Entertaining Angels (12 page)

Kristy didn’t care how handsome the man was. He was still a minister. And she wasn’t the churchgoing type. “Thanks, but that’s not necessary.”

“Why not?”

She hadn’t been to church since before Gram’s stroke, and it wasn’t because there was no one to look after her grandmother. As much as she wanted to slam him with an it’s-none-of-your-business line or to conjure some kind of generic response, she figured it was best to level with him. That way, if he actually had been checking her out earlier and found himself even the least bit interested in her, she’d do them both a favor and put an end to things before they got started.

“God and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms,” she admitted.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She could let it go at that, but she decided to take it one step further, to let him know that any interest he might have in her was off limits, especially for a pastor. “I made a big mistake several years ago, and I’m still dealing with the repercussions.”

“You don’t think God can help?”

“I don’t even want to approach Him about it.”

His gaze locked on hers, and she sensed a dose of compassion flowing through.

“Church is a good place to get a second chance and to make a fresh start,” he said.

“Maybe so, but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable showing up there.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m one of the black sheep in this community.”
She’d meant to chuff and laugh off the truth of her comment, but something in his eyes stunned her into silence.

For a moment, she sensed that he was looking beyond the emotional armor she wore. If he had been, that was a first. Most people never even bothered to try.

Late yesterday afternoon, the boys had brought Renee a pillow and an old comforter, so she’d slept better on her second night in the tree than she had the first. Still, she’d stayed up late and had woken up several times, which was why she’d decided to take a nap before heading to the soup kitchen for lunch.

She’d no sooner than stretched out to rest when a boy hollered, “Hey, Renee! Are you up there?”

“Yes, I’m here.” She got to her knees, poked her head out the tree house door, and spotted her pint-sized landlords, their arms loaded with more supplies.

But this time, they’d brought a younger boy with them.

“We got some more junk for you,” Danny said.

“Thanks.” Her gaze drifted to the new kid, then back to Danny. “I thought this was going to be our secret.”

“I know, but this is Jason. He’s the one who found the fort in the first place, so we had to tell him.”

She hadn’t wanted her secret to get out, and with each new person who knew she was here, the odds were in favor of a citywide news flash.

They’d probably put it on the front page of the newspaper:

Pregnant Teenager Living In Tree. Social Workers Decide She’s Crazy and Not Fit To Be a Mother.

“Jason won’t tell anyone,” Tommy said. “He’s pretty cool for a little kid.”

Yeah, well, she didn’t know how cool he could be if he was just five or six.

He was kind of cute, though.

Jason tugged on Danny’s shirt. “I gotta get home before my mom gets back, and she’s been gone awhile already.”

“It’s okay. We’ll just be here a minute.” Danny put down his load. Using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, he looked up at Renee. “His mom had to take his grandma to the doctor, so he’s staying at our house for a while.”

Tommy scanned the brushy area that surrounded the path to the tree. “I don’t know why, but she doesn’t like him on the Bushman Trail, even though we told her we’d watch him.”

“The Bushman Trail?”

“Yeah, that’s what we call the path that cuts through the canyon. Sometimes we’re explorers. And sometimes we’re on safari. You know how it is.”

She supposed she did.

“Jason’s mom is pretty fussy,” Danny added. “Mine is, too, in some ways, but she used to let me come down here when I was his age, and I didn’t even have big kids to watch out for me.”

Renee was going to be one of those kinds of moms—strict. She wasn’t going to let her kid eat junk food or stay up late. And she’d make sure they did their homework. She’d even read the notices they brought home from school and go to programs and stuff like that.

Some of her friends used to say she was lucky because she could come and go as she pleased and never got in trouble. But she hadn’t felt lucky. It would have been nice to have someone care enough to get mad at her. Like Jason’s mom probably did.

She looked at the little guy. He was pretty young. Or maybe he was just small for his age.

Still, something didn’t seem right. “I thought you said that he found the tree house. How’d he do that if he’s not allowed to come out here?”

“He gets to do a lot more stuff when he stays at Danny’s house.” Tommy turned to Jason and, using his finger, pushed his glasses back up his nose. “Sorry, Jay. Your mom’s nice and all, but she does treat you like a little kid.”

She ought to, Renee thought. He
was
a little kid.

“Where do you want us to put this stuff?” Danny asked.

“I’ll take it.” Renee climbed down to get it.

She’d no more than touched one foot on the ground when a woman’s voice echoed through the canyon. “Jason! Danny! Where are you, boys?”

“Uh-oh.” Tommy handed the small, wooden stepstool he’d been holding to Renee. “Jason’s mom got home. And now he’s going to get his butt kicked.”

“No, I’m not,” the smaller boy objected. “My mom doesn’t believe in spanking. But I better go anyway. She believes in yelling and in time outs and in not letting me watch TV or eat dessert for a whole week.”

“Then you’d better go,” Renee said.

Danny nodded down the path. “I’d better go, too. I need to make sure he gets home all right, or else I’ll really be in trouble. I’ll have to come back later for the rent.”

“Okay. But I might not be here until about four.” She hadn’t found a job yet, so she was going to have to start looking extra hard today. But she still wanted to be home before dark. The canyon started getting spooky at twilight.

The boys took off, and Renee had to make a couple of trips into the tree to take her new things inside. When she finished, she put everything away. Then, while kneeling, she sat back on her heels and surveyed her temporary home.

Hey, she even owned art. A small, framed picture of a fox hunt would soon adorn a wooden wall, once she found a nail and hammer.

She was also the proud owner of a battery-operated handheld fan, which was going to come in handy if it ever got hot.

“Oh, God,” she muttered. “Please let me get into a real house before summer.”

She checked out the Mickey Mouse alarm clock they’d brought, guessing it to be about ten. She set it, then wound it up. But she didn’t hear any ticking sound. Maybe it was the silent kind.

Next, she glanced at the three-legged footrest. She wasn’t sure what she would do with that. Use it as a chair, she guessed.

All in all, the tree house was beginning to feel like home, although she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. She sure didn’t want it to get too comfy.

As she folded up her bedding and set it aside, she thought about the boys who knew her secret. She sure hoped she could trust them.

She also hoped Jason didn’t get in too much trouble with his mom, especially since he might decide to trade news about her for leniency. Kids did that sometimes.

But at least his mother wouldn’t spank him. That was good to know.

Renee had gotten a few good licks in her life—some of them were real humdingers. But that was a long time ago, back when she stayed with the Haydens.

Now
there
was a woman who believed in spanking, whether it was her kid or someone else’s. But it wouldn’t do Renee any good to stew on the past. Not when she was trying hard to start over and create a decent future.

She glanced at the clock, wishing it was more accurate. If she found someone who was wearing a watch before she came home, she’d reset it.

Still, she didn’t think it was eleven yet. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to go to the church early. If she showed up before the others did, she could always volunteer her time to help. At least until she got a job, of course. That way, she wouldn’t
feel like a freeloader and would be making some kind of contribution, especially if she kept sneaking extra buns and things.

She had a feeling that guy, Pastor Greg or whoever he was, saw her take those rolls yesterday. She’d almost pulled them out from under her shirt, apologized, and given them back. But her granola bars were gone, and the bread had made an okay breakfast this morning.

So she climbed out of the tree house, wishing she had a way to lock it up, now that she was acquiring some household belongings, and headed toward the church.

When she reached the soup kitchen, she noticed the door was open. So she eased inside. “Hello? Is anybody here?”

A woman with curly brown hair, the one who’d been wearing a red apron and serving food yesterday, poked her head out of the kitchen doorway. “Oh, hello there.” She wore a friendly smile as she strode toward Renee. “It’s a bit early, but you’re welcome to come in and wait.”

Renee shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans. “Well, actually, I thought if you needed some help, I could do some chores. You know, to pay you back for the meal I ate yesterday?”

“Well, that’s really nice of you.” The woman wiped her hands on her apron. “My name is Dawn. And if you’re willing, I’d be happy to put you to work.”

“Cool.”

The aroma of tomato sauce, garlic and basil filled the air, and Renee’s stomach growled in response, as she followed Dawn back to the kitchen. “What are you serving today?”

“Spaghetti.”

“Oh, yum. My favorite.”

“Mine, too,” Dawn said. “We’re also having salad, garlic bread, and vanilla ice cream for dessert. So this is your lucky day.”

Renee sure hoped so. She hadn’t had much luck in the past, and it seemed as though she might be due for a break.

On Sunday morning, as a favor, Barbara came by for a couple of hours to sit with Gram so Kristy could run some errands. She’d also offered the use of her car, since Gram’s sedan was still on the blink.

“Be sure to pack a lunch while you’re at it,” Barbara had said. “That way you can spend an hour or so at the park. I’ll bet Jason would like that.”

With her schedule, Kristy didn’t get as much quality time with her son as she’d like, so she gave the woman an appreciative hug.

Barbara had been a blessing, and Kristy wished her and her husband all the best. Harry was still in contention for that promotion, although a decision hadn’t been made yet.

“This is really just a long shot,” Barb had said. But sometimes those paid off.

Kristy wouldn’t stress about that now, though. She needed to focus on her driving.

As she turned onto Bedford Parkway, she spotted a group of teenagers huddled together. She figured it was just a bunch of kids messing around and didn’t think anything of it—until she noticed Jesse in the middle of them.

One boy, a tall, shaggy-haired blond, gave the homeless man a shove that nearly knocked him off his feet.

She reached for the prepaid cell phone she carried in her purse, a luxury item she only intended to use in case of emergency. If she didn’t have Jason in the car, if she …

Oh, for goodness sake. Who knew when the police would arrive? And she couldn’t just sit by and let them harass the poor guy like that.

She set the phone in the console, laid on the horn, and pulled over to the curb.

As the boys turned toward the noise, she rolled the window down far enough for her voice to be heard. “What in the world are you guys doing?”

The blond teen, his baggy pants riding low on his hips,
turned to her and crossed his arms. “We’re telling this guy that he needs to go somewhere else to live.”

“Why? What did he ever do to hurt you?”

“He’s homeless,” another kid said. “And it’s all because of that dumb soup kitchen. It’s drawing them all into Fairbrook.”

“If you don’t leave him alone …” Kristy picked up her cell phone and flashed it at them. “I’ll call the police.”

“Yeah, well he’s a transient, and there’s vagrancy laws, you know. And these lazy guys ought to all be rounded up and locked away until they clean up their acts and get a job.”

“Jesse,” Kristy said, much the way she spoke to Jason when her temper was wearing thin. “Get in the car.”

“Yeah, he needs a ride to the city limits,” the big-mouthed kid said.

Shifting their stances in a cocky manner, the other boys chuffed, as Jesse strode toward the car.

Kristy unlocked the door for him, and he climbed into the passenger seat.

She hit the lock button, then blew out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She shifted the automatic transmission into drive and pulled back into the street.

Once they were on their way, she nodded toward the rear of the car. “What was that all about?”

“I was just heading toward the church when that mouthy kid took it upon himself to discourage me from settling in Fairbrook.”

“I’m sorry they gave you trouble.”

“It’s not your fault. You can’t do anything about someone else’s attitude. You can only change your own.” Jesse looked over his shoulder at Jason and offered him a smile. “Hey, there. How’re you doing?”

“I’m okay.”

Kristy wasn’t sure if it was a good thing Jason had been in the car or not. But she’d definitely talk to him about the situation later. She certainly didn’t want him to grow up to be as heartless as those teenage boys had been.

As she proceeded down the road, she glanced across the console at Jesse. “Is the soup kitchen open on Sundays?”

“Yes, but not until one o’clock, and then they just pass out boxed lunches. But that’s okay. A sandwich and a cookie will hit the spot.”

She supposed it would.

The church parking lot was nearly empty when she turned into the drive. Apparently, services were over for today, which was probably why the soup kitchen didn’t open until one.

“You’re going to be a bit early,” she said.