North Country Dad. Lois Richer

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       Chapter Three

      “You must behave and not bother anyone,” Grant told the girls as he got them ready to go to Lives Under Construction.

      He felt foolish for having thought it would be easy to find a babysitter for the girls after only a few days in town. It was a mistake Eva never would have made. Now he resigned himself to the difficulty of keeping them occupied during his first session with the boys at Lives.

      At least his car had arrived on yesterday’s train so he could drive. Lives was situated just far enough out of town that walking there with two five-year-olds would be impossible.

      “We’ll behave,” Glory promised.

      “Put your crayons and coloring pads in your backpacks. You can work on those, but you can’t interrupt. Okay?”

      “Okay, Daddy.” They nodded with serious faces.

      Daddy. Why did he always feel like an imposter when they called him that? Maybe it had something to do with his most recent failures.

      Today the twins had begun kindergarten. He’d been so busy setting up his office at the high school that he’d forgotten to buy their supplies. Eva would have made sure they were prepared, maybe even had their hair trimmed. Heaven knew Grant craved shorter hair for the twins. The endless combing, snarls, braids—all of it made him feel even more of a klutz. But he couldn’t bring himself to cut those glorious curls.

      Tomorrow he’d go to the northern general store and buy everything on the list the teacher had sent home for him. She’d been understanding, but Grant hated looking so incompetent. He doubted any of the other parents had sent their kids to school without supplies.

      Then there were clothes. The twins were still wearing things they’d clearly grown out of. He should have stretched his funds, cut back more, done something in order to outfit them better, but he couldn’t help that now. They’d have to make do until a paycheck came in, though everyone in town would probably be talking about the shredded knees of their pants. Add mending to the list of things he couldn’t do.

      When they got to Lives, the twins bounded out of the car, happy and excited. They’d taken to Laurel immediately when she’d appeared yesterday with a welcome cake, but Grant wasn’t sure how Grace and Glory would react to the boys. Maybe he could get the girls to stay in the kitchen while he met with them.

      “I thought we’d all sit around the kitchen table,” Laurel told him, dashing his hopes as they walked in.

      The boys were in the midst of enjoying a snack. Silence fell when he entered with the girls. As usual, Grace and Glory won over their audience quickly, and it wasn’t long before the boys were plying the twins with food. When they were finished, Grant thought he saw regret on the boys’ faces when he situated the twins at a table in the corner to color.

      “Remember now, no interrupting,” he reminded softly.

      “We won’t, Daddy,” they chirped together.

      “I’m sorry,” he apologized to Laurel. “I don’t have a babysitter yet.”

      “They’re no problem. Now, let me introduce you properly,” Laurel said. “This is David, Marten, Arlen, Kris and Kent. They’re all new to Lives. This is Rod—he’s been here for a while.”

      “Nice to meet you,” Grant said, taking in details about each of the boys.

      David, Martin and Kent were towheaded preteens who looked nervous and scared. Grant guessed they’d been talked into committing some offense and had been sentenced to Lives with the hope that one term would be enough to straighten them out. Kris stood next to Arlen, and had adopted Arlen’s bored expression. It was an expression Grant had seen many times before. Rod was the only boy who looked perfectly comfortable.

      “I’m Grant. I hope we’ll all work well together,” he said with a smile.

      “What exactly are we working toward?” Arlen made no effort to conceal his surliness.