Kitabı oku: «Her Christmas Wish», sayfa 2

My child…

She whispered the words out loud and then, as the house came into view, she saw a face in the living room window. And then a blur of pink and lavender rushing down the sidewalk toward her car.

God, help me. I don’t think I can do this.

Immediately, the suffocating weight disappeared and she was able to breathe again.

There was a light rap on the passenger window of her car. Leah dared to look over and saw Olivia’s smiling face looking in at her. She slid out of the car and tested her knees, wondering if they were going to do their job and hold her upright.

“Your car is a funny color.”

Now Olivia was right beside her, her eyes bright and curious. Her finger traced a crooked path down the hood of the car.

Leah felt hot tears prickle her eyes as her heart struggled to absorb every detail about Olivia Cavanaugh. She was small for her age. Her hair had been expertly braided into matching pigtails. She was missing a front tooth. Her fingernails were coated with pink polish.

“Charlie is a little different.” Leah forced herself to concentrate.

“Charlie?” Olivia’s head tilted to one side, reminding Leah of a little bird.

“That’s its name. And your name must be Olivia.”

“Yup. But our car doesn’t have a name.” Olivia giggled.

As used to the sound of childish giggles as she was, this one went straight to her heart. Leah had expected Olivia to be shy, perhaps even resentful, of the woman taking Mrs. Baker’s place. She hadn’t expected the little girl to be so open and friendly.

When Olivia slipped her hand into Leah’s, Leah caught her breath.

“My daddy told me all about you,” Olivia chattered as they made their way up the sidewalk. She lowered her voice a little. “He said you don’t like the slide.”

“I think that for you I’d be willing to give it a try again,” Leah said, allowing Olivia to tow her into the house.

“We can go down like a train,” Olivia said. “Then you won’t be scared.”

Without warning, they turned a corner and Leah came face-to-face with Ben. He was standing in the kitchen beside the sink, obviously cleaning up from supper. Even dressed in work clothes, with his dark hair brushing the collar of his denim shirt, he looked like he’d just stepped out of a magazine cologne ad.

“Daddy, Miss Paxson said she’d go down the slide with me!”

Leah was glad that Olivia’s presence deflected the attention away from her, because she wasn’t sure she was good at pretending.

“Are you feeling all right, Miss Paxson?” He frowned at her.

Obviously she wasn’t as good at pretending as she’d hoped!

“I’m fine.” She forced her eyes to meet his.

He didn’t look convinced.

Fortunately, Olivia was anxious to show her to her room and Leah was able to escape Ben’s intense, brown-eyed gaze.

“Your room is next to mine,” Olivia told her as they reached the top of the stairs and walked down the narrow hallway. “There’s a door between them, but Nanny B didn’t want me to use it unless it was an emergency.”

“I see.” Leah hid a smile.

“Do you think thunderstorms are emergencies?” Olivia slid an anxious look at her.

“Definitely.”

“What about bad dreams?”

“Those, too.”

Olivia’s eyes reflected her relief. “Really?”

“And I think that cold toes and spelling tests and needing to talk are all emergencies, too.”

“You do?” Olivia squeaked.

Leah resisted the urge to sweep the little girl into her arms. Memories that she’d tucked away for seven years began to surface. The last time she’d held this child in her arms was hours after she’d given birth to her, when a sympathetic young nurse had brought her into Leah’s room to say goodbye. Her baby’s face was etched in her memory, the velvety skin of her cheek and the tuft of golden-brown hair on her head.

Olivia was patting her arm. “Do you like it?”

Leah snapped back to the present and realized Olivia was asking her about the room.

“It’s perfect,” Leah said, studying the small bedroom. There was a single bed positioned against one wall, made up with a pale green comforter and matching shams. At the foot of the bed was a beautiful trunk fitted with brass hinges. She wondered if Ben had made it. The floral curtains on the window were faded, but Leah thought they only added to the room’s overall charm.

“This was Uncle Eli’s room,” Olivia said. “Daddy said the walls used to be brown.” She made a face.

“Is Uncle Eli your father’s brother?” Leah was anxious to piece together a picture of the Cavanaugh family.

“He’s a doctor.” Olivia bounced onto the bed, toppling a pyramid of stuffed animals that had been resting on the pillow. “He married Aunt Rachel. Aunt Rachel has pretty hair. She likes to braid mine.” Olivia gave a long-suffering sigh. “I let her.”

Leah chuckled. “I hope I get a chance to meet them.”

“Aunt Rachel invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner,” Olivia informed her. “Uncle Eli told me I’d have to help make the pies because Aunt Rachel only knows how to order them from the cate…” Olivia stumbled over the unfamiliar word.

“Caterer?” Leah guessed.

“Yup. And Grammy and Papa are coming from Florida to eat turkey with us. Papa always brings me a new shell for my collection.”

Leah tamped down the butterflies that had taken flight in her stomach once again. In the past, the families she worked for had always given her holidays off. She’d never been included in the actual celebrations, and even though she and Ben hadn’t worked out the specifics of her contract yet, she was sure that the Cavanaughs wouldn’t be any different.

Olivia skipped across the room and opened a narrow door centered in the wall. “Do you want to see my room?”

“I’d love to.”

Leah followed her into a little girl’s wonderland. From the ruffled valances that framed the windows to the fluffy comforter on the bed, everything was iced in pink.

Over the past five years, Leah had learned to tell a lot about the children in her life by their bedrooms. With a quick glance around the room, she could see that Olivia loved books, stuffed animals and music.

She could also see that Olivia was well-loved but not overly indulged. There was no computer, expensive stereo or television in her room like there had been in some of the bedrooms of the children she’d cared for. Instead, there was an artist’s easel, a bin overflowing with ink pads and rubber stamps and a microphone attached to a tiny boom box. On a nightstand next to bed, one lone goldfish with a filmy tail resided in a very clean bowl.

Her respect for Ben Cavanaugh rose even more. He was a good father.

Thank You, Lord. The simple words took wing from deep inside her. Ben Cavanaugh was exactly the kind of father she had prayed for for Olivia. The kind of father she hadn’t had. And even though he seemed a bit rigid and controlled, she wondered if that hadn’t come from losing his wife at such a young age.

For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

The verse swept into her thoughts and Leah clung to it, just like she had the first time she’d heard it, shortly after she’d given her baby up for adoption. Her future had looked bleak. She was exhausted from carrying the guilt that weighted down her heart. But then she’d discovered that God loved her and had a plan for her. Those were the words that had brought healing to her life.

As sure as Leah was that God had brought peace into her life, she knew that He’d also brought her to the Cavanaughs.

Chapter Three

Ben paused in the doorway, realizing that Olivia was so caught up in giving Leah an item-by-item description of her favorite things that she hadn’t noticed him yet.

It gave him a few seconds to study the new nanny.

As he watched, Leah put out her hand as if she was going to ruffle Olivia’s hair, but at the last second she withdrew it and crossed her arms instead. He wondered if she was the type of person who wasn’t comfortable with physical affection. When he was younger, he hadn’t been much of what his mother liked to call a “hugger” either, but having Olivia had changed that. The first time she’d grabbed his finger and squeezed it in her tiny fist, she’d won him over completely to the hugging side of life.

For the second time that day, he had the feeling that he’d seen Leah somewhere before. Chestnut Grove wasn’t that big…he must have caught a glimpse of her at the park or the diner at some point in time.

“This is Pearl….”

Olivia finally took a breath and Ben took advantage of the opportunity to break into their conversation.

“Is your room all right, Miss Paxson?”

Olivia let out a little shriek and Leah jumped. He was surprised her feet could leave the ground in those boots.

“Daddy, you scared us,” Olivia scolded.

“I’m sorry.” He said the words automatically, even as he noticed that Leah’s cheeks were tinted pink.

“It’s fine, Mr. Cavanaugh. Thank you.”

“Miss Paxson said that I can use the door between our rooms,” Olivia said. “But she has more emergencies than Nanny B had.”

Ben tried to decipher those cryptic words and gave up. “I know you have a spelling test tomorrow, peanut, so why don’t you study your list while Miss Paxson and I talk about some things.”

Olivia looked disappointed but she nodded. “You’ll be here tomorrow, won’t you, Miss Paxson?”

Leah glanced at him, almost as if she were wondering if he’d changed his mind. Not that he hadn’t spent most of the afternoon considering it! “I’ll be here when you get home from school.”

“Nanny B always picked me up,” Olivia explained.

“Then I suppose I’ll pick you up, too.”

“Which is one of the things Miss Paxson and I need to talk about,” Ben said meaningfully to his daughter.

“It was nice to meet you, Olivia,” Leah whispered before following him downstairs.

Ben caught a whiff of something stirring the air that smelled like vanilla. He realized it was Leah. He quickened his pace a little and decided to talk to her in his office again instead of the living room.

“Olivia seems to like you.” He motioned for Leah to sit down in the chair opposite his desk.

“She’s a very sweet little girl.”

Ben didn’t like feeling off-center. And the truth was he’d been feeling off-centered since that morning, when he’d interviewed Leah for the job. “My work takes me away from home a lot, Miss Paxson, and even though Olivia is in school full-time during the day, I don’t want her to be a latchkey kid when she comes home, making her own supper and waiting for me to come home in the evening. When Mrs. Baker left, I adjusted my schedule the best I could, but I will need you to take Olivia to school and pick her up at the end of day. I work most evenings until seven, and Saturday mornings, too. You can have one evening off per week and every Sunday.”

He gave her a brief outline of the things that Mrs. Baker had taken care of and mentioned some of his own expectations about her duties. Finally he paused, waiting to see if Leah had any questions.

Nothing could have prepared him for the one she chose to ask.

“Where do you and Olivia worship on Sunday mornings?”

“Worship?”

“Do you have a church family?” She tried again.

“No.”

A church family? What kind of question was that? But he knew exactly what kind of question it was. It was the kind of question that someone who was a Christian would ask.

He saw something in her eyes that looked almost like regret. But why would Leah Paxson regret the fact that he didn’t go to church? Maybe for the same reason his parents did. The unwelcome thought pushed its way into his head. They’d always told him that when he lost Julia, he hadn’t lost God, but he knew that was only partially true. How could you lose a God you weren’t sure had been there to begin with?

Leah drew in a quick, unsteady breath. She could tell by the look on Ben’s face that he didn’t like her question. His expression wasn’t the neutral one of someone who went about their day-to-day business and didn’t think about God, either. He looked like someone who’d unexpectedly heard the name of a friend who’d betrayed him.

A red flag rose in her mind, but Leah knew she had a bad habit of turning red flags into banners. Yet she had an important question and she needed to know the answer.

“I go to Chestnut Grove Community Church,” she said. “Do I have your permission to take Olivia if she wants to go with me?”

His eyes said no. His mouth even opened and started to form the word.

“If she wants to go with you.” Those were the words she heard him say instead. And Leah could tell he was just as surprised as she was. “You’ve probably seen my brother and his wife there,” he added tersely.

“Uncle Eli,” Leah remembered, not able to place him by memory. There were two morning worship services so it wouldn’t be unusual that she didn’t know them. “And Aunt Rachel. Who uses a caterer.”

She probably shouldn’t have said that, but Ben smiled. “According to my brother, Rachel loves a challenge and she’s decided that cooking is the newest hill to conquer. She insists on making Thanksgiving dinner this year.”

“Olivia mentioned that. And your parents are visiting from Florida?”

“They’ll be here the day before Thanksgiving. Do you have family in Chestnut Grove?”

The only family she had was studying her spelling words, but she couldn’t tell him that. “No. My mom passed away three years ago.” No point in mentioning her dad. He’d abandoned them when Leah was five and she didn’t have a clue where he was.

“I’m sorry.”

The two words were simple and Leah had heard them many times before, but she could hear the sincerity in his voice. He’d lost someone he’d loved, too. For a moment, Leah felt a brief connection with him. “Thank you.”

Ben stood up. “Do you have any questions about your responsibilities or the schedule, Miss Paxson?”

The schedule. He’d gone over it at the beginning of their conversation, detail by minute detail. She didn’t have any questions about it but she already had a few changes in mind!

“Miss Paxson…” Ben hesitated and Leah braced herself. She’d known him less than twenty-four hours and had already figured out that when he said her name and then searched for the right words, he wasn’t going to be talking about an increase in her salary. “Mrs. Baker lived here for seven years. She became a member of the family. Like a grandmother.”

Uh-oh.

“You may want to go out…or have friends over. Maybe even your boyfriend.” Ben shoved his hands into his pockets. “I realize you have a life, Miss Paxson, and I know that taking care of my daughter is a job…”

The word boyfriend had temporarily frozen Leah in place, but when she realized what he was getting at, she knew she had to say something.

“Mr. Cavanaugh, this may sound silly, but taking care of children is my life. I’m committed to Olivia and it’s not just because I’m under contract—”

“Technically, you aren’t under contract yet,” Ben reminded her. “Until the trial period is over.”

Leah knew he hadn’t meant to hurt her with his matter-of-fact words, but she couldn’t imagine being with Olivia for a month and then leaving. Somehow, she knew a second goodbye would shatter her heart more than the first one. Getting to know her daughter, only to lose her again, would be even more devastating.

Ben plowed his fingers through his hair in a gesture that clearly communicated his discomfort. “While you’re living here, treat this house as your home. I want you to feel comfortable here. That’s all I meant. I wasn’t questioning your dedication.”

It was easy for Leah to see that she wasn’t what he’d expected, but because of the circumstances, he’d had to hire her. He realized that she wasn’t Nanny Baker, bless that woman’s grandmotherly heart, and he was trying to create some order out of the chaos her sudden departure had created. The trapped look in his eyes told her he was navigating unfamiliar territory and Leah had a strong hunch it was something he didn’t like to do.

She felt an overwhelming urge to see him smile again.

“Does that mean I can practice my cello?” She gave him a hopeful look.

“You don’t really play the cello, do you?” He was beginning to catch on.

“No. The saxophone.” She was rewarded by the glimmer of a smile in his eyes. Oh, well, it was a start. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Cavanaugh.”

It was getting late and even though her fingers itched to tuck Olivia in, she knew she had to be patient. Tomorrow night, she told herself as she followed Ben down the hall. Tomorrow she could put her daughter to bed and begin building bittersweet memories. He opened the front door for her and she suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, I forgot to give you this.” Leah dug into her bag and pulled out an umbrella.

Ben’s mouth slashed into a reluctant smile as he took it from her and held it up to the light, making a point to study it from every angle.

“Does it pass inspection?” Leah asked. “See, it’s quite ordinary, just like me.”

For a moment, she felt the full force of his gaze and there weren’t any shadows lingering there. His eyes were warm and unguarded and his next words sucked the air out of her lungs. “I don’t think ordinary is a word I’d use to describe you at all, Miss Paxson.”

Chapter Four

“Looks like you have company.”

Jonah Fraser’s muffled voice reached Ben, where he was wedged between the wall and a built-in bookcase they were trying to remove with as little damage to it as possible.

“Man, that can’t be your new nanny.”

Ben closed his eyes briefly. Judging by the amazed tone in Jonah’s voice, he suddenly knew exactly who the company was. It was anyone’s guess, however, as to why they were here. Leah had been living with them for a week now and she still hadn’t figured out the schedule. Either that, or—and his suspicions were growing stronger by the hour—she just didn’t care about the schedule.

The first thing she’d done after she’d moved in was change suppertime. When he’d come home from work the day Leah moved in, expecting to eat a plate of leftovers at seven, he’d discovered the table set for three. Olivia had cheerfully announced that she’d eaten a snack after school and from now they were all going to eat together.

The second thing was, she really did play the saxophone. And she played it from eight to eight-thirty every evening. Olivia claimed it helped her fall asleep but he found it difficult to concentrate on his novel with the mournful, steamy notes of a saxophone permeating the house.

Now it looked like he was about to discover yet another Leah-driven change. He slid out from behind the bookcase just in time to see Olivia and Leah walk into the room. Leah had a picnic basket tucked under one arm.

“We made you and Jonah a pie, Daddy,” Olivia said excitedly.

Jonah swung Olivia up and perched her on his shoulder as she giggled helplessly. “This is a nice surprise.” He grinned at Ben.

Ben glanced at Leah, who was carefully removing a pie from the basket. “Right. Surprise.” He couldn’t argue with that. Over the past week, his life had become one big surprise.

“We’re making pies to take to Uncle Eli’s,” Olivia said. “Leah said it’s always good to have extra to share.”

“I’ll go along with Leah,” Jonah said in such a cheerful voice that Ben suddenly wanted to stuff him behind the bookcase. “I’m Jonah Fraser, by the way.”

Leah straightened and extended her hand. “Reverend Fraser’s son, right? It’s nice to meet you. I’m Leah Paxson.”

“Always labeled as the minister’s kid,” Jonah said, shaking his head in wonder. “You never outgrow it.”

Leah smiled and Ben cleared his throat. One of Jonah’s eyebrows lifted but Ben ignored him. Leah’s amber gaze swung to him.

“I hope you don’t mind that we stopped by,” she said. “I told Olivia that when we finished making the pies, I’d take her to the Starlight for a hamburger and we decided we’d bring a treat over for the two of you on the way.”

“’Cause I worked so hard,” Olivia put in. “Two apple, one pumpkin and a cherry.”

Jonah swung Olivia down from his shoulder and as soon as her feet touched the floor, she bounced over to her father. “We brought you apple.”

Ben was still mulling over Leah’s words. He didn’t know if he minded that they were here. He remembered telling Leah where he kept a copy of his daily schedule in case she needed to get in touch with him. In an emergency. Maybe finding someone to eat an apple pie fresh from the oven was one of the emergencies on Leah’s list. He sighed.

Olivia felt it. “Are you tired, Daddy?”

They were all looking at him now. He forced a smile. “Nothing that a piece of apple pie won’t cure.”

“So, you’re risking—I mean eating—Thanksgiving dinner at Eli and Rachel’s this year, hmm?” Jonah said.

The truth was, Ben hadn’t even thought about Thanksgiving. He’d been too busy trying to finish his client’s library before they returned from their cruise in the Bahamas. “At least we’ll have pie.” He winked at Olivia.

His daughter turned to Leah. “Maybe you can help Aunt Rachel with the turkey.”

“Oh, sweetie…I won’t be with you on Thanksgiving.”

“Why not?” Olivia’s voice echoed around the spacious room.

Ben saw a shadow pass across Leah’s face, dimming the warm sparkle that he was used to seeing in her eyes. “Well, holidays are for families. I never spend holidays with the people I work for.”

But she didn’t have a family. Ben remembered her telling him that her mother had passed away. She hadn’t mentioned a father and he assumed there must have been a reason why.

“But you’re part of the family,” Olivia insisted and then turned pleading eyes to him to say something.

He wasn’t sure what to say. The bond that had quickly forged between Olivia and her new nanny concerned him. Leah was young and pretty, it was only a matter of time until she met someone and fell in love, got married and started a family of her own…and then she’d leave. Even though she was young, Leah was closer to a mother figure than Nanny Baker had been. Nanny B had loved Olivia but she had clear boundaries that defined her personal time and space. Since Leah had moved in with them, he hadn’t noticed her creating any of those boundaries. She was available to Olivia 24/7. Even when she was supposed to take an evening off for herself, she’d taken Olivia to Chestnut Grove Community Church for a children’s fun night instead.

Over the years, Mrs. Baker had taken the opportunity over the holidays to visit her own family, and as close as she and Olivia were, Olivia hadn’t protested at all.

“Daddy?”

He’d hesitated too long. Leah looked uncomfortable, Jonah looked incredulous and Olivia looked crestfallen.

“Chestnut Community is hosting a community Thanksgiving dinner and service this year, Leah,” Jonah interrupted cautiously.

Ben shot him an impatient look. For some reason, the thought of Leah spending the day elbow-to-elbow with strangers and eating sliced turkey off plastic plates didn’t sit well with him.

“You’re more than welcome to join us at Eli’s,” he said. “I know Rachel won’t mind, and my parents will want to meet you.”

As far as invitations went, it was everything that was polite and cordial, but Leah still felt as if a fissure had formed in her heart. It was obvious that Ben still didn’t approve of her. But for Olivia…

She glanced down at the little girl. She’d missed seven years of holidays and now God was giving her a gift. The opportunity to spend one with her daughter. Even as she yearned to say yes to Ben’s reluctant invitation, a niggling doubt settled in her heart.

What if Ben’s family saw the resemblance between her and Olivia?

When she’d taken Olivia to children’s night at the church on Wednesday, one of the women had assumed they were mother and daughter. Olivia had grinned widely at the mistake but Leah had felt a ripple of fear. She didn’t want anyone to put the idea in Ben’s head that maybe she and Olivia were related.

People see what they want to see.

One of her mother’s favorite sayings came back to her. No one knew anything about her past. They didn’t know she’d given a baby up for adoption. She was simply the woman hired to take care of Olivia. That’s what Ben’s family would see when they looked at her. She took a deep breath.

“I’d love to spend Thanksgiving with you.”

Before the words were even out of her mouth, Olivia’s arms were around her waist.

Later that evening, Leah was doing a load of laundry when Ben was suddenly standing behind her.

“Are you finding your way around the house all right?” he asked.

Leah never failed to startle when Ben unexpectedly appeared. There was something about him that drained away her ability to think clearly. Or speak with any kind of intelligence whatsoever! At least it felt that way.

“You’re a jumpy little thing, aren’t you?” Ben frowned.

Only around you, Leah thought. The truth was, the sight of him did strange things to her heart rate. “If the floor creaked, you wouldn’t be able to sneak up on me like this. That’s what happens when you live with a carpenter, though. A squeak wouldn’t dare take up residence in this house.”

Ben leaned against the dryer and folded his arms across his chest, which stretched the fabric of his shirt taut across his torso. Leah felt like Alice in Wonderland—the laundry room was definitely getting smaller. She shifted her gaze to a point on the wall behind his shoulder, a safe focal point to dwell on instead of his lean, muscular frame and handsome face.

“I know Olivia put you in a tough spot today,” he said after a moment. “Don’t feel obligated to spend Thanksgiving with us if you have other plans.”

The plans she’d had involved renting a video and curling up to watch it while eating a turkey sandwich. “I don’t have other plans. If you’re sure your brother and his wife won’t mind me crashing their dinner party.”

“What’s that saying? The more the merrier? A Cavanaugh code, I’m afraid. My parents—especially my mother—live for family gatherings.”

Family gatherings. Those two simple words squeezed Leah’s heart. She knew some people took them for granted, but she knew she never would. If she were ever part of a family…

“Well,” she said brightly, closing the top of the washer, “this is done. I guess I’ll go upstairs now.”

“No saxophone?” Ben’s eyebrows shot up.

Leah’s face warmed. “Making all those pies wore me out.”

“Good night, Miss Paxson.” Ben watched her scoot out of the room. She always moved quickly, but with an unmistakable grace. Like a dancer. He shook the thought away. He was almost finished reading his novel, but now he found himself wondering if he’d be able to concentrate on it without the mellow music of the saxophone playing in the background.

“I’ll be right back.”

Leah took a moment to slip out of the kitchen, where she’d been helping Rachel Cavanaugh and Ben’s mother, Peggy, with Thanksgiving dinner. She retreated to Eli’s study to stabilize her racing thoughts.

Lord, Peggy keeps staring at me when she thinks I’m not watching. Maybe spending Thanksgiving with them wasn’t such a good idea.

Peggy and Tyrone Cavanaugh were openly friendly and welcoming, but from the moment Ben had introduced Leah to his parents, Peggy Cavanaugh had had a thoughtful look in her eyes. Especially when, in the process of telling Leah a secret, Olivia had pulled Leah’s head down so they were cheek-to-cheek.

After that, Leah had offered to help Rachel in the kitchen, leaving Tyrone Cavanaugh to entertain Olivia with a new book about seashells that he’d brought her. But she still felt Peggy’s gaze settle on her occasionally.

The chance to spend Thanksgiving with Olivia—and Ben—had been too tempting. Leah caught her lower lip in her teeth and wondered if she would make it through the rest of the day.

A chorus of groans suddenly erupted from the living room, where Ben and Eli were watching football. Leah couldn’t prevent a smile. There was an obvious affection between the two brothers. She’d seen that right away.

Drawn to a framed portrait on the wall, Leah stepped closer and studied the Cavanaugh family. The picture must have been taken when Ben and Eli were in high school. Her gaze lingering on the two boys, she wondered who in the Cavanaugh family tree Eli favored. Where Peggy and Tyrone had passed on their dark good looks to Ben, Eli was blond with light green eyes.

“They were quite a pair. I credit every gray hair I have on my head to those boys. And I’m still getting them, so what does that tell you?”

Leah heard Peggy Cavanaugh’s lilting voice behind her and her heart skipped a beat. Her plan to escape to a quiet place to think had backfired. Now she was alone with the woman who’d been responsible for her escape to begin with!

Peggy came to stand beside her. “Rachel and the turkey are in a standoff,” she murmured. “But my guess is that Rachel is going to win the battle.”

Leah would have to agree. With her chestnut hair and exotic hazel eyes, Rachel Cavanaugh could have easily been a contestant in a beauty pageant, but it was her easy confidence and warm friendliness that Leah had immediately been drawn to. That and the fact that the second the two women had met, Rachel had leaned over and whispered two words tersely in her ear. “Corn pudding?”

Leah could only assume she was being asked if she knew how to make it. She’d nodded. Rachel had discreetly looked at her watch and then flashed all five fingers at Leah. In that moment, any doubts Leah had had about her presence in Rachel’s home were firmly put to rest.

“We adopted Eli when he was six years old,” Peggy said softly. “His parents were killed in a car accident and Eli was with them but he only suffered minor injuries. Ben was seven at the time but we’d adopted him from Tiny Blessings as a baby. We were never told much about his birth parents. Back then, the records were sealed, you know. Not like nowadays, when there are open adoptions and contact clauses.”