Home to You (10 page)

She hesitated, but couldn’t stand up to his stare. “No.”

Chase turned to the principal. “What is her punishment going to be?”

“Punishment?” Sarah sat up straight. “I said I wouldn’t do it again.”

Chase turned to his daughter. “Just because you won’t do it again doesn’t negate the fact that punishment should be given for a guilty act.”

Sarah sunk down miserably into the chair. “I didn’t even inhale,” she muttered.

Chase sighed as the principal tapped Sarah’s folder with a finger. “This is a first offense at our school, though she has been here such a short time that this behavior doesn’t bode well. And I don’t want Miss Sandoval to think we allow things that other schools might not allow. It’s all in the handbook. Those things we don’t want to see at our school.”

He stood and crossed to a cluttered bookshelf and
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dug through it until he found a booklet that had Tiger’s Handbook stenciled across the front. He sat down and laid the book on his desk. “Every student is issued one of these when school starts. I am certain you were given one when your father enrolled you. However, since it seems you’ve lost your copy, I’ll give you this one.” He pushed it across his desk, stopping just in front of her.

“And since you haven’t learned the rules yet, I’d like you to copy the manual word for word and turn it in to me next week.”

Sarah goggled at the principal. “But, that’s at least thirty pages.”

“Thirty-two,” Zimmerman corrected. “Will you do this at home or am I going to have to keep you after school every day until it’s done?”

Sarah looked at her dad, trying to look mutinous but failing wretchedly. She’d already used up her measure of bravado today and was back to being a scared little girl who was hurting and striking out and now very worried about what might happen.

“She’ll be able to do it after school.” Chase didn’t break her gaze. “Carolyne Ryder is going to be watching her each day until I get off work.”

“A babysitter?” Sarah wailed in disbelief.

“Looks like you need one,” Chase countered, his gaze hardening. “And I will make sure Carolyne understands how many pages each day you have to have done before I pick you up.”

“But what about free time?” Sarah demanded.

“You forfeited that when you decided to break the law.”

Sarah scoffed and flopped back in her seat.

He tried to reassure his daughter. “You’ll like Ms.

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Ryder. And if you do the work you’re supposed to, we’ll see about going from there with your restriction.”

Sarah didn’t comment. Chase looked to Zimmerman and the principal nodded. “You can return to class now. Have Mrs. Moriarty write you a slip.”

She nodded and stood. Her feet dragged all the way to the door. Chase didn’t comment until she was gone and the door shut firmly behind her.

“She was smoking?” he asked again, unable to believe it.

Zimmerman frowned. “Our history teacher, Mrs.

Henderson, was walking by the girls’ rest room and smelled smoke.” Zimmerman shook his head. “These kids seem to think they can light up and we won’t smell it. Anyway, she went into the bathroom and saw Sarah with another young person standing there. The other girl had the tobacco and threw the cigarette into the toilet.

She flushed it, but she was too late because Mrs. Henderson had already seen her with it. Mrs. Henderson found a stash of cigarettes in the girl’s sock—three to be exact. Halley is a troubled child and it worries me that Sarah has taken up with her so soon.” He studied Chase and then asked, “You say she’ll be staying with Pastor Dakota’s mother after school?”

Chase nodded.

“I don’t know the entire situation, and forgive me if I’m butting in.” He leaned forward in his chair. “But I want to try to stop this behavior before it escalates. You might consider talking to Pastor Dakota, since it seems you know the family, ask his advice about how to help your daughter cope with loss. As for the school, we have counselors available and the children know this. Re-94

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mind her of it so the next time she is feeling rebellious she can go talk to someone instead of acting out.”

Chase sighed. “I think the idea behind rebellion is to act out, not talk.”

The principal nodded. “Perhaps, but hopefully we can direct her energies into talking instead.”

“It’s been hard on her. I took this job here so I could have more time with Sarah. She’s grieving and needs me at home more.”

“It’s good that you see that, Mr. Sandoval. Perhaps you’re on the right road already.”

Chase hated that all of this was being made so public in a new town. With a nod he stood. “I need to go talk with Mrs. Ryder. I’ll pick Sarah up after school, so please send a note to her last class that she’s not to ride the bus home.”

Zimmerman stood as well. “I’ll see to that.” He stuck out his hand. “I hope we don’t meet like this again.”

Chase knew Zimmerman was an honest man. He could see it in his eyes. But he could also see that the principal had already pegged Sarah as a troublemaker and his words were more of a warning than a statement of hope.

He shook Zimmerman’s hand and wondered if his daughter really was in trouble because she chose to rebel or because she just kept getting involved with the wrong crowd.

It had to be the latter.

Turning, he headed out of the office to find Carolyne Ryder and set up a schedule with her to care for his delinquent daughter.

Meghan made her way up the stairs to Dakota’s house. She felt as if she’d been run through the wringer and left hanging in the wind.

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“Bye, dear!” Mary called as she and Margaret started up the stairs to their house.

Meghan started to wave and then remembered the cane in her hand. She shifted it to rest against her side and lifted her arm in acknowledgment before sighing in relief as the two older sisters entered their house.

She would never, ever allow either one of them to drive her anywhere again. If finding out she had MS

hadn’t given her gray hair, their driving had.

“Meghan!” Carolyne pushed open the door and only then did Meghan realize someone was standing next to the woman.

He looked vaguely familiar but she couldn’t place him.

“This is Chase Sandoval. He was just leaving. I’m so glad you are able to meet him. This is Sarah’s father.”

Meghan studied the man. He was very nice looking, both rugged and handsome, but there was something in his eyes that spoke of grief—even as he smiled and ex-tended his hand.

“You didn’t have a cane the other day,” he said as he shook her hand warmly.

She blushed as she realized this must have been the man who had helped Cody get her into the house yesterday. “Um, the sisters—” she gestured toward next door “—they saw me, well…I don’t walk well, and so they suggested it, or rather, insisted.”

Chase chuckled. “They can do that.”

Meghan glanced at her feet, thinking the packages were getting awfully heavy.

Chase stepped out and reached for the parcels.

“Here, let me.”

She allowed it simply because she was still too em-96

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barrassed about the way she’d first met him to object.

“Thank you.” She started in behind him. “I want to apologize for the other day—”

He shook his head. “Not my business. If Dakota trusts you and says you’re an old friend, that’s good enough for me.”

“Meghan,” Carolyne admonished quietly as she followed her in, “you need to stop apologizing. We all make mistakes.”

Meghan sank gratefully onto the nearby sofa and listened as Chase said goodbye to Carolyne and then departed.

When Carolyn returned, she clucked her tongue.

“You look exhausted, dear.”

Meghan nodded. “The stress of riding in the car with those two…”

Carolyne laughed, her voice tinkling with merri-ment. “I’ve had that experience occasionally.”

Meghan awkwardly laid her cane against the sofa and then leaned forward. “I mean, Mrs. Ryder, they—”

“Call me Carolyne.”

“Carolyne,” she corrected and thought how odd to call this woman by her first name after so many years of thinking of her as Mrs. Ryder. But Carolyne’s laugh encouraged Meghan to relax and confide in her as a friend, not as the parent of a friend. Seeing the antici-pation in Carolyne’s smile, she continued with the story.

“Margaret went up on the curb at one point and crossed the center median—the grassy median!” She shook her head. “And she and Mary argued the entire time. When we got ready to come home, Mary was in the driver’s seat. Margaret wasn’t happy with that, but I was, until
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Mary started driving. She was going down a one-way street—the wrong way!”

“Oh, dear.” Carolyne covered her mouth with her fingers, amusement in her eyes.

Meghan nodded. “And someone, I think it was the sheriff, nearly got run over. Mary stopped to apologize and he warned her if she couldn’t turn that car around he was going to have to ticket her. She informed him that he had only said that because she’d turned him down for a date years ago because he was too young.”

Carolyne burst into laughter. “They are a pair! But it looks like you got some shopping done.”

Meghan nodded. “They bought me too much. I just couldn’t argue though.”

“Didn’t let you get in a word edgewise?” Carolyne asked sagely.

Meghan leaned back in fresh exhaustion. “And they can certainly go through the stores. They have some things on order.” Meghan grimaced. “They seemed so happy and I guess I’m just a sap with them.”

Carolyne shook her head and came to stand near Meghan. “They have a way about them, dear. So you’ve been feeling fatigued often?”

Her gaze slid away from Carolyne. She didn’t like talking about that problem. But she owed Mrs. Ryder that. She had been so good to let her stay here. “Yes, lately. I do anything and it seems I’m exhausted. Well, anything more than normal. Walking a long distance or shopping for four hours…” She trailed off. “It’s only been happening since shortly before the diagnosis of MS and I am wondering if it’s related to the problem.”

Carolyne frowned. “I’m going to get to that informa-98

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tion as soon as possible. But since you’re tired, why don’t you go take a nap.”

Meghan frowned. “It’s the middle of the day.”

Carolyne smiled. “Isn’t that when naps are taken?”

“I feel, well, like I’m slouching if I don’t at least help around here.” Meghan shrugged with frustration.

“Meghan, honey…” Carolyne sat down and took Meghan’s hands in her own. The contact calmed her frayed nerves, and Meghan slowly lifted her gaze to meet Carolyne’s. “You don’t have to do anything to earn your keep. Take a day or two and rest up. You’ve been given a horrible shock with your diagnosis and now a double shock that you’re unemployed. Let’s just give you time to grieve, to adjust, and then we’ll go from there.”

“But—” Meghan started.

Carolyne shook her head. “Think of yourself as a daughter. You can jump in if you see I need a helping hand, otherwise, let’s take this slowly and give you time to get used to being here.”

Meghan felt tears come to her eyes. She didn’t deserve this sweet woman or her help. “Why?” she asked simply.

Carolyne looked at her. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t deserve it. I’m homeless. I don’t have any money.”

“Shush…” Carolyne patted her hand. “Go read those verses I gave you and you’ll see that none of us deserve it, but because of God’s love we can give it.”

Meghan didn’t understand.

Carolyne smiled, seeing she didn’t. “Go ahead.”

The soft sweet voice won out and Meghan nodded.

Wearily she stood and gathered her packages and then
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her “new helper device,” as Mary had informed her it was called. Slowly, awkwardly, the cane feeling foreign in her hand, she made her way to the kitchen, out the back door, down the steps and to the garage apartment—the entire time thinking that life just wasn’t ever going to return to normal again.

Chapter Eight

“The meeting with the contractor went great. He was able to give us the estimate we wanted so the youth extension is a go.”

Dakota paused by the door to twenty-three-year-old youth pastor Jeff Dunnaway’s office. Jeff glanced up from his laptop and grinned. “That’s cool.”

The man was young, enthusiastic, and on fire for God. His only problem was that he wasn’t married. Dakota kept teasing him, trying to get him hooked up so that all of the young girls would realize he wasn’t available and ease up with their puppy-dog eyes, but it just didn’t seem to work out. Jeff was too dedicated to his job to bother with dating, just as Dakota had been for so long now. “I’ll see that you get a copy of the paper-work to look over,” Dakota added and turned to leave.

“Hey—” Jeff pushed his laptop aside before leaning back in his chair “—I have an idea I want to run past you for the next quarter. I’ve been praying about it and think it’d be really great for the youth.”

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Dakota glanced at his watch and nodded. “I have two appointments coming in but after that I’ll have some free time.”

“Great.” Jeff pulled his laptop back in front of him.

Dakota headed toward his office, jubilant that things had gone so smoothly with the contractor.

If only it’d gone that smoothly with the real estate agent.

The agent’s price was right, but the man had informed him that he was afraid the person renting out the building wouldn’t want kids housed there. He was going to have to get back to them on that. Funny how those words had changed so quickly. Dakota had only had to go home and get some papers and in that short time the Realtor’s attitude had changed.

Part of it was probably because Dakota had been so distracted. Meghan hadn’t even looked like the same woman as yesterday. He had pulled up, seen her, and immediately thought someone had wandered into his backyard. It was only as he approached that he’d suddenly realized it was Meghan.