Reuniting His Family. Jean C. Gordon

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СКАЧАТЬ Anne and Sophia are having a girls’ day shopping for school clothes and Ian’s at soccer camp. I took the afternoon off so Alex wouldn’t have to go shopping with his mother and sister.”

      “A fate worse than death, for sure,” Renee said.

      Neal laughed in agreement, making Rhys wish he could pull off the easy manner Neal had with her.

      “Maddox,” Neal said mid-laugh, as if he’d suddenly realized who Rhys was.

      Rhys tensed, waiting for the other man to make the connection between him and the CPS worker.

      “I should have put it together.”

      Anger started to simmer in the pit of Rhys’s stomach. Hazard had better not say anything bad about him in front of Owen.

      “You’re the guy who rented one of the old summer houses from my dad.”

      Rhys squirmed on the bench. He wouldn’t be doing his boys any good if he was always on the defensive, expecting the worst from everyone.

      “Yes, if your father is Ted Hazard.” Rhys could see a resemblance.

      “Sure is. I don’t know why I didn’t think of Owen when Dad told me. We’re neighbors. Our house is right around the corner off Hazard Cove Road. Alex and Owen are almost inseparable. It’ll save us a lot of driving if they’re within walking distance of each other.”

      Rhys looked at his son, who was in deep conversation with his friend. “Owen will like that. I hope to have him and Dylan with me soon.”

      Neal nodded without asking for any further explanation.

      He knows. Of course, he knows. Neal’s kid was Owen’s best friend.

      Rhys’s stomach muscles clenched. Neal seemed to know Ms. Delacroix well enough to know she worked for the county CPS. And when he’d rented the house, Rhys had given Neal’s father full disclosure about his conviction and early release after new evidence had exonerated him of involvement in an earlier bank robbery—a robbery during which a bank guard had been shot. He wiped a drop of ice cream from his hand. How many other people knew of his background? What would that do to his job prospects? He didn’t want to move the boys. Not right away. Gwen had said Paradox Lake was a good place, and he didn’t want to disrupt Owen and Dylan’s lives any more than necessary.

      “I’m going to get some water,” Renee said.

      Rhys ran his tongue along the inside of dry lips. He could use one, too.

      “Dad, can I get Coke?” Owen asked.

      “Yes.” Rhys reached in his jeans’ pocket for his wallet. “And I’ll have a water, if you don’t mind.”

      “Not at all.” She took his money. “Do you want anything, Neal?”

      “We’re good, but you’ll need some help carrying the drinks.”

      “We’ll help.” Owen and Alex hopped off the bench.

      “Good men,” Neal said before focusing his attention on Rhys. “Dad said you’re looking for work. You’re an electrician?”

      “I did most of an apprenticeship with the Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.” Rhys bit back the “before” he’d been about to add. There was no need to bring up his past. “Do you have a lead on a job?”

      “I’m looking for someone. I’m an electrical contractor. We do mostly solar installations and other work for my wife’s company, GreenSpaces.”

      GreenSpaces, a big, international corporation, was on his list of places to check out. Rhys eyed Neal questioningly.

      “Yeah.” Neal laughed. “You look the same way I did when I first learned Anne was a bigwig corporate executive. She teaches engineering at North Country Community College, too.”

      “Your wife owns GreenSpaces?”

      Neal nodded. “Anne and her first husband started the company, and she inherited his stock to add to her own when he died.”

      Rhys shifted on the hard wooden bench. “I’m not licensed or part of a union or anything,” he said, wanting to be honest about his qualifications.

      “The job I have is for a more general laborer, but your electrical knowledge is a plus. Interested?”

      “I sure am.” He saw no reason to hide his enthusiasm.

      Neal reached in his wallet and pulled out his business card. “Does eight o’clock tomorrow morning work for you for an interview?”

      “Eight’s fine.”

      Rhys fingered the card. His roller-coaster life was heading up again. He prayed that it stayed there as he watched Owen walk back with Renee and thought about Dylan. CPS seemed to be more into keeping them apart than in reuniting them. He’d talk with Pastor Connor about the Building Bridges thing at the Hazardtown Community Church. Rhys had shrugged off the pastor’s recommendation that he get involved to help him and his boys reconnect. But now he thought it just might help him reach Dylan—and keep the uphill momentum.

       Chapter Two

      Renee had trouble quelling the emotion that welled inside her as she watched father and son part ways in the driveway of the Hills’ home. How did the other CPS workers maintain their professional distance? Would this be a problem at Building Bridges, too, working so closely with kids?

      Owen began peppering his father with questions such as “When will I see you again? Can I come and see the house you got us?” and “When can Dylan and I come live with you?”

      She listened as his father calmly answered, reassuring the boy that he was as anxious as Owen to be a family again, but not giving his son any direct answers that could mislead him. Rhys had asked her the same questions when they’d met before the visit. The only answer she’d had for him then was that the Family Court judge would make those decisions.

      After giving his son a final hug, Rhys climbed into his truck and drove away. She walked Owen into the house.

      “Did you have a good time?” Suzi asked.

      “The best,” Owen said. “Alex and his dad were there, too.”

      “Dylan’s been waiting for you to come home. He’s up in your room.”

      “Okay. I’ll go so you can talk to Ms. Delacroix.”

      Renee and Suzi laughed.

      “Too perceptive for his own good,” Suzi said once he was gone. “Did you have a chance to ask Mr. Maddox—Rhys—about Sunday dinner?”

      “No, I didn’t even think of it.”

      The original plan had been for Suzi to invite him to dinner after the ice-cream outing if everything had gone well, which Renee thought it had—with Owen, at least. But the episode with Dylan at the Social СКАЧАТЬ