When It's Right(6)
Above the doctor’s name and the hospital’s address, her grandfather had neatly printed her name. She opened the envelope and gaped at the stack of money inside. She pulled out the small piece of paper with her name on it and unfolded it. A man of few words, her grandfather had written only, Please come home.
Those simple words tore at her aching heart. She fought back the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She’d never had a home. Not one that looked like those happy places on TV sitcoms. Not one like other kids had, with a mom and dad and dinner on the table every night. A home was supposed to be a safe place. She’d never had one of those.
“Gillian, I spoke to your grandfather this morning.” The social worker broke into her thoughts.
Yeah, because she’d refused to talk to him herself. Like a petulant child. She deserved a little hostility, given the situation. She didn’t know him, had never met him, and figured he was either dead or indifferent. Either way, it didn’t matter much to her. Why should she care if he didn’t? The call was too little, too late. Why did he all of a sudden care? What did he want?
She eyed Mrs. Carr, the social worker, who put up her hand to stop Gillian from yelling at her. “Don’t worry. I didn’t say anything about Justin.”
Gillian didn’t want her grandfather to know about Justin and try to gain custody because he thought her unfit to care for her little boy.
“He’s very concerned about you. He wants you to come to Montana. He’s willing to come and get you himself if that’s what you want. There’s a flight schedule in there, including enough cash for the plane ticket and extra for anything you might need to make the trip.”
“Who says I’m going anywhere?”
“Your rent is two months past due. You’re about to lose your apartment unless you can come up with the money immediately. In your condition, you will not be able to work for weeks. You don’t have the money to support yourself and Justin until your injuries heal, when you can work again and earn a paycheck.”
“I can work. Maybe not at all the jobs I do, but I can earn enough to take care of us.”
“Gillian, Justin is in a safe home at this time, where he will be cared for and fed. While the doctor assures me it isn’t beyond your ability to care for Justin, it will be extremely difficult for you to do so without a place to live and money to buy food. If you want to keep Justin, I’d take the money and go to Montana. Your grandfather is offering you a place to stay for free. You need someplace to rest and heal and decide what you want to do next.”
Montana? That was a long way away. Still, maybe that’s what Justin needed—to escape this waking nightmare.
“If you want Justin out of foster care when you leave this hospital, I need to know you’re taking him to your family in Montana. Otherwise, he’ll remain in foster care until you can prove that you are back to work, have a place to stay, and can afford to feed and care for him.”
Unacceptable. She’d never leave Justin with strangers. After what happened, he needed her even more. As far as she was concerned, the only family she had left was Justin. She wouldn’t let them take him from her. No way. She’d do anything to keep him.
“I can always call your grandfather back, tell him about Justin, and send him to Montana without you. But I don’t want to do that. It’s your choice.”
“Not really a choice at all, is it?”
“Not everyone is out to hurt you and make your life a misery, Gillian. Your grandfather sounds like a good man. Give him a chance. Who knows, you might find exactly what you’re looking for in Montana.”
The only thing she wanted was a safe place for Justin to grow up happy and healthy. A place where he could run wild and be a little boy for as long as possible. A place where he’d learn to smile again. And maybe, if they were lucky, a place with kind and decent people to show him how to be a real man.
Chapter 4
The sky was so bright the blue of it hurt her eyes. Gillian stopped the truck two miles from the ranch to take a minute to gather her courage. Mid-March, she looked out across the two-lane road at the rolling green hills running toward the trees and up to the mountains that surrounded the more-green-than-brown valley as the grass rose up, breaking free of winter’s icy hold. She’d never seen anything so beautiful in her life. She hadn’t realized places like this existed. Oh, she’d seen pictures in books, but they’d seemed like a fairy tale compared to the cramped apartments in whatever low-rent town or city she’d existed in until two weeks ago. She hadn’t known that grass could be three shades of green as it waved in the wind, or that trees could be so tightly packed you couldn’t see through them.