Promise me tomorrow (22 page)

"Mrs. Harding?"

"Yes, Quintin?"

Mrs. Harding wondered at what her expression must have been when Quintin only stared at her, a worried crease between his small brows.

"I was just thinking, Quintin," she said, smiling to reassure him. She watched his eyes drop to the letter in her hand. He was too bright not to notice, but she knew he would never ask. "You're not cold, are you?"

Quintin's eyes returned to hers. He shook his head in denial and went back to the sketch-pad in his hand. It was a normal enough question to get his mind off of his nanny and also give Mrs. Harding a moment more to think. Indeed, a moment was all she needed. She folded the letter carefully and returned it to the envelope. This very evening she would speak with Mr. Mc Candles about the contents.

As the drawing room darkened, Chase turned the lantern a little higher and continued to read. He was enjoying a novel by Rudyard Kipling and was quite lost in thought when someone cleared her throat. Chase looked up to see Mrs. Whitley at the edge of the room, her back to the front hall.

"Will you be needing anything else tonight, sir?"

"I don't think so, Mrs. Whitley. Thank you."

"I'll say goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

Chase would have gone back to his book, but he was sitting so that he could see the stairway. Mrs. Harding was coming down, and as Chase watched, she came and stood almost exactly where Mrs. Whitley had been.

"I'm sorry to disturb your evening, sir, but I wondered if I might have a word with you."

"Of course." Chase was immediately on his feet. He waited for Quintin's nanny to make herself comfortable on the sofa and resumed his seat.

"Is Quintin well?"

"Very well, sir. We had a good day. He enjoys being out without his coat and hat."

"Good." Silence fell between them for a moment, and Chase thought she looked a bit strained. He waited, wondering if he should question her but deciding she would speak to him when she was ready.

"Quintin is a very special little boy, Mr. McCandles, and I enjoy him immensely."

Chase nodded. He suspected there was a "but" in there somewhere, but he wasn't going to assume.

"I've been with him for more than three years now, and I can't imagine life without him. But to tell you the truth, I feel a need to take a few months off. The idea has come to mind over the past several months, but I've not felt an urgency to pursue the matter."

"But you do now?"

"Yes. You see, Mr. McCandles, I've had a letter from my sister." She looked pleased without smiling. "She's going to be married." She actually smiled now as though she couldn't help herself. "She's a woman in her forties and going to be married for the first time."

Chase smiled as well. "Congratulations are in order."

"Yes. She wrote to tell me, certainly, but also to ask if there was any way I might attend."

"By all means." Chase didn't need to think twice. "I wouldn't want you to miss it."

"I appreciate that, sir, but you see my sister lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where I grew up. My hope is that I'll not only be able to attend the wedding, but to take the entire summer off. She doesn't marry until early July, but if at all possible, I would wish to leave as soon as possible in June and not return until early September."

His expression open, Chase nodded but didn't speak. He was not hesitating over her request to go so much as the immediate question of what he would do with his son.

"I realize I've given you little warning, sir, and if you can't work it out, I will stay. But you've always been a fair employer, and I felt free at least to ask you."

"Of course, Mrs. Harding. I'm glad you did. Please plan on going. I'll begin work immediately on finding someone to come in for the summer."

"If I may be so bold to suggest someone, sir . . .

"Absolutely. I would welcome any names you could give me.

"I don't know if Miss Taggart's contract with the orphanage is flexible, but Quintin speaks of her every day. I feel they would do very well together."

Chase didn't comment, but his mind was moving like a steam locomotive. He was once again seeing Quintin in his office, his face buried in his hands and sobbing. At the time he'd asked himself what he could do for the child. Did he now have an answer?

"I think that Miss Taggart is a wonderful suggestion, Mrs. Harding, and I thank you. If things don't proceed smoothly, however, what would be the latest date you could leave and still be there for your sister's wedding?"

"Train travel continues to improve yearly," she said thoughtfully. "And the wedding is on Saturday, July 3. Barring delays, I think a week ahead of that time would be more than sufficient."

"I'll do all that I can to have you on that train in time, Mrs. Harding," Chase told her. He was thoughtful for a moment, his eyes wandering across the room and then back to her. "I'll be leaving in the morning for Manitou. Miss Taggart would be my first choice for Quintin, so I'll see to that before I discuss any other possibilities with you. I haven't visited the orphanage in some time, so don't expect me back until Monday or Tuesday."

"Very good, sir. Should I compile a list of other names for you, or do you feel quite confident?"

"I think Miss Taggart will come if she is able, but as you said, I've got to keep in mind her obligation to the orphanage. Go ahead and put together a list of names, and I'll let you know as soon as I return whether I need them."

"I'll do that, sir. Was there anything else?"

"No, thank you, Mrs. Harding."

That lady stood, and Chase came to his feet as well. He watched as she smiled.

"Thank you, Mr. McCandles. I look forward to telling my sister the good news. She'll be very pleased."

"I'm glad, Mrs. Harding," Chase said and meant it. "You deserve some time off."

"Thank you, sir. I shall wait until your plans are a bit more settled before saying anything to Quintin."

"I think that's wise. As I said, I'll know more after the weekend."

"Very well. Goodnight, sir."

"Goodnight, Mrs. Harding."

Chase stayed on his feet until she was out of the room, but even after dropping back into the overstuffed chair, he didn't pick up his book. His mind ran with thoughts of Quintin and Rusty and the one day they'd had together. He wasn't so much worried about whether or not Rusty would come to Colorado Springs—somehow he thought that would work out. His main worry was what Quintin would do when it was time for her to leave again.

Manitou

"Do I look big to you?" Rusty Taggart asked the children from her place on the chair. There was a mixture of answers throughout the large room at the church. The younger children naturally thought her larger than the older ones did.

"Okay," she said as she stepped down and turned to Tibby. "Let's have Aunt Tibby stand on the chair. She's taller than I am. Let's see how big she is when she's on the chair." Rusty stood to one side while her partner stepped up.

"She's pretty tall, isn't she?" Rusty spoke to the group of 30 children again, but she could see that they still weren't impressed. Rusty's mind was racing with what to do next when Chase McCandles stepped into the back of the room. Praying that he would forgive her, she spoke.

"Children, a friend of mine has just come in, and I would like you to meet him."

Following her gaze, nearly every little head turned toward the door. "Mr. McCandles, would you be so kind as to come up front and meet the children?"

Chase recovered from his surprise as he walked toward Rusty, but there was no covering the amusement on his face when he arrived. Rusty smiled at him and told herself not to laugh.

"Children, I would like you to meet Mr. McCandles. Will you please say hello?" She waited until they obeyed and then turned back to Chase.

"Mr. McCandles, would you please tell the children how tall you are?"

"I'm somewhere between 6'1 " and 6'2"," he spoke seriously.

"That's tall, isn't it?" Rusty asked of the children. They all nodded, eyes wide as they stared up at this towering stranger. "Now, what if I ask Mr. McCandles to step onto the chair?"

Chase did so without being asked and found it very satisfying to look into the faces of the awed children below him.

"Isn't he
tall?'
Rusty asked with enthusiasm. "But do you know what?" She waited for Chase to step down and melt into the background with Tibby so that all the children's eyes would come back to her. "He's not as tall as Goliath was. I tell you, he's not. Goliath was
huge!'
Rusty's eyes matched the word, and her arms were spread wide as she tried to make the children see. "But big as Goliath was, God was still taking care of Israel. Whom did He send?"

"David," the children shouted.

"That's right. David knew that God would take care of Israel. The soldiers didn't believe that, but David did. Now who can tell me what happened?"

Hands went up all over, and Rusty called on a little boy near the front. He stood and did a wonderful job of finishing the story, leaving out little detail.

"Thank you, Carlos. You did a great job. Were the rest of you listening? I hope so, because this is not a story that Aunt Rusty made up and told to Carlos." She held up her Bible. "This story is right out of God's Word, so we know its true, and we also know that God wants us to learn something from it.

"Let's all sit still now," she said, taking a moment to restore order. "I'm going to tell you something." Rusty's voice dropped, and the children quieted to hear her. "I have giants in my own life." She watched their eyes grow big again. "Not giant people, but giant sins like selfishness and fear. Do any of you ever have those?" Many hands went up, and she knew she still had their attention. "But do you know who is bigger than all my giant sins?" She watched heads nod. "That's right. God is. Isn't that wonderful? When I'm afraid, I can look in the Bible and be reminded that God is bigger than my fear when He says He'll never leave me or forsake me.

"I get afraid," a little girl called from the front.

"Yes, Vicky, I do too."

Others spoke up then, and Rusty knew she'd kept them long enough.

"Okay, let's stay quiet for just a moment longer and say our verse again. After that, Aunt Tibby is going to sing another song with you, and then it will be time for church."

Rusty reached for the large sign on which she'd printed the verse and listened as the children did very well. Tibby was right on hand leading the children in a final song.

The women had a cookie for each child, and all but the littlest ones understood that they were to line up to get theirs and then proceed to the door. Ten minutes later the room was empty. Children had met their parents, older siblings, and even orphanage workers at the door. All was quiet. Rusty turned to look at Chase McCandles, a wide smile coming to her mouth.

"Welcome to Manitou, Mr. McCandles."

"Thank you." He bowed formally, his eyes alight with laughter. "I must admit that I've never been welcomed quite that way."

Rusty laughed a little. "Thank you for helping out," she said seriously. "The children were very impressed."

"It was my pleasure, but I can't help wondering what you would have done had I not shown up at the door."

"I was working on that when I spotted you," Rusty admitted, "and then there you were. Didn't it feel good to be impulsive?"

Chase laughed, and Rusty motioned to Tibby, caught her arm, and pulled her close.

"Mr. McCandles, I'd like you to meet a very good friend of mine, Miss Tibby Reed."

"How do you do." Tibby smiled at him and put her hand out.

"Very well, thank you, Miss Reed. If you'll allow me to compliment you, you sing beautifully."

"Thank you." Tibby dimpled with pleasure. "Oh, Mr. McCandles," she glanced behind Chase and continued, "this is my fiancé, Scott Thorstad."

"Hello, Scott." Chase turned, his hand out.

"It's good to meet you, sir." The men shook hands, and with that the strains of the organ could be heard coming from the sanctuary.

"Oh, goodness," Tibby exclaimed. "We're going to be late." She began to gather her things before she took Scott's arm and they moved toward the door. Rusty picked up her own Bible and teaching bag. Chase fell into step beside her.

"Are you in town for business or pleasure?" Rusty asked kindly.

"Business."

"Will you have a chance to see Paddy?"

"Yes. I hope to find him after the service."

They stopped talking as they neared the doors of the sanctuary. There was a nearly empty pew at the rear, and Rusty slipped into it as the congregation stood. Chase joined her as she expected he would, but not until she noticed several women turning to observe them did she realize she might have some explaining to do.

26

"I can tell I've shocked you."

"Yes, you have, Chase, but not for the reason you might suspect. You see we're all terribly attached to Rusty. I've never thought about her leaving, so it's hard to imagine life around here without her."

The businessman nodded. "I'll understand if you'd rather I didn't ask her, Paddy. She's my first choice, so I haven't even checked with anyone else."

Even as he said the words, Chase dreaded Padriac O'Brien's answer. Maybe if he hadn't seen Rusty again, he could have taken a no, but seeing her with those children and then talking to her, albeit briefly, made him sure she was the perfect woman to come and take care of Quintin.

Chase didn't know that Paddy was very aware of Quintin's situation. One night Rusty had confided in him. Paddy had known that things were not ideal, but until Rusty explained the situation, he hadn't been completely aware of how little time Chase spent with his son. Other facts now chased through his mind. As much as Rusty brought to her job every day, the orphanage staff had many fine workers. It didn't sound as if Quintin McCandles had anyone.

"I think it only fair that you ask her, Chase. I can tell her what you have in mind or let you explain, but if she wants to work for you this summer, I think that's fine."