The Second Family. Janice Carter

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СКАЧАТЬ guess by now Walker has given you the details of the accident—hasn’t he?”

      She shook her head. “I haven’t spoken to him directly yet. I just got the letter on Thursday and yesterday…”

      Alec pursed his lips in disgust. “Yeah. The kids turned up on your doorstep. Walker could’ve handled the whole damn thing with a bit more sensitivity, but that’s not his style. Anyway, Richard and Gabriela—his wife—were killed when their car went off a mountain road outside Boulder. That was the end of March.”

      “The twenty-eighth,” Tess said.

      He nodded. “The police investigation didn’t turn up anything—you know, like drugs or alcohol—and concluded Richard had lost control of the car for some reason. Maybe to avoid an animal. It happened at night and it was snowing.”

      Tess blew an audible sigh. She wished he’d get to the point, rather than dwell on an accident scene she’d rather not envision.

      “Okay, sorry. I’m wandering. Bad habit of mine. Some trucker found the car the next morning and called the police. Apparently both kids had sleepovers that night and didn’t find out until afternoon, when police finally tracked them down. Boulder County Child Protective Services—where I work—got involved as soon as they learned there was no next of kin. Both kids went to the same foster home but that’s a temporary arrangement. I’ve done my damnedest to find a place that’ll take both of them, but so far haven’t been able to.” He hunched forward, wrapping two large hands around his half-empty mug of coffee.

      “When I first met Nick and Molly, they still had that shocked appearance most trauma victims have. Ashen-faced with haunted eyes. They were passive, almost apathetic in their grief. Clutching one another and not really speaking to anyone else for the first week. Friends of the family and some neighbors made funeral arrangements on Walker’s instructions. He’s the family lawyer.”

      An expression of such contempt crossed his face that Tess had to comment. “What is it between you and Jed Walker? On the phone yesterday you made some negative comment about him, too.”

      “It’s a long story and it’s personal so I guess I’d better stick to the facts here. Until a week ago, Walker didn’t know you even existed.” He paused, adding, “Which means, of course, that you weren’t mentioned in the will.”

      “I’d have been more than surprised if I had been.”

      His eyes fixed on hers a moment longer before he continued. “Right. So when the kids learned about you, they saw you as a lifeline. Someone to keep them together.”

      Dry-mouthed, Tess sipped the dregs of her latte and searched frantically for the response she knew he was waiting for. C’mon girl. Pretend you’re negotiating a price for an ad campaign. He’s a social worker from Colorado. How hard can it be to convince him the kids are better off where they are?

      “You have to understand—”

      “Oh, I do,” he interrupted. “For twenty-five years you’ve lived under the impression that Richard Wheaton was gone for good. In less than forty-eight hours you discover that not only has he just recently died, but he’s also left behind two children who happen to be your half brother and sister. Who also happen to be minors.”

      Tess frowned. Was he implying she was legally bound? “I don’t think there’s a law, is there? That I have to take them in?”

      Alec leaned back against his chair. Tess winced at the pitying look he flashed her.

      “No,” he said, his voice so low she had to lean forward to hear. “I doubt it. Although I think there’s definitely a moral responsibility.”

      “If they need money,” she rushed to say, “I can certainly help with that.”

      He shook his head from side to side. The pitying look shifted to one of utter despair. As if, she thought, he’d given up on her.

      “They have money, too. The estate is worth quite a lot. Another reason why they need family to supervise things, rather than some hotshot lawyer like Jed Walker.”

      “Then…”

      “They need a family, Tess. They need to feel part of something. Their whole lives have been blown apart. Molly’s only six years old.”

      Tess stiffened. “I was barely eight when my father left. I know what it feels like.”

      “But you had a mother.”

      “A mentally ill mother. I practically raised myself.”

      He blew out a mouthful of air and forked his fingers through his hair, making it stand up in thick clumps. “We’re getting off track here. The point of the matter is that unless you intervene—become their legal guardian—those two kids will be split up and could eventually lose each other completely. Molly has a good chance of being adopted, but Nick…few people are willing to take on a boy just entering his teens.”

      Exactly what Nick had said, Tess realized. Still, she couldn’t let the fact influence her. The matter had to be settled. She straightened up, ready for the negotiation. “Look,” she began. “About six months ago I was promoted to Vice President of Marketing at the company where I work. It’s a demanding job. I work basically anywhere from ten to twelve hours a day. I take work home and spend most weekends working.”

      She paused to let that register, but he didn’t look impressed. “I couldn’t physically be there for them, much less emotionally. Frankly, they’d be better off in a family context, even if an adoptive one.”

      “Family context?” He sneered. “Sounds like something out of a sociology textbook.”

      Tess felt her face heat up, but decided to play her next card. “I’d be willing to visit once or twice a year.”

      “Wonderful. That should really keep the family context concept alive and kicking.”

      “There’s no need for sarcasm. I thought we were trying to negotiate something here. To nail down a deal.”

      Alec rubbed a hand over his face and groaned. “Omigod, you really do see it that way, don’t you?”

      She had a sense of floundering in deep water. It was an unfamiliar feeling—that she might be handling the matter all wrong—and she couldn’t think of a smart comeback.

      “Doesn’t it occur to you,” he went on, “that sometimes we have to give things up for the sake of others? That we have to put on hold our own dreams so that we can help out someone else?”

      Tess drew a blank. Was he talking about her or himself? “Are you asking me—”

      “To give up some of that time. Yes! A good nanny can manage the daily routines, but take off one day a week and the weekends.”

      Blood pounded in her ears. “I can’t possibly do that,” Tess said. “My job is all I have.”

      The persuasion in his face vanished. He shook his head sadly. “God,” he said in a low voice. “I’m so very sorry for you. Your own childhood experience has obviously made it impossible for you to look at this situation another way.”

      Tess СКАЧАТЬ