Willow Brook Road(44)

Carrie murmured something under her breath that drew a sharp look from Nell.

“What’s that, girl? Speak up.”

“I said Uncle Kevin’s dumplings are pretty light and fluffy.”

Nell gave her a chiding look. “You mean compared to mine?”

Carrie shrugged. “He does seem to have a magical touch.”

“And where’d he get that from, I ask you?” Nell inquired with a touch of indignation.

“I’m guessing he learned it from you,” Sam said quickly.

Nell gave a nod of satisfaction. “Of course he did,” she said, then frowned. “But do you know the ungrateful brat won’t tell me what he’s done to improve on my recipe.”

“So you’re admitting his are better?” Carrie pressed.

“Maybe a smidgen,” Nell conceded, “but if you tell him I said that, I’ll call you a liar.”

Sam noticed that Bobby was thoroughly engrossed in his meal, thank goodness. Because while the rest of them might be wise enough to keep Nell’s admission to themselves, if Bobby heard it, he’d blurt it out without a second thought.

“Hey, Bobby,” Sam said, just to see if he was as distracted as he’d hoped.

Bobby glanced up from his food. “Chicken and dumplings next week. I know.”

Sam winced. “And?”

“Kevin’s are better but we’re not telling.”

Dillon’s boom of laughter filled the kitchen. He reached over and squeezed Nell’s hand. “That’ll teach you to say things you don’t want repeated, my darlin’ Nell.”

A twinkle in her eyes, she focused on Bobby. “How many cookies would it take to make sure you forget what I said?”

Bobby’s face lit up. “I can have all I want?”

Carrie intervened. “No bribery, Gram.”

Nell sat back with a sigh. “I suppose I’ll just have to hope that Bobby has a very short memory or that he and Kevin don’t cross paths.”

“Something tells me you’re doomed on both scores,” Carrie said. “Kids always remember the things you don’t want them to and Kevin’s likely to be at Bobby’s T-ball practice every Saturday.”

As he had at Kevin and Shanna’s, Sam listened with growing amazement to the banter at the table. This was what it would be like to have a real family, connected not just by the chance of DNA, but by genuine caring. For the first time in his life, he wanted that, not just because it was what Bobby had lost and deserved to have again, but for himself. Also, for the first time, he could appreciate just how much effort Laurel had put into trying to give him some semblance of normalcy amid the chaos their parents’ dysfunction had created.





9

On Monday morning Carrie dragged herself out of bed at the ungodly hour of 5:00 a.m. to shower, dress and make the drive to the Happily-Ever-After Day-care Center. At least the sun was still coming up fairly early, so she wasn’t driving the winding road in the pitch-dark of winter.

At the center she found the lights on and Julie and two other women busy making sandwiches for lunch. Julie gave her an approving look, made quick introductions, then nodded toward a shelf where a box of disposable gloves had been left open.

“Get busy,” Julie said. “We need to have these made before the next round of kids starts to arrive. Lucy has the early arrivals entertained for now, but she’ll need help as soon as it starts getting crazy in here.”

Studying the turkey, tomato and lettuce sandwiches being assembled, Carrie pitched in and went to work, then dared to ask, “Wouldn’t peanut butter and jelly be a lot easier and more popular?”

“Peanut allergy,” Julie explained. “We know we have one boy who has it. Once we open that jar, who knows who might get their hands on it. Why take chances? And we try to stick to healthy options, not popular ones.”

“We shake things up with grilled cheese and tuna on pita bread,” Lucy said, joining them and reporting that the three early arrivals were occupied within view with picture books. “It’s never boring and the younger kids will pretty much try anything once. For a couple of them, the meal they get here will be the healthiest one they get all day. Add in some fruit and added veggies at snack time and they get decent nutrition from us. It makes the older ones more alert, too, so we can actually get in a few lessons during the day when the littlest ones are down for their naps.”

“What ages do you have?” Carrie asked. “I noticed some older kids here with a tutor the other day.”

“We have six up to the age of eight who come here after school. During the summer they’re often here all day. They’ve been with us since they were toddlers. I won’t take babies,” Julie said. “I just don’t have the staff, but we’ll take them as early as two as long as they’re reasonably potty trained.”