And the Greatest of These Is Love: A Contemporary Christian Romance Novel (20 page)

“Yeah, I’ll be here.”

“Yes, Mr. Harwood, that’s fantastic.” Andrew’s excitement beamed across the phone lines. “Yes, Sir, I’m working on the details of setting up a foundation for the center right now. I should have the papers drawn up in a day or two, and I’ll bring them over to you personally. Yes, Sir, I can’t tell you how much we appreciate your generosity. I look forward to talking with you again soon. Thank you. Good-bye.”

He almost bounced out of the seat the second the phone hit the cradle.

“Good news I take it?” Jerry asked, watching him from across the desk.

“How’s $12,000 for starters?”

“You’re kidding?”

“No, no kidding. Mr. Harwood is in. He wants to be a full corporate sponsor!”

“Andrew, I don’t know what to say. I didn’t think it was possible.”

“I talked to Mrs. Phelps earlier, they’re in for $8,000 initially.”

“$20,000? That’s Halloween.”

“Next stop Christmas!”

“Miss T?” Mrs. Hopkins was suddenly hovering in the doorway, not really coming in but not leaving either.

“Oh. Hello, Mrs. Hopkins,” Gabi said brightly, and then the light in her heart flickered when she saw the woman and noticed her uncertainty. “Is something wrong?”

The short 50ish woman with the cinnamon brown hair huddled into her own shoulders. “Miss T, I thought you would like to know that Antonio is going to be moved this afternoon.”

“Antonio? What? Why?” Gabi’s knees went weak underneath her as shock knocked her into confusion.

“Yes. We had a blow-up at the house last night. He attacked one of my other children. I called the state, and they’ll be here to get him at noon.”

“Noon?” Fighting to make some sense of this situation, Gabi put her hand to her head and forced herself to think. “Where’s Antonio now?”

“He’s at the juvenile detention center downtown.” Mrs. Hopkins sighed. “I didn’t have a choice, Miss T. I can’t afford for him to hurt one of my other kids.”

But Gabi didn’t hear a word the woman said, she was already next door asking the three-year-old teacher to watch her class.

“Come with me,” she instructed Mrs. Hopkins like she was talking to a wayward child. With Mrs. Hopkins in tow, Gabi marched down the hallway to Jerry’s office and through the open door. Andrew and Jerry both looked up, startled. “Jerry, we’ve got a problem,” she said not waiting for either of them to speak.

“What’s wrong, Gabi?” Jerry’s eyes registered concern and overwhelm.

“Antonio’s in the detention center.” Gabi measured Andrew’s reaction to the news, wishing she could cushion the next information. “The state’s coming for him at noon.”

“The state? Antonio?” Andrew jumped to his feet in alarm. “Gabi, are you sure?”

“Mrs. Hopkins just came and told me.” Stepping aside, Gabi revealed a humbled Mrs. Hopkins.

“I didn’t have a choice,” the woman said softly.

However, that was the least of Gabi’s concerns. “What should we do?” She wasn’t willing to let Antonio go — not after they had made so much progress.

“I don’t know that we can do anything.” Jerry stood and shook his head in resignation. “It’s the state’s decision.”

Andrew’s face was hard with worry. “Who’s the caseworker?”

“Mrs. Martinez, but she can’t…,” Mrs. Hopkins said, but Andrew cut her off.

“Gabi, get your coat, we’re going down there.”

Wide-eyed, Gabi shook her head. “What about my kids?”

With his hands on his hips, Andrew looked at the boss. “Jerry?”

Jerry waved them off. “Go. I’ll take care of them.”

Although Gabi wasted no time getting her things, by the time she returned, Mrs. Hopkins had filled them in on the particulars, and Andrew was livid — with himself as much as with the system. It was time to make a real difference.

The detention center was foreboding. It was as grimy and dim on the inside as on the outside, and the heels of Gabi’s boots clicked on the hard floors as she practically ran to keep up with Andrew. She had never seen him like this. He looked like he might take out a small tank if it got in his way.

“What’re you planning to do?” she asked breathlessly hurrying to keep up with him.

“Antonio needs me, and I’m not going to let him down,” Andrew said as if that answered the question, which it really didn’t.

They entered a large room with cubicles lining the walls.

“May I help you?” a woman in wire-rimmed glasses at the desk asked.

“Yes, we need to talk to Mrs. Martinez,” Andrew said, and Gabi noticed how much authority he exuded.

“May I ask what this is in reference to?”

“Antonio Walls.”

“One moment, please.” The lady nodded and walked off.

Andrew gave Gabi a brave smile that she saw right through. He was worried, and well he should be by the looks of things.

“I’m Evelyn Martinez,” a woman said, approaching them after a few minutes. “I hear you’re asking about the Walls boy.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Andrew’s voice was all-business and brooked no uncertainty whatsoever. “We want to find out what we can do to stop him from being transferred out of the city.”

“Well, Mr…?”

“Clark, Andrew Clark.” Andrew extended his hand which Mrs. Martinez shook.

She glanced at Gabi and then shook her head. “Well, Mr. Clark, I’m afraid you’re too late. The people from the state agency should be here any minute now to get him.”

“No. He can’t go, Mrs. Martinez,” Andrew said firmly. “He belongs here.”

Mrs. Martinez let out a long, slow, sigh of resignation. “Mr. Clark, I can see that you feel very strongly about this, but Mrs. Hopkins cannot afford to lose the other children she has custody of. Antonio attacked one of her other children with a knife last night. That’s serious. Now, the state can’t leave him in that environment.”

“So, what happens to him now?” Gabi asked as fear snaked up into her chest.

“Well, I imagine he’ll be sent to one of the state homes,” Mrs. Martinez said. “I can imagine that won’t be a picnic, but once they hit this stage, there’s not much anyone can do for them.”

Andrew lifted his chin and stared at the woman. “What if someone adopts him?”

Gabi looked up at him in utter astonishment.
Adopt? Who is going to adopt him?

Smiling ruefully, Mrs. Martinez shook her head again. “Well, that would be a miracle, Mr. Clark, but I don’t know anyone who’d be willing to take a four-year-old juvenile delinquent into their home on a permanent basis.”

He shifted, but only an inch. “Yeah, but it’s possible — to adopt him — I mean.”

“Well, yes. Certainly it is possible. I’m sure the judge would be thrilled, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

Nodding, Andrew took a hold of Gabi’s arm. “Will you excuse us a moment?”

Knowing the option was futile, Mrs. Martinez smiled. “Certainly.”

Andrew steered Gabi over into a private corner of the room. “Okay. Before you say anything, hear me out.” He dropped her arm but hunched over her as if suspended there. “Antonio’s a great kid. We both know that. And we both know he won’t last two seconds if they take him away from here.”

She fought with all he wasn’t telling her. “Andrew, what’re you saying?”

“That I think one of us should adopt Antonio.”

A rush of air swooshed out of her as Gabi let that sink in for a moment. One of them? Adoption? Antonio? He must be out of his mind. “Look, Andrew, I know you feel strongly about Antonio, and I hate to see him go, too, but adoption?”

He glanced over his shoulder. “You heard her, Gabi. They’ll sit him in some orphanage somewhere, and in a couple of years he’ll be behind bars — or worse. I can’t let that happen — not to Antonio.”

She heard his words and his heart, but this was more complicated than he knew. “Andrew, you can’t save every kid that comes through our doors.”

Anger sliced through his face and his voice. “But this isn’t any kid. This is Antonio. You said so yourself, he trusts me.”

Logic. Common sense. Somehow she needed to find them, for his sake as well as her own. “But, you have a job, and it’s not in Collins. What happens when you leave? Are you prepared to take Antonio with you?”

That was a fair question. Two weeks before he would never have even considered this. Antonio would’ve been another statistic for a story on street crime or the decline of the family or the deterioration of society. But all that had changed. It had started with her, that was true, but it continued in him with or without her. The truth, as Andrew saw it, was that he needed Antonio, and Antonio needed him. End of story.

“Yes,” he finally said as if the answer was far simpler than it actually was. “I’m prepared to take Antonio with me wherever life takes me.”

Truly, Gabi didn’t know what to say. Even she had never considered actually taking one of the kids into her own home. She had enough trouble keeping track of herself without worrying about caring for a child, too. “Andrew, this is a big step, and I don’t think you’ve thought it through.”

“Look, I love that little boy, and he loves me. What more do I need to think through?”

She admired his guts, but she still thought he was rushing into something he wasn’t prepared for. However, she didn’t know how to tell him that, and he didn’t give her a chance.

“Mrs. Martinez.” Andrew turned and strode quickly away from her back to the counter.

“Yes, Mr. Clark?”

He exhaled slowly. He knew the next words out of his mouth would change his life forever, and for a split second he wondered if he was doing the right thing. But his heart spoke before his mind could have second thoughts. “I’m interested in adopting Antonio Walls.”

It was pitiful, and it was scary. The walls lining the dank hallway smelled awful, and Andrew had to force his legs to follow Mrs. Martinez. The only thought that kept his feet mobile was that Antonio was here — somewhere in this hell hole, and he was probably more scared at this moment than he had ever been in his life. Andrew wished Gabi had come with him, but Mrs. Martinez was adamant, and he didn’t want to further upset the delicate balance of things at this point.

“This is it, Mr. Clark.” Mrs. Martinez reached for the lock. Andrew stood stock still as she unlocked the door with a loud click and swung the heavy metal door to the side.

“Thank you,” Andrew said, almost inaudibly, and then he stepped into the little space. The sight of Antonio’s tiny body curled tightly on the bed shook him to the core. “Antonio?”

He walked slowly, carefully, into the dimness of the cell to the tiny form lying unmoving on the bed.

“Antonio? Hey buddy. It’s Mr. Clark.” Carefully Andrew sat next to the boy on the bed. Ever so slowly, the form moved, uncurled, rolled a half-a-turn over, and looked at him. “Hi there.”

The look of confusion, fear and helplessness in the child’s eyes tore Andrew’s heart from his chest, and in the breath of a second he knew he’d made the right decision.

“Hi, Buddy.” Putting his hand on the child’s back, Andrew opened his other arm to the child. Needing no more invitation, Antonio leaped into Andrew’s arms and clung to him just as he had the day before. He should never have let him go then, but this time he wouldn’t make that mistake again. “It’s good to see you, little one. I hear you got into some trouble last night.”

The child stiffened.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad. In fact, I have a deal for you.” Andrew stroked the boy’s back gently as he held him, thinking how small he actually was. “What would you say if I take you home with me to live?”

Antonio never moved, but his breathing rate increased against Andrew’s chest.

“How would that be?” Andrew asked, pulling the tiny body away from his in an effort to look into Antonio’s eyes. The fear was still there, but there was something else, too. “Would you like to come and live with me, Antonio?”

Slowly the little head nodded, and Andrew smiled into the enormous eyes of his new son.

The chairs in the waiting room were worse than the ones at the center. Gabi shifted her weight again and looked at the clock. What was taking them so long? Not even getting the temporary order from the judge granting custody had taken this long. Added to the trek with Mrs. Martinez to inspect Andrew’s apartment, the impromptu background check, and the calls to The Herald and Jerry to verify he was in fact safe, solid, and who he said he was, the morning and afternoon had completely evaporated into paperwork and worry.

Crossing her arms and closing her eyes to say a quick prayer she had no words for, she hoped once again that Andrew was doing the right thing. She knew it was better than letting Antonio slip away, but was he really prepared to adopt the little boy? It took time and patience to raise a child. Was Andrew really prepared for that? She knew she wasn’t.

Raising a child wasn’t like babysitting at the center. It was all the time. Everyday. Sick or well. Tired or not. Forever.