Hidden Gifts (A Castle Mountain Lodge Romance) (6 page)

“Is that really what you think?”

“I don’t know,” Bo answered truthfully. “That’s the whole problem. I just don’t know.” But what Bo did know was that when he got back to the Lodge, he had a call to make. Maybe Clara Kersey could help him with an answer.

Chapter Six

It was bad enough that she was late, but after her run-in with Bo, Morgan had to take a minute to compose herself before walking into the Cub’s Club. Sure, he was arrogant and full of himself, but there was something else about him that made her blood run hot and for the second time in as many days, Morgan had to remind herself that she wasn’t looking for a relationship, particularly with a man like Bo.

Morgan took a deep breath and opened the door. Carmen was waiting for her and just like she’d promised, only one little girl sat on the colorful carpet. The same beautiful, blond girl she’d seen at the campfire the night before.
 

As soon as she saw her, Carmen headed straight for Morgan. “Oh, thank goodness,” Carmen said. “I was afraid you’d decided not to come at all.”

“I’m sorry I’m late,” Morgan said.
 

“Oh, it’s fine. I knew you wouldn’t do that to me. You’re not the type,” Carmen said. “You know you can always change your mind about the job.”
 

Morgan held up her hand before Carmen got the wrong idea. “I’ll tell you what,” she said. “I’m here now. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Carmen smiled apologetically. “You don’t have to give me an answer right now.”
 

Morgan was pretty sure that her answer wasn’t going to be any different by the end of the day, but she didn’t bother pressing the issue. Instead, she listened while Carmen gave her a brief run-down of the room and the amenities. Morgan had to admit, it was a pretty impressive child-care room and if she were still interested in a career in child development, she’d be jumping at the chance to work in such a space. But she wasn’t. Not anymore. So instead of letting her mind run free with ideas and activities that she could conduct in such a place, she put a lid on them and instead focused on what Carmen was saying.
 

It didn’t take long to get the complete tour and then it was time for Morgan to meet the little girl, who until that point had been drawing quietly in the center of the room.
 

“Normally, there would be a lot more children here,” Carmen said. “And of course, a lot more staff. We like to keep a five to one ratio with the kids because that way we can really get to know them and have a lot more fun with them.”

“Of course,” Morgan said.

“Let me introduce you to Ella,” Carmen said as she walked to the carpet. “She’s the daughter of one of the outdoor recreation guys. Normally we don’t have children of the staff in Cub’s Club, but this is a special situation.”
 

Morgan nodded and offered a small smile.
 

Together they walked to the table, but Ella didn’t look up. “She’s very quiet,” Carmen said. “As far as I know, she’s only spoken a few words to her dad, even. Her mother just died and—“

“I’ll take it from here,” Morgan cut her off abruptly and shot the other woman a look that she hope conveyed how utterly inappropriate it was to talk about a child as if she wasn’t sitting right in front of you. She waited for Carmen to excuse herself from the room before crouching down at the table next to Ella.
 

“Hi there,” she said and when Ella didn’t even look up she added, “Looks like you’re working on a really pretty drawing. Is it a horse?”
 

Ella tipped her head up and peered at Morgan through long blond lashes. Her dark eyes were wide, but still she didn’t speak.
 

“I love horses,” Morgan said gently. She reached for a piece of paper of her own and took a crayon from the bowl. Without saying anything, she slowly started sketching out the rough outline of a horse on her own paper. “Have you ever been on a horse, Ella?”
 

The little girl shook her head slowly.
 

“I have,” Morgan admitted. “But not for a very long time.” She turned her attention to her own drawing and after a moment, Ella returned to her project as well.
 

They sketched in silence for a few minutes before Morgan tried again. She reached out and pointed to the clay deer that sat on the table by the crayons. “Is this your deer?”
 

Ella’s head popped up and she grabbed the deer, clutching it close to her chest. “Horse.” Her voice was tiny and thin. Morgan tried to hide her excitement at hearing her speak.
 

“I suppose it could be a horse,” Morgan said carefully. “They do look similar.”
 

The little girl eyed her cautiously as she stroked the clay figure. It looked familiar but Morgan couldn’t place it. Like something she’d seen in the lobby, maybe?

“You know what, Ella?” Morgan was struck with an idea. “Maybe there are some toy horses around here we could play with.” She scanned the room, looking at the various bins and shelves full of toys and craft supplies. “I bet we could find some.” Morgan hopped up and to her surprise, Ella followed.
 

Together, they searched through the baskets and buckets of surprisingly well-organized toys until they found a bin labeled “farm animals.”

“Jack pot,” Morgan declared and pulled the bucket out on the carpet. She upended it, spilling the contents of a variety of barnyard animals, including three plastic horses. Ella let out a high-pitched squeal and grabbed up the horses. Morgan busied herself, setting up the fences and the other animals while Ella galloped them around the carpet. She didn’t want to say anything to break the spell that the little girl was under, so she took her time arranging the rest of the farm. After a few minutes, Ella looked up.
 

“Do you want to play with all the animals?” Morgan asked her.
 

Ella shook her head and clutched the horses to her chest.
 

“That’s okay,” Morgan said. “You don’t have to. The horses are great. You just let me know if you want to play with anything else, okay?”
 

The little girl nodded and went back to her play. The clay deer seemed to be the "horse" in charge while the little plastic horses galloped around in circles. Morgan sat back and watched for a few minutes before she pushed up off the floor and started wandering around the room. While Ella played, Morgan snooped through the drawers, marveling at what she found. The Cub’s Club was remarkably well-equipped, not only with a wide variety of toys, but also educational tools that would excite any child-care professional. Even though she had no interest in staying on, old habits die hard and Morgan couldn’t help but let her imagination run free with all the programs she could run in such a space. Along one wall, she found a cabinet with books and binders that contained ideas for games, hikes, treasure hunts, and other activities that were obviously conducted at the Lodge.
 

She couldn’t help herself; Morgan felt a thrill go through her. It wasn’t just a babysitting room. Everything about the Cub’s Club was exactly what she had hoped to be doing with her degree. Well, maybe not exactly, but if she were being honest with herself, planning parties wasn’t what she wanted, either. Working with children was. It’s all she’d ever wanted. She glanced to where Ella was playing quietly. The little girl clearly had some issues and only a few months ago Morgan would have been enthusiastic at the prospect of helping her work through them.

Morgan twisted a strand of hair around her finger and contemplated the idea. Could she bring herself to work with children every day when the truth about her own childlessness was still so fresh and hard to bear? The now-familiar twist in her stomach as she thought about all she’d never have flared up. “No,” she whispered to herself. “I can’t do it. It’s too hard.”
 

For the rest of the morning, Morgan tried to busy herself with tidying up the room that was already incredibly clean. She tried to get Ella to talk, but either the little girl was much more interested in her horses or she just didn’t want to talk to a strange woman—probably both. Finally, around lunchtime, Ella got off the floor and stretched her legs. Morgan waited while she made her way across the room to her. Sometimes a child needed to make the first move. She waited, and eventually Ella approached her.
 

The little girl made a motion to her mouth.
 

“Are you hungry?”
 

Ella nodded.
 

“Can you tell me that you’re hungry?”

Ella shook her head violently.
 

“I know you can tell me, Ella.” Morgan spoke softly but firmly. “I’ve heard you speak, so I know you can.”
 

Ella clamped her lips together, and her eyes widened, but Morgan didn’t stop talking. “I know sometimes it’s scary to say what you need to say and you might think I won’t listen to you. But I will. I promise that whatever you say, I’ll always listen. Even if it’s just to tell me that you’re hungry. And,” she added, “talking is the best way to let everyone know what you want. Do you understand?”

She nodded and then just when Morgan thought it was a lost cause, Ella opened her mouth and said, “Lunch.”

A smile split Morgan’s face and she nodded in agreement. “It is lunch. Did your dad pack you a sandwich?”

Ella shook her head and Morgan raised her eyebrows. “No,” Ella said, her voice tiny and quiet.
 

“Okay. So what do you say we go find something to eat?” Morgan stood and without offering, Ella slipped her hand into Morgan’s. As a reflex, Morgan squeezed her small fingers tightly and she thought her heart might crack from the simple action. Her instinct was to pull away, protect herself from the pain. But when she looked down at Ella’s dark eyes staring up through her blond fringe, she couldn’t do it. The little girl looking up at her was hurting. And her own pain would have to wait, at least for the moment.

Together, they went in search of the dining room, and Morgan, unaware of the protocol for the Cub’s Club, persuaded the kitchen manager to make them grilled cheese sandwiches, which they ate at a picnic table that overlooked the pond in the courtyard.
 

The rest of the day passed quickly, and soon Carmen reappeared at the door. “So?” she asked, glancing around. “How did it go?” Her gaze landed on Ella, curled up in the oversized cushions under the base of the large treehouse that sat against one wall. “She looks content.”

“She is,” Morgan said. “We played hard all day and she finally succumbed to a nap. It was a big day.”

Carmen walked to Morgan, peering down at Ella as she passed. “She’s a sweet child. It’s a shame what she’s been through.”

Morgan bristled. She normally didn’t like talking about a child’s situation when they were in the room, but Ella was asleep, and she couldn’t help her natural curiosity. “What do you mean?”
 

“Well, she’s only just come to be with her father.” Morgan remembered the man at the campfire the night before roasting marshmallows with Ella. “And she’s only just met him. Her mother died unexpectedly about a month ago and left little more than a note, but the poor thing never even knew her father.”

Ella was essentially alone, which would explain her communication issues. It must be terribly confusing for such a little child to lose her mother and get thrust into a new relationship with a man she didn’t even know.
 

“Oh my,” Morgan said. “I can’t even imagine what she must be going through. Her unwillingness to speak is a classic response to a stressful situation.” Morgan let her thoughts drift for a minute, going through the countless other symptoms that Ella might display. “You said this just happened recently?”

“Within the week,” Carmen said. “As far as I know it was a one-night stand type of thing. I don’t really know the details so I shouldn’t really say too much more.”

“No, you shouldn’t.” Both women turned in the direction of the voice.
 

~ ~

Bo stood in the doorway, his arms crossed and his mouth pressed into a very tight, very angry frown. A sheen of sweat beaded on his forehead, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up despite the coolness outside. He had the undeniable look of a man who’d been putting in a hard day of physical work, and Morgan couldn’t help the twinge of desire that shot through her when she looked at him. She immediately shut it down, which wasn’t hard seeing how angry he was.
 

“Bo,” Carmen started. Her face turned crimson and she fluttered her hands in front of her. “I was just—“

“Gossiping about my daughter,” he said, finishing the statement for her.

His daughter? Morgan turned quickly between Bo and Ella trying to process what he’d just said.
 
Wasn’t the muscle-bound man from the fire Ella’s father?
 

“And we’ll be going,” he said. He strode into the room and across the carpet to where Ella was just waking up. She sat up and put her fists to her eyes, rubbing the sleep out of them. Bo came to a stop in front of her and held out his hand. He looked much less confident than he had a moment before. “It’s time to go, Ella.” Morgan couldn’t help but be impressed with the way he spoke to her. His voice had softened, despite his irritation with her and Carmen.

The little girl shook her head and clutched her clay deer to her chest.
 

“Ella,” Bo said again, “we need to go.”

She didn’t answer, but pushed up from the floor, scattering the plastic horses on her lap. She ran to Morgan and wrapped herself around her leg.
 

Morgan felt her chest tighten and she reflexively put her arms around Ella. She looked down to the little girl, who had a remarkably strong grip on her. Just as her training had taught her, she looked into Ella’s eyes. Morgan’s time in various classrooms and working with troubled children had taught her that more often than not, if a child didn’t want to go with her parents, there was a good reason. But no, when Morgan searched Ella’s wide eyes, there was no fear contained in them. But there was something else. More of a look of bewilderment, which would make sense, given everything she’d been through.