Big Sky Family. Charlotte Carter

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СКАЧАТЬ you have problems with Torie?” Barbara whispered.

      “No, she’s fine.”

      “What took you so long?”

      “I, uh, stopped to talk with someone I knew,” Ellie hedged.

      “Oh, that’s nice, dear.”

      Pastor Redmond, who looked to be in his fifties, stepped out onto the stage and raised his arms, asking the congregation to rise for the first hymn.

      Fumbling for the hymnal, Ellie dropped her program and the pledge form Arnie had given her. Barbara bent to pick them up.

      The organist played the first few bars of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee;” then the congregation and choir joined in.

      Barbara nudged Ellie with her elbow and handed her back the pledge form. “With a daughter to raise, I didn’t imagine you had extra money to give away. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to get involved with him again.”

      Ellie’s face flamed hot. Her jaw clenched, and she put the pledge form on the pew beside her.

      Other than being a paraplegic, there was nothing wrong with Arnie O’Brien. He was trying to support a worthwhile organization, a worthwhile cause.

      In Ellie’s view, that made him more able-bodied and worthwhile than the good-time Charlie who had impregnated her and then deserted her, leaving her to raise their child alone. She should have steered clear of Jake Radigan.

      Just as she should stay clear of Arnie now, but for a far different reason.

      Before his accident, Arnie O’Brien would never have deserted a woman or his child. That nobility, that sense of responsibility, hadn’t changed simply because he was confined to a wheelchair.

      She believed that with all of her heart.

      In contrast, Ellie had walked away from the man she’d loved. Scarcely the action of a noble woman. Rather the foolish action of a nineteen-year-old girl.

      Propelled by her anger at her mother, and maybe at her own mindless decisions, Ellie scribbled in a larger pledge amount for the Paralympics than she could strictly afford and wrote a check on the spot.

      After the church service ended, she ducked out the side door while her mother waited to speak to the minister. She hurried to retrieve Torie from her classroom and returned to find Arnie back at his table, raking in more pledges from his friends.

      “Look, Mommy. Arnie’s here!” Breaking away from Ellie, Torie beelined it across the patio to Arnie’s table. Instead of stopping in front of the table, she squeezed in behind it, next to Arnie.

      Sheila stood, backing away from her spot next to Arnie to avoid being stepped on by Torie. Arnie leaned back in his chair, equally startled by child’s sudden arrival. “Hey, squirt. What’s up?”

      “I want to ask you an im-por-tant question.”

      He glanced toward Ellie, his lips twitching with the threat of a smile. “Sure, ask away.”

      Torie’s face scrunched into its most serious expression. “If my mommy bought me a horse of my very, very own, would you come take care of it for me?”

      Ellie choked. “Victoria James! You’re not supposed to—”

      “I don’t know, squirt,” Arnie said with equal seriousness. “That would be a big job to take care of a horse.”

      “I know, and I’m too little. I get a dollar a week allowance. I could pay you that much.”

      By now those standing around Arnie’s table were fully engaged in the conversation, to Ellie’s mortification.

      “High time you earned an honest dollar, Arnie,” a man said.

      “Isn’t she cute?” a woman said. “I bet when she’s a teenager, her father will have to guard the door and lock the windows to keep the boys out.”

      Ellie had heard enough. “Come on, Torie. We have to find Grandma.”

      “But Arnie hasn’t said he’ll take care of my horse yet.”

      “You don’t have a horse, so why don’t we worry about who’s going to take care of it if and when you have one?” With an apologetic smile, she handed the pledge form and check to Arnie.

      He glanced at the form and the check, then looked up at Ellie. “Preschool teachers must earn more than I realized.”

      “No such luck, but a guilty conscience can make a person feel generous.”

      “No need for you to feel guilty.”

      That was nice of him to say, but she knew it was a lie.

      He held up the check. “Don’t you want to hold off on this in case I don’t actually finish the race?”

      “You’ll finish. I don’t doubt that for a moment.” She took Torie’s hand. “Tell Arnie goodbye, honey. Grandma’s waiting for us.”

      With her daughter in tow, Ellie hurried toward the parking lot. Having such an outgoing child had its disadvantages.

      A muscle pulsed in Arnie’s jaw as he watched Ellie and her daughter scurry away. His hands grasped the armrests of his chair, turning his knuckles white.

      He had to get a grip on his volatile emotions—a boiling mix of anger, longing and grief—whenever Ellie showed up.

      In eight long years he still hadn’t figured out how to do that.

       Chapter Four

      “Shane, we don’t throw sand at our friends.” Ellie quickly corrected the boy’s behavior Monday morning, during outdoor playtime at the preschool.

      It was the second week of classes, and she already felt more comfortable with her students, knew all their names and their differing personalities.

      They seemed more at ease with her, as well.

      On this hot September day, most of the children wore shorts and a T-shirt, their arms and legs darkly tanned from a summer in the sun.

      Squinting, Ellie scanned the play yard to check on her other students just as a van pulled into the parking area. A moment later, Arnie rode the wheelchair lift down to the ground. Sheila hopped right off and waited for him.

      Ellie’s heart stuttered an extra beat and her breathing accelerated. She wondered what had brought Arnie to the school.

      Some of the children recognized him and his dog.

      They raced to the wire fence, shouting his name. Torie was there first.

      “Arnie! Arnie! Did you bring your horses?” she cried.

      “Not today, squirt.” He reached through the fence to tweak Torie’s nose. “Hey, kids, you having a good time at school?”

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