Single with Kids

So he swallowed the words, along with a few choice phrases he would like to have used. “Yes, sir.” He headed toward the storeroom and the boxes of locks. “Whatever you say.”

WHEN HER OFFICE INTERCOM buzzed during her Monday morning staff meeting, Valerie could have sworn in frustration. “Excuse me, gentlemen.”

The other department heads relaxed in their chairs as she crossed the room to pick up the phone on her desk. She turned her back to the conference table before she spoke. “Terri, I asked you not to disturb me during the meeting.”

“I know, Ms. Manion. But it’s your children’s school calling. I thought you’d want to know if someone was sick or hurt.” Her secretary had three children of her own, their pictures proudly displayed on her desk.

“Yes, of course.” Valerie sighed, sweeping her fingertips across her own bare work surface. “Put me through.”

After a click, a man’s voice said, “Hello?”

“This is Valerie Manion.”

“Ah, Mrs. Manion. This is Charles Randleman, the principal at Crawford Elementary School. I need to speak with you about your son, Connor.”

“Is he hurt? Sick?”

“Uh, no. Connor is fine. But he’s been causing us a great deal of trouble, and I think it’s time I involve you in the situation.”

Oh, Connor. Not again. “Has he hurt somebody?”

“No, no, not really. But—”

“Is the school building still standing?”

“Yes, of course. But, Mrs. Manion—”

His use of “Mrs.” set her teeth on edge. “Then I’ll have to call you back, Mr. Randleman. I’m in a meeting and I really can’t talk right now.”

“But this is your son, Mrs. Manion. Surely, he’s your first priority.”

“Yes, and if I don’t work, he doesn’t eat, which is a priority for both of us. So I’ll call you when I’m free and we’ll set up a time to talk. Thanks for letting me know there’s a problem.” She hung up on the principal’s bluster, took two seconds to master her worry and then turned to smile at the four men waiting for her. “Now, we were reviewing those production figures for the last quarter, weren’t we? Do we have a good reason for the six-percent drop?”

An hour later, she finally had her office to herself. As she put together the reports she’d received, Terri knocked on the door. “Here’s your lunch, Ms. Manion.” She set a tray on the conference table. “Is there anything else?”

Valerie didn’t glance at the food. “Terri, we need to get something settled. I’m going to notify the school that you are authorized to receive any emergency information about Grace and Connor that needs to be delivered. I don’t want to be interrupted in a meeting unless there’s a really good reason. This morning’s chat with the principal was not a good reason.”

Terri’s pale blue eyes went round with shock. “You want me to…to…to brush off a principal?”

Valerie grinned. “Haven’t you always wanted to?”

But Terri didn’t smile back. “N-No. I haven’t.”

“Oh. Well, yes, I want you to tell the principal that if no one’s life or health is at stake, I will call him when I have a chance.”

“But you’re their mother. You have to care about what’s wrong.”

“I do care. But I care about my work, as well. Do the other vice presidents take personal calls from the school during meetings?”

“I—I don’t know…”

“I’ve been working in management for ten years now, and I’ve never seen it happen.”

Terri couldn’t seem to grasp the concept. She wrung her hands. “Their f-father isn’t—”

“No, he isn’t. And he didn’t take calls when he was. I’m not saying I want to ignore a serious problem, Terri. If Connor’s sick, I want them to tell you and I’ll leave as soon as possible to take him home. I just need to be able to prioritize. That means only bona fide emergencies during the workday. Okay?”

“O-Okay.”

Still looking confused, the secretary went back to her desk. Valerie sat down in front of her salad and crackers, with the production reports in front of her. Work time was for working, or else she’d never get everything done.

The intercom buzzed again before she’d had time for more than a forkful of lettuce. “Yes?”

“Ms. Manion, I’m sorry. But it’s the school again.”

“I—” No, she wouldn’t complain. Her authorization wasn’t in place yet. “Let me speak to them.”

Another click on the line. “Mrs. Manion, this is Principal Randleman. I’m afraid we do have a serious problem this time.”

Valerie waited, expecting to hear about some wrestling match in the library.

“Connor punched his fist through a window,” Randleman said. “We had him taken to the hospital in an ambulance.”

ROB ARRIVED AT the elementary school thirty minutes before the end of class on Wednesday. As early as he was, though, he found Valerie there ahead of him, with her boxes of papers, books and supplies already unloaded and sitting on a cafeteria table.

“You are one organized lady,” he told her, noticing the precut craft supplies, the cookies and juice for snacks already prepared. “I’d have to be a real early bird to get the worm before you do.”

She smiled, but he thought her eyes looked strained. “I like knowing everything is ready ahead of time. Surprises make me nervous.”

“I understand.” He held out the bag he carried. “Twenty-five compasses, donated by Moore’s Outdoor Store.”

“Donated? Really?” She gazed into the bag, then looked up in amazement. “How did you get them to do that?”

“Hank Moore’s a friend of mine from high school. I asked and he said he’d be glad to contribute.”

“That’s terrific. We can do the orienteering activity we talked about.” Valerie set the bag beside her other materials. “I came up with another game to have in its place, but I’d much rather work with the compasses.”

Irritation flickered inside him. “I told you I’d get them. You didn’t need to waste time worrying about another activity.”

She turned away. “Well, yes, but sometimes people don’t get around to doing what they say they will, so it’s best to be prepared.”

He caught her wrist between his fingers and tugged her back around. “Listen, Valerie. When I say I’ll do something, you can count on it getting done. No excuses, no second thoughts.” She still hadn’t looked at him, so he lifted her chin with his other hand. “Got that?”

“Got it,” she said, breathlessly, her brown eyes wide. Rob realized suddenly how close he’d brought her—close enough for a kiss, if he bent his head. Just a touch of his mouth to hers…

The loud jangle of a nearby bell announced the end of school. Before the vibrations had died away, he and Valerie stood a table’s length apart. In the next moment, little girls started pouring into the room, which effectively doused any adult inclinations he might entertain.

In time, Rob supposed, he would learn all their names, but to begin with there seemed to be a hundred of them, all about the same size and shape, all dressed in khaki shorts and vests and dark blue shirts, all running and chattering and in general creating chaos. Talk about safety in the meeting place! Ginny came in last of all, wearing the same outfit but easily distinguished by her crutches.

He met her in the center of the cafeteria. “Hey, sweetheart. How was your day?”

“Okay.” She looked tired, as she always did after school. “This is really crazy.” As she spoke, a redhead with pigtails flashed by Rob, headed at top speed across the room. Next thing he knew, Ginny cried out and both girls went down in a jumble of legs, arms, and stainless steel.

“Oh, man.” He knelt by his daughter, who was thrashing around. “Settle down, Ginny.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “You’re okay.”

“I am not. She hurt me!”

The redhead was crying, too. “Oww. My arm hurts.”

Valerie knelt on the other side. “Sit up, sweetie. There you go. Let me see your arm.” Rob helped Ginny sit up, and they got the two bodies separated. The four of them were now the center of a circle formed by wide-eyed little girls.

“That was a stupid thing to do.” Ginny had shifted into a high-gear tantrum. “You don’t run around people with crutches—you might hurt them. Can’t you see where you’re going?”

“Hush,” Rob told her. “It was an accident.”

“I think you’re okay,” Valerie told the other girl. “You just fell hard on your hand.” She looked around the circle. “Why don’t we start the meeting? Girls, get your books from your backpacks and sit down here. Grace, would you bring my books over? And where’s Connor?”

“He went outside to the playground,” Grace said as she handed her mother the materials.

“He can’t play outside with his hand in a bandage. Go get him, please, and tell him to come inside.”

“He won’t come if I say so.”

“Tell him I’d better see him in here in one minute or he’ll be missing TV for the rest of the week.”

Grace heaved a big sigh and went toward the door. Rob could sympathize—he had it on Jen’s authority that it wasn’t fun, keeping track of a little brother all the time when you’d rather be participating in your own activities.

Thanks to the planning session on Sunday, he’d brought along Ginny’s floor chair so she could sit with the other girls. By the time he’d gotten her settled, Grace was back with a disgusted Connor. The boy’s hand was bandaged from fingertips to elbow.

“Did you get in a fight with a bobcat?” Rob winked at him. “They’re mean critters, aren’t they?”

Connor narrowed his eyes. “There are bobcats around here?”

“Not really. What did you do to your hand?”

But Connor wasn’t volunteering an answer. He turned his head away, just as Valerie officially started the meeting.

“I’m glad to see all of you at our first Girls Outdoors! meeting. I’m Ms. Manion, your leader, and this is Mr. Warren. He’ll be my assistant leader.”

“I didn’t know men could be leaders,” said a little blonde across the circle.

A dark-skinned girl spoke at almost the same time. “I didn’t know men could be assistants.”

Valerie grinned. “Well, according to the rules, men can be GO! assistant leaders. Mr. Warren was a Boy Scout and earned his Eagle award, so he knows lots of stuff about the outdoors he can share with us. Now, let’s go around the circle so each one can tell us her name and one interesting outdoors fact about her. Grace, can you start?”

Rob saw Grace flush, and her eyes looked a little bright. But she knew what to do. “My name is Grace Manion and I like bird-watching.”

Around the circle they went, learning names and hearing about girls who liked soccer or swimming or tennis, who camped with their families or sailed or spent a week at the beach. As the girls spoke, Connor started scooting away from the circle, pushing with his feet and sliding on his backside in an attempt to escape. Rob watched with a smile as Valerie grabbed the leg of the boy’s jeans just before he moved out of reach and pulled him back to sit beside her, all without even glancing in her son’s direction.

Just then, Ginny’s turn to talk arrived. “I’m Virginia Warren,” she said. “I like to ride horses.”

One of the girls on the other side of the circle said, “You ride horses? I don’t believe it.”

“I do ride.” Ginny’s face turned red. “I take lessons, too.”

On Rob’s left, Valerie nodded. “There are riding programs for people with all sorts of abilities. And there are GO! badges for horseback riding, among lots of other things. Open your books right now to page one hundred seventy—that’s the HorseCare Badge. To earn that badge, you have to do six of the activities listed on these pages. And when you do them all, then I can give you a little circle which looks just like the picture. You sew your badges on your vest and everyone can see all the interesting things you’ve done when you wear your uniform.”

She took them through the book as she had planned, pointing out the soccer badge, the swimming badge, the shell-collecting and bird-watching awards, plus cooking and camping and a myriad of other activities. “What you’ll need to do is to look through and decide which badges appeal to you the most. Some you can earn on your own, and some we’ll earn as a troop.”

Valerie got to her feet. “As a matter of fact, we have a couple of badge activities to do this afternoon. On page one-thirty-nine is the hiking badge.” She walked over to the table and took one of the compasses out of the bag. “Anybody know what this is?”

A couple of hands went up, including Grace’s. Valerie called on a different girl. “That’s a compass.”

“Right. And what’s it used for?”

Grace and several others raised their hands. “To find directions,” someone said.

“And which of the badge requirements does using a compass satisfy?”

All heads bowed low over the handbooks, each girl trying to read fast and be the first to answer the question. Grace put up her hand a minute before anyone else. Ginny was next.

“Tell us, Ginny,” Valerie said.

“We’re supposed to use the compass to make a path from one place to another place.”

“Right.” Valerie smiled. “So let’s all get up and Mr. Warren will start teaching us how to do just that.”

Rob thought he’d planned out his twenty allotted minutes very carefully, but he hadn’t counted on the silliness of third-grade girls. His time was up long before he’d gotten everyone to understand which way to point the compass, let alone how to change directions.

Valerie grinned at him as she raised her hand for quiet. “Looks like we’re going to need more than one meeting to understand orienteering. For now, all of you can put your compasses back into the bag, and then sit down at the table for snacks.” The girls stampeded toward Rob as he held the bag, then rushed to the table to jostle for their places. Grace and Ginny brought up the end.

“I understand,” Grace said quietly. “My mom and I have worked with compasses before.”

“I could tell,” Rob told her with a smile. “I saw you trying to help the others. I appreciate the effort.”

Her eyes shone at the praise. “You’re welcome.”

“Excuse me.” Ginny’s voice was at its most impatient. “I want some snacks before it’s all gone.” Grace stepped aside and went to sit at the end of the table.

Rob eyed his daughter with disapproval. “That was not polite.”

“Was I supposed to wait forever?”

“You—” He swallowed the reprimand. “Have a seat so everybody can eat.”

After snack came the craft segment, which had to do with making paper chains to represent the food chains in nature. Ginny’s fingers didn’t maneuver scissors well, so Rob spent most of his time cutting out the pictures she wanted from the pages of animals and plants Valerie had provided.

The meeting ended at four-thirty with another circle, standing up this time. “Link hands,” Valerie said. “Like this.” She crossed her arms and reached for the hands of the girls on either side of her. Everyone else followed suit…except Ginny, who couldn’t hold her crutches and cross her arms.

“Just take my hand,” Rob told her. “Don’t worry about it.” But he could tell by the set of her mouth that another storm was brewing.

As they all held hands, Valerie taught them a song about friendship. “This is how we’ll close every meeting,” she told them. “As friends and as a troop. Remember the GO! motto—All for one, and one for all!” At the words, she turned in place, uncrossing her arms as she did so. The girls—except for Ginny, and Rob—followed suit.

Then there were parents arriving to pick up their daughters, book bags to gather and chains to collect, and more excited chatter than Rob had ever imagined.

Finally, the room grew quiet, with only three children left to deal with. Ginny had made her way to a chair and sat there twirling her paper chain around her wrist. As Valerie packed up her supplies, Grace gathered trash from around the room and under the table where girls had let their scraps fall.

Connor had subsided onto the bench of a table and put his head down on his unbandaged arm. “What did happen to his arm?” Rob asked Valerie. “Is he okay?”

She put the last of the construction paper away. “He and another boy got into an argument at school on Monday. When the other boy teased him from behind a window, Connor…” She closed her eyes, then shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe it. “Connor punched his fist through the window.”

“Ouch.” Rob winced. “That had to hurt really bad.”

Valerie nodded. “He’s winding down on the pain medicine now. He didn’t damage anything badly, but he’s got several cuts with stitches and lots of others that just burn.”

“Did the other guy get hurt?”

“No, thank goodness. Then we’d be in an even bigger mess. As it is, they want me to take Connor to the doctor. The psychiatrist, actually.” She pressed her fingertips to her eyes. “They say his behavior is unmanageable. The school nurse suggested medication might help.”

Rob glanced at the little boy. “Do you want to go that route?”

“Of course not. And he’s not unmanageable to me. But I can’t be with him every day, every minute. He’s got to be able to control himself.” Valerie sighed. “He’s so angry.”

“Does he have friends? Play sports?”

“Two weeks in town isn’t long enough for friends.” Her shoulders slumped. “And I haven’t had time to investigate sports programs. I imagine it’s too late to join a team now.”

“I don’t know about that.” Rob picked up the box she’d packed before she could. “What does he like to play?”

“Soccer, of course. Doesn’t everybody?” Valerie reached out to take the box, but stopped when Rob frowned at her. “Fine. I’ll let you carry that one. I’ve got several more.”

“Why don’t you just unlock the car and open the door and let me do the carrying?”

She went to the door of the cafeteria and pointed the remote lock control at the van across the parking lot. After a pointed glance in his direction, she went to pick up a different box of supplies. “You see—I can compromise.”

“Stubborn,” he muttered as he walked past her.

“Independent,” she countered, following him.

The afternoon breeze carried a hint of autumn, and Rob stood still for a second after they’d loaded the van, appreciating the difference. “Every so often we’ll get a day like this, where the humidity is low and the shadows are crisp. Fall comes to this part of North Carolina, but it’s slow.” He looked at Valerie, noticing how the wind brushed her curls back from her pretty face. “I’ll bet you’re used to early autumns and cold winters.”

“Ohio, the last place we lived, had its share of winter weather.” She shook her head. “I won’t miss shoveling snow in the least.”

“We had a big storm here last winter—New Year’s Day, to be exact. We got almost ten inches of the white stuff. But it didn’t stay long.”

“That sounds good to me.” She shut the rear door of the van and turned back toward the school.

But Rob held his ground. He’d got her talking about herself, and he wasn’t about to give up now. “You aren’t from Ohio, right? Your accent says New York.”

“Brooklyn, actually.” She hesitated, as if unwilling to elaborate. “Before Ohio, though, we lived in Maryland for a couple of years.”

He leaned back against her van and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why so many moves? If you don’t mind telling me.”

“Those two moves were both promotions within my company. Great opportunities that I couldn’t turn down.” Valerie looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. “And before you ask, I’ll say that my husband refused to leave New York. Since he’d already moved out, there didn’t seem to be much point in trying anymore, and we filed for a divorce.”

“Ah. How long were you in Ohio?”

“Five years.”

“And now you’re in New Skye. Because…?”

“Because I got a job with a different company.”

“Another offer you couldn’t turn down?”

“Exactly.” Hands propped on her hips, she faced him. “Why is that so hard to understand? If I were a man, nobody would question my desire to succeed, to excel. A man is supposed to take the chances that come along for a better job, more money, more authority. Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I don’t have the same ambitions.”

Rob held up his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say—”

“My husband, weasel lawyer that he is, managed to construct a settlement that benefited him while shafting me and his kids. I am our sole support. I’m going to be responsible for their college money. I’m responsible for my retirement income. And I have every right to be just as damn successful as I want to be.”

“Valerie.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Hush.” She opened her mouth to say something else, but he shook her slightly and she backed down. “I’m not attacking anything you’ve done. I admire your gumption and your achievements. So relax.”

“That’s not what it sounded like,” she mumbled, staring down at the ground.

“You didn’t listen—just went off half-cocked.”

“Sorry.” When she looked up at him, her big brown eyes had a suspicious shine to them, as if she’d fought back tears. “It’s been a hard couple of weeks.”

“I’m sure it has.” He still held her shoulders, and he really liked the feeling of having her this close, which was as good a reason as any to let go. After a moment’s struggle, he managed to step back, putting her out of reach. To be safe, he jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “So I have a suggestion. How about dinner out tonight?”

Her eyes widened. “I…” She swallowed. “I don’t think so, Rob. I mean, I don’t have anything to do with the kids.”

He grinned. “I like the way you think. But I’m suggesting we bring them with us.”

“With us? You mean, to a restaurant?”

“Yeah. I know a place they’ll really like.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “I do not want to eat at some fast-food joint.”

“Nope. Not fast, not a joint. Just the best place in New Skye for a laid-back, delicious dinner.” Ginny had come to stand at the door to the school, no doubt wondering what could be keeping him so long. He called across to her. “What do you think, Ginny? Dinner at the Carolina Diner tonight?”

His daughter pumped her right arm in the air. “All right!”

Rob looked at Valerie. “See? What more testimony do you need?”

She smiled, setting those cute dimples on display. “Lead the way. I’m suddenly very hungry.”

CHAPTER FOUR

VALERIE FOLLOWED Rob Warren’s shiny black van out of the school parking lot, reflecting that she had a perfectly good jar of spaghetti sauce at home on the pantry shelf. There really was no need to make the effort to go out, though he’d promised her a restaurant with good food and a casual atmosphere for the kids. She had to admit, relaxed would be a welcome change of pace in her life.

“Where are we going?” Connor piped up from the back seat. “McDonald’s?”

“I don’t think so. Mr. Warren says this place is one of a kind.”

“Do we have to go?” Grace sounded tired. “I’ve got a lot of homework.”

Valerie glanced into the rearview mirror, but Grace avoided her eyes. “We need to eat. This won’t take any longer than cooking our own dinner. And you can get to know Ginny a little better.”

“Great.” The one word was not enthusiastic.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s in my class at school, Mom. And she’s…hard to talk to.”

“Her dad says she’s shy.”

“What’s wrong with her, anyway?” Connor wasted no time on tact. “She crippled or something?”

“Cerebral palsy is a birth defect,” Valerie explained. “Sometimes it happens when the baby is being born and doesn’t get enough oxygen to breathe. That causes problems with their nerves and muscles.”

“Can I catch it?”

“No, Connor. And I expect you to be polite while we’re at dinner—don’t stare, don’t ask questions. I’m sure that in most ways, Ginny is just an ordinary kid, like the two of you.”

She thought she heard Grace’s hmmph from the back seat, but she decided to ignore it. This dinner really was a good idea—as the new kids in school, both Grace and Connor were still trying to adjust and make friends. If Grace and Ginny could connect, that would be a start.