biggest understatements she’d ever heard. She was positive that Liam had wanted to be here to monitor her meeting with Colm.

      “He said you’d be coming and that you’d be wanting to meet our Colm,” the woman continued. “This way, dear.”

      She showed Anna into the living room where there was a man who looked remarkably like Liam Franklin. More than remarkably like him—he looked exactly like Liam. They were twins. Somewhere around five-ten. Dark-brown hair and very blue eyes that were so much more open—happier—than Liam’s had seemed. Where Liam peered at her distrustfully, this man smiled as he got up from his Lego and hurried over to her. “Hi, I’m Colm.”

      “And I’m Anna.”

      He hugged her and said, “Hi, Anna. You wanna play Legos?”

      “Why don’t I let you two talk,” Mrs. Taylor said and left them alone.

      “Aunt Betty is makin’ cookies for us. She said we feed company. Aunt Betty likes to feed people. She really likes feedin’ company, but we don’t have much of that since Mommy and Daddy went to heaven. Liam, he’s too busy for company.”

      As if that was all the introduction and information Anna needed, Liam returned to his building bricks. When she didn’t immediately follow, he waved his hand in her direction impatiently. “Come on.”

      Anna sat down next to him on the floor and surveyed the pile of blocks. “So what are we playing?”

      “I’m building a magic school like they got on the Wizards show I like. It’s on Disney, and Liam likes Disney ’cause there ain’t no bad words, so I get to watch it lots. I need the blue bricks.”

      For the next hour Anna sat on the floor digging through a huge pile of Lego for the blue bricks, and handing them to Colm as she asked him questions about his likes and dislikes, how he filled his days.

      She wasn’t sure what Liam had expected, but she always assessed her clients in as gentle a manner as possible. At thirty, Colm had long since passed the school system and his family had never enrolled him in any other community program or activities. “…and then I eat lunch. Sometimes, Liam’s here and works, but sometimes he works someplace not here and it’s me and Aunt Betty.” He dropped his voice to a very loud stage whisper and said, “She’s not really my aunt, but I love her, so she sorta is, and it’s okay to call her aunt, Liam says. Liam says our family is sorta small, so addin’ an aunt is good.”

      “Liam says.” It was the phrase that had punctuated their hour-long conversation.

      “Liam says bedtime’s at nine.”

      “Liam says vegetables before dessert.”

      “Liam says don’t answer the door.”

      Liam said a lot of things. And the things he said seemed to illustrate a deep sense of caring and commitment for his brother. As bristly as he’d been with Anna, she suspected that he had an entirely different demeanor here with Colm.

      It was easy to see that he strived to give Colm a stable, loving home. But Anna suspected Colm could do more than what his brother thought.

      “Aunt Betty came to help after Mommy and Daddy went to the angels.” For a moment, Colm stopped building and looked at her with the first trace of sadness she’d seen in him. “I miss ’em.”

      “My father is with the angels, too,” Anna told him. She’d only been sixteen when her father passed away. “I miss him, but it’s nice to think he’s watching over me.”

      “Yeah, Liam says Mommy was always watchin’ me, so why would her being with angels stop her? He says that she’s probably makin’ the angels come watch me, too. She really loved me.”

      Anna chased away the memories of losing her father. She’d long since come to terms with it, and though she missed him, she remembered the good times more than the pain. “I bet she did, Colm.”

      “Liam says you’re gonna help find me a babysitter for when Aunt Betty can’t come. She don’t like spendin’ too many nights away from Mr. Taylor, ’cause he gets lonely.”

      “Is that what you want, Colm?” Anna asked. “Someone to come stay with you?”

      Colm seemed confused by her question. “That’s what Liam says. A babysitter for me is what we need.”

      “Yes, it is. But what do you want?”

      Colm stood up and started to leave the room. “I wanna get some of those cookies and milk. You want some?”

      “Sure.”

      He took her into the kitchen and said, “Aunt Betty, we want some cookies and milk, please.”

      “You two have a seat and I’ll get them—”

      Anna needed to get a feel for what Colm could do, so she said, “Actually, Mrs. Taylor. I was hoping you’d come sit with me for a minute. Maybe Colm would get us both some cookies and milk?”

      Colm frowned. “I don’t pour milk, ’cause I make a mess.”

      “Tell you what, you pour the milk and if you make a mess, I’ll help you clean it up,” Anna promised.

      Colm looked to Mrs. Taylor. She nodded and motioned Anna to join her at the table.

      Both women watched Colm go to the cabinet and take one glass out, walk it to the island, then go back for another….

      “Mrs. Taylor, I’m sure Mr. Franklin told you why I was here.”

      Her eyes never leaving Colm, Mrs. Taylor said, “Yes. I love Colm with all my heart, but I can’t be with him as much as Liam needs me to be. Daytimes are fine, since Mr. Taylor has his club, but he likes me home at night, and to be honest, I’m old enough that I need to be home at night. I like going to sleep in my own bed, in my own house.”

      “I understand, Mrs. Taylor. I need to ask you honestly, do you think Colm is living up to his full potential?”

      “Until this very moment, I wouldn’t have even asked myself that.”

      Colm had all three glasses lined up in perfect order on the counter. He got out the half-gallon container of milk, left the refrigerator door open and slowly removed the cap from the carton.

      “Colm, you should probably shut the door to the fridge,” Anna said, then looked back to Mrs. Taylor who was still СКАЧАТЬ