And the Greatest of These Is Love: A Contemporary Christian Romance Novel (11 page)

“What do you think we should do about him?” he asked so the little ears in the next room couldn’t hear.

“I don’t know, Jerr.” She shook her head in fear and resignation. “If he did this much damage to me, just think what he could do to the others.” Holding the rag on her gash as the bleeding subsided, she turned the issue over and over in her head. “I can’t put them in danger of getting hurt.”

“He’s had it pretty rough, Gabi,” Jerry said, clearly vacillating between not wanting to talk her into keeping the kid but not wanting to give up on a four-year-old either. “The foster mother brought him in this morning.”

She looked at him in surprise. “Foster mother?”

“Yeah, it seems the state dumped him off at her doorstep last night, but she’s not really set up for little kids — just the older ones who can go to school while she works,” Jerry said. “Kid’s been in and out of foster homes all over the state. Nobody wants him…”

Can you blame them?
she thought, checking her wound but saying nothing.

“Anyway the foster mother can’t take care of him, the state’s all but given up, and I don’t know what to do,” he said, sounding as tired as she had ever heard him.

Wanting to throw him out but knowing she would never do that, Gabi sighed. “Well, why don’t we go talk to him? Maybe we can work out some kind of deal,” she said, really wishing her heart would let her just throw him out.

“Only one problem, no one knows how much he understands,” Jerry said, slowly, “he doesn’t talk.”

That slammed her to a stop. “Doesn’t talk? What do you mean?”

“Not since being in the foster care system. Three years — no words.”

“What did the fibbies want?” Rob asked, leaning over Andrew’s desk as if the whole newsroom didn’t already know.

“Same old, same old.” Andrew sighed, wishing he hadn’t bothered to come in today. The short trip to Kesler’s office had done nothing to ease his fears. If the feds wanted to push this, it could get very ugly.

“Are you gonna give them what they want?”

“Not without a fight.”

“Hope you have a good lawyer.”

Mentally, he wrote himself a memo to call Bryan.

“Let me get this straight,” Gabi said under her breath, not at all happy with how this situation was shaping up. “You put a kid in my classroom with known behavior problems, who hasn’t said a word in three years, and you expected me to what? Fix him?”

“I was going to tell you the second I had a chance,” Jerry said by way of apology. “I’m telling you, I didn’t think he would attack you.”

“Well, this is just great, Jerr. What do you want me to do?” she asked in frustration. For the sake of the other children, they had to tell him no. But how could she throw a four-year-old out onto the streets? A little boy who obviously needed them.

Jerry watched her for a long minute. “If you want me to say no, I will.”

Oh, that was great.

She looked at him, feeling the trap and having no idea how to get out of it. “I can’t tell him no, Jerr. You know that. But I also don’t know what to do. I don’t think I can handle him and all the other kids by myself.”

He nodded. “Okay. Well, what if I give you another volunteer?”

“Another volunteer?” She laughed as she removed the washcloth from her wound which had thankfully stopped bleeding. “Where’re you going to get this volunteer, Jerry — Venus?”

“No, actually, I was thinking more along the lines of Andrew.”

Andrew? In one second the planet stopped spinning, and she was almost slung off of it.

“Andrew? Oh, Jerry, I don’t think so,” she said, quickly dismissing the idea outright.

“Why not? He’s a guy. He can handle Antonio — physically — I mean, and when you need to work one-on-one with Antonio, Andrew can keep the other kids busy. What do you say?”

“But he’s only going to be here through the end of the week,” Gabi said, frantically searching for an excuse. Her heart couldn’t take being with him all day. It was barely managing to stay in the vicinity of sane the way it was.

“Okay. I’ll tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. You take Antonio and Andrew for today and tomorrow, and if after that time you don’t think it’ll work, just say the word, and Antonio’s history.”

She was stuck between her heart and a hard place, and he knew it. Finally, she nodded, resigned to the fact that there was no way this would ever work out well for her.

“Great, I knew I could count on you, Gabi.”

Andrew jumped from his car and hurried up the steps to the center. He hadn’t intended on being so late he thought as he checked his watch, his long strides carried him down the hallway to the nursery. The hand would be a minor problem at best, and besides he had more important things to worry about now.

“Andrew!” Jerry called just as he reached the nursery door down the hall, and Andrew turned.

“Hi, sorry I’m late, Jerry.”

“Eh. Don’t worry about it. Can you come here for a minute? We need to talk,” Jerry said, waving him back.

For the second time that morning, Andrew didn’t like the dramatic sound of the summons. If this was anything like the last time… Andrew raised his eyebrows at this request but turned and headed back down to Jerry’s office; however, they went into a side room instead. That was strange beyond measure, and it brought up even more concern. Once inside, he braced himself for whatever was coming, knowing it was more bad news.

“What’s up?” Andrew asked.

“Well, we’ve developed a little situation,” Jerry said slowly. “We got a little boy in this morning, and we put him in Gabi’s class, but well, let’s just say he was a little more than she’d bargained for.”

Worry jumped on Andrew. “Is she all right?”

“Yeah, she’s fine, but she’s going to need some help if we’re going to keep this kid. I told her I thought you’d be the perfect back-up.”

That stopped him. “Back-up? I don’t understand.”

“Well, I’m thinking about moving you into Gabi’s room — for the rest of your time here. Today and tomorrow. You would help her with whatever she needs and be like her assistant.”

“And this little boy?”

“Antonio.”

Andrew nodded with concern. “Antonio.”

“He’s in my office right now, and I’m thinking I’ll bring him back in after the two of you get settled. That is if you’re in agreement.”

How could he say no to the offer of a lifetime?

He shrugged as if his heart wasn’t doing cartwheels. “Of course. Sure. Whatever you need.”

She felt silly for watching the clock and wondering where he was. If he’d been in the nursery, they would’ve been here long ago, so where was he? Maybe his story was finished, and he wouldn’t be coming back. Just the thought knifed into her heart. But her conversation with him the night before had convinced her that his stay here was about more than a story. At least she thought it was.

The knock startled her out of the debate in her head, and every nerve in her body stood on end as she approached the door and saw that Jerry was not alone. Her breath caught, and she had to force her feet to keep moving to the door. Why was this all so incredibly confusing — wanting to be with him, not wanting to be with him? It was pushing her to the brink of insanity and dangling her there. Thankfully, the children around her were happily playing and barely noticed the interruption.

“Hi,” she said, shyly when she opened the door, not meeting his eyes but rather keeping her gaze safely on Jerry.

Lands, that man was gorgeous, her heart said without so much as a glance at him.

“Good morning,” Andrew said to her as if this was all perfectly normal and natural.

Gabi had to think of something just as normal to say and fast. “How’s the hand?”

“Fine.” He held the bandaged hand up for her inspection. “Couple of aspirins. Couple of stitches. I’ll live.”

“I’m glad,” she said, not being able to stop the smile. Oh, why did he have this effect on her?

“What happened to your hand?” Jerry asked with immediate concern.

“Let’s just say replacing windows is not my strong suit,” Andrew said with a shrug.

“Is it all right?” Jerry asked, glancing over at the now whole window and clearly fearing the worst.

“Four stitches,” Andrew said. “I’ll live. And I’ll pay for it, so it’s really no big deal.”

Jerry breathed a sigh of relief for the moment. “Well, I think I’ll go back and watch our newest member.” Jerry glanced over at her. “How’s the arm?”

“Not bleeding anymore,” Gabi said, holding it up for inspection and suddenly thinking that the two of them looked like emergency room rejects.

“That’s good,” Jerry said, nodding but not looking any more at ease. “Well, I’ll be back around eleven with Antonio. Good luck, you two.”

“Thanks,” she said, and with that, he was gone.

Andrew tipped his head to examine the wicked, jagged scratches now carved in the back of her forearm. “Are you sure you’re okay? That looks pretty bad.”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” She sighed.

“So what happened?”

“I’ll tell you later. Right now it’s time for show and tell,” she said, smiling wickedly at him.

He laughed in worry at the challenge in her tone. “Oh, boy.”

A subdued Antonio entered the room with Jerry close at his heels as show and tell was wrapping up an hour later. When Andrew caught sight of them, he stood with no sound and went to the back, hoping not to disturb the show in progress. Shaniquille was showing her stuffed rabbit.

“Hi,” he whispered, smiling at the tiny child and then glancing up to Jerry for his marching orders.

“Mr. Clark, this is Antonio,” Jerry said, putting his hand on the child’s shoulder.

“Hi, Antonio.” Andrew sat on his heels and extended his hand, wondering how someone so little could inflict so much damage on Gabi so quickly. However, Antonio kept his hands at his sides and his eyes on the floor. A second, and Andrew switched tactics. “Tell you what, why don’t you come over here and sit on the floor with me?”

Andrew took him by the shoulders and led him away from Jerry and over to an empty spot on the floor. He sat down, and after an agonizing moment, Antonio followed his lead and sat next to him. They watched the rest of the show side-by-side in silence.

Most of the time Gabi was able to eat her lunch with the rest of the teachers, but today leaving Antonio to fend for himself with the others was out of the question, so without being obvious she took her tray and set it down next to Shaniquille.

“Here, Antonio,” she said, smiling at him, “why don’t you sit here by me?”

He obeyed, never taking his eyes off his tray, and Andrew followed suit, sitting across from her. Immediately Megan and Leslie took up the seats on either side of him. Gabi had to stifle her amusement every time she saw them look at him — which was, by now, almost nonstop.

“So,” Andrew said, like the pro he was becoming, “what do we do after lunch — is it Shaniquille?”

“Yes, sir,” the tiny girl said, giggling softly.

“What do we do after lunch?”

“We paint and color and learn our letters,” she said in a voice even tinier than she was.

“Wow, are you good with your letters?” He forked into the mystery meat and took a bite.

“Sometimes, but I can’t make no... I can’t make good s’s,” she said, correcting herself, and Gabi smiled. Sometimes the smallest steps were the biggest breakthroughs, and mistakes often provided the best stepping stones to real learning.

“S’s are hard,” Andrew said, nodding seriously. “But don’t worry, I think you’ll get them pretty soon. So, Leslie, tell me about yourself.”

Leslie giggled next to him as all the kids around them sat fascinated.

“That teddy bear you showed us today was sure cute,” he continued. “Where did you get it?”

“My daddy won it for me at the fair last year.”

“So, it must be pretty special, huh?”

She nodded without saying a word.

“Awesome. So, do we get to have music time today?” he asked, carrying on his one-man monologue, punctuated only by small bits of input from everyone else.

“Yeah,” Gabi said, smiling at him, her own fascination growing the longer she was with him, “later, but you have to finish your lunch first.”

“Okay,” he said like a little kid, and as he chewed, a teasing light flashed to life in his eyes. He pointed his fork at her. “But only if you’ll play us one of your songs.”

Gabi blushed and ducked her head at the compliment. He could be really unnerving when he wanted to be.

Either Andrew’s presence or his earlier close call with being thrown out of the place had made a different little boy out of Antonio, Gabi thought as she pulled out a spare blanket for him to lay on with the others. He’d been very quiet and watchful since returning to the class, and for that she was grateful.

“Here, Antonio,” she said, motioning for him to come over. “Why don’t you take this one?”