Family Wanted. Renee Andrews

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       Chapter One

       Dear Titus, hurting you was the last thing I ever intended to do.

      Isabella Gray drove beneath the wooded canopy leading to the future home of Willow’s Haven, trepidation shimmying down her spine. An orphanage. The man she’d promised to see had to be building an orphanage. Oh, they might call it something different, a “child home,” but Isabella wasn’t fooled by the tender name.

      She pushed aside memories of the past—dark rooms and muffled cries, a hungry stomach and filthy sheets—and focused on what she planned to do. She’d talk to Titus Jameson. Once that was done, she’d never set foot near another orphanage—or child home—again. Then she’d leave Claremont, Alabama, and go...

      Isabella had no idea where to go. Certainly not back to Atlanta. But after she talked to this man, she’d start her new life. New location. She’d dreamed about living in a small town, a place where everyone knew everyone’s name and cared about each other. She’d read about those tiny towns, but Richard hadn’t thought them worthy of a visit. Throughout their ten years of marriage, Isabella asked repeatedly if they could take a trip to one, but Richard never understood her desire or the point. What would his colleagues think if he vacationed in some Podunk hole-in-the-wall town? He had an image to maintain, and he wouldn’t taint it trying to satisfy her whimsical idealization of small-town America.

      But now that he had a new wife to help him preserve his image, Isabella could finally do those things she dreamed of. She’d get a job. She had a degree, after all. Surely she could find some form of employment, even if she’d never worked a day in her life.

      The thickness of the woods shrouding the long, gravel driveway gave the impression that the trees were closing in, and the unwanted yet familiar trickle of claustrophobia seeped through Isabella’s veins.

       The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

      She breathed in, absorbed each word of the verse that had seen her through the scariest years of her childhood and continued down the darkened driveway. Ten minutes ago, she’d admired the brilliant sunshine of the June afternoon, the expanses of cotton, soy and corn fields bordering the road leading to Claremont like a patchwork quilt welcoming her in her quest to do the right thing. But now, as the trees closed in, she didn’t feel welcomed. She felt warned. And she considered turning the car around and leaving without sharing information with a man she’d never met.

      But she didn’t want to break her promise to the woman who had provided Isabella with the dearest friendship she’d ever known.

      She’d expected to find a construction crew working on-site, but there was no sign of anyone except a guy riding a bulldozer on the opposite side of the property. A trailer sat on its own to the right. She assumed that was the makeshift office. She parked beside a navy pickup with a Jameson Construction Company magnet stuck to the driver’s door.

      Time to see Nan’s ex-husband. Her heart thudding loudly in her chest, Isabella climbed out and made her way toward the trailer, but a man in a baseball uniform opened the door before she had a chance to knock.

      “Oh, hello, I’m Brodie Evans.” He waved her inside. “You must be here about the ad in the paper. Savvy said she got a couple of calls from people wanting to interview. Come on in. I’m heading out, but she’s on her way down from our place. She’ll talk to you about the job.” He motioned to the tiny living area. “Have a seat.”

      Isabella sat on the sofa, not so much because she wanted to but because she needed to gather her thoughts and figure out what was going on. However, before she could ask questions, the door burst open and a teenage boy entered. “Hey, Dad, we’re gonna be late if we don’t leave now.”

      “I know.” Brodie pointed to the teen. “This is our son, Dylan.”

      “Hi,” Dylan said.

      “Dylan, this is...” Brodie let the word hang. “I’m sorry. I didn’t get your name.”

      “Isabella. Isabella Gray.”

      “Nice to meet you,” Dylan said, holding out his hand.

      Bewildered, she didn’t know what else to do but shake his hand. “You, too.”

      Then the door opened again, and two little girls entered, their bright-eyed faces and blond pigtails so similar that Isabella wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.

      “Hey, Daddy,” they chimed, energy bristling as they bustled in. “Hey, Dylan.” Then they noticed her and one asked, “What’s your name?”

      “I’m Isabella,” she said, as a blond woman and another little girl entered.

      The third little girl was about the same size as the other two, probably the same age, but she had long dark hair and a solemn disposition, as if she’d gotten in trouble before they arrived.

      “Isabella, this is my wife, Savvy,” Brodie said. “Savvy, this is Isabella Gray. She’s here about the job.”

      “Hi. Let me get the girls situated and then you and I can chat.” She turned to Brodie. “Y’all need to get going, don’t you?”

      He kissed her cheek. “Heading on out,” he said. Then to Isabella, “Nice to meet you.”

      “Nice to meet you, too.” Isabella knew she’d need to set the record straight soon, but from what she could tell, Titus Jameson wasn’t in the trailer. Maybe he’d already left for the day and the company truck she’d seen had been driven by the guy on the bulldozer.

      “One second.” Savvy held up a finger to Isabella and then turned to the girls. “Rose, Daisy, y’all take Savannah to the playroom and show her your new dolls.”

      “Come on, Savannah.” One of the girls grabbed the quiet one’s hand and tugged her to the playroom.

      Isabella didn’t get a good look at the third girl’s face, because she never took her attention from the floor as she walked, the same way Isabella had walked around the orphanage when she was about the same age. Sad. Lost.

      What had happened to that little girl?

      She couldn’t hold back her curiosity. “Is she okay? Savannah?”

      “I can tell you’re going to be good at identifying the children who need special attention,” Savvy said, her voice barely above a whisper so the girls wouldn’t hear in the next room. “That’ll be important if you work here, even if you’re in the office. We want everyone to care about the children and understand that they’ll need plenty of love to make it through the hard times.” She glanced toward the playroom and sighed. “Savannah is visiting our girls today. Her mom left her and her dad a few years ago, and even though I wasn’t living here and didn’t know Savannah then, her father said she’s never been the same. She does seem to enjoy playing with Rose and Daisy, though, so I plan to keep inviting her over and offering to watch her whenever I can.”

      Isabella nodded, glad that the little girl still had her father and that she also had friends in Rose and Daisy, and a tenderhearted lady like Savvy watching out СКАЧАТЬ