Dream Wedding(136)
“She was. She worked hard. Maybe too hard. There wasn’t a whole lot of fun in our house.”
“I’ve met people like that,” Charity told him. “I can’t remember the exact old saying but it’s something about hard work curing every ill.” She flashed him another smile. “And here I’d always thought only chocolate could do that.”
“I don’t know about chocolate, but there were things I missed when I was growing up. She never approved of me going away with my friends and their families on camping trips. When I was in high school, she didn’t want me spending money on school dances.”
Ryan had nearly forgotten about all of that. He remembered finally getting the courage to ask a girl out, only to have his mother tell him it was a waste of his hard-earned wages. In the end, he’d gone on the date, but hadn’t bothered asking the girl out again.
“It was a relief to get away to college.”
“You went on scholarship?” she asked.
He nodded. “I worked, too, for spending money.” It was as if he’d opened a long-closed door. The past flooded over him. How he’d enjoyed being on his own and how guilty he’d been for those feelings. He remembered phone calls from his mother where she’d reminded him to keep up his grades and warned him not to be frivolous by joining a fraternity or getting involved in extracurricular activities. He’d done a few things, but the guilt had always kept him from enjoying them too much.
“A doctor and a successful businessman. Your mother must be very proud.”
“No,” he said quietly. “She’s gone now, but it wasn’t like that.” He shrugged. “She never said anything except to keep working hard.”
“And then she died.”
Charity said the words as if she’d actually known his mother. Ryan stared at her. He realized how much he’d revealed in the past few minutes. “How did you do that?” he asked.
She didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “It’s a gift,” she admitted. “People often find me easy to talk with. Plus, with you, I had an advantage. I knew your brother.”
“I didn’t,” he said without thinking, and realized it was true. “He was ten years older and had left for college when I started third grade. He would come home and visit but it wasn’t the same as growing up together.”
“He was a good man. You would have liked him.” She tilted her head and stared at him. “More important to you, I suspect, he would have always liked you. Cassie says you’re doing very well with Sasha.”
“I can’t take any of the credit there. Cassie has been a huge help and Sasha is a sweetheart. We have a great time together.”
“You’re making an effort,” Charity said. “Many people wouldn’t bother.”
He remembered his first few days with his niece. How he’d wanted to avoid her and how desperate he’d been for someone to take away the responsibility. “Cassie had to shame me into doing my part.”
“I suspect it wasn’t all that difficult. You’re not the sort of man who walks away from what’s important. Cassie thinks too much of you for it to be otherwise.”
The implied approval made him uncomfortable. He doubted Charity would be as friendly if she knew about the kiss. “Cassie is very accepting. I admire that in her. And she’s a natural when it comes to kids.” He thought about the laughter that always filled the house. “I’ve never known anyone like her. She seems to understand exactly what Sasha is thinking all the time.”
“She has a college degree in child development and works in a preschool. If she didn’t understand children, I would be worried. Yes, some people are better with children than others, but don’t discount the training or years of experience. You wouldn’t expect a new employee fresh out of school to be an expert in your line of work. Why is it different with Sasha?”
“That’s what your niece told me. I guess I should believe her.”
“Of course. We can’t both be wrong.”
“Agreed.” He picked up a pen, then set it back on the desk. “The problem is I don’t have Cassie’s experience or her training. I worry that I’m not going to do the right thing where Sasha is concerned. With her parents gone, I’m all she has.”
“Worry is half the battle,” Charity told him. “It means you care. Too many people don’t. You’ll do your best. Sometimes you’ll get it right, the rest of the time you’ll fake it.” She looked at him with compassion. “Believe me, I understand. I came into a household with two nearly grown young women. I wanted to share my life experiences with them, but I had to balance that with their need to find things out for themselves. Sometimes it was hard to bite my tongue, sometimes I wondered how much I was going to get wrong. But I knew I loved those girls and the loving makes all the difference.”