“I think he’ll be fine.” Then again, it wasn’t often a situation left me as unsettled as I’d been today. The Davises went to the most conservative church in town and everyone knew Mr. Davis had a temper on him. Unfortunately, the small-town gossip mill wasn’t enough for me to take any pre-emptive action.
“Well, if he did need a place, what would someone have to do to be approved to help out?”
It looked like I wasn’t leaving just yet after all. I jerked my head toward the door, and Danny followed me outside. We sat in the rockers overlooking the front yard. “Is this something you and Blake have talked about already? You have a huge heart, but taking a kid in is a big deal. Especially one who’s hurting.”
“No, I know that,” Danny reassured me. “We bought the house we did thinking that we might want to foster someday. And now that Blake’s full-time in Pineville, it’s time. We’ve actually already started the process to be foster parents but it feels like it’s taking forever. I was going to talk to you, see if there are any strings you might be able to pull. It seems stupid for them to make people go through this many hoops when there are kids who need someone out there. But maybe that’s a conflict of interest or something?”
There could be some gray areas, but I wasn’t going to tell him that just yet. If I needed to call in someone to help so there wasn’t any sort of conflict of interest, I would. Any kid would be lucky to have them as parents. I just hoped they understood what they were getting into.
“I’ll tell you what. Let me look into a few things to make sure anything we do is on the up and up.” I made the offer to buy myself some time. Danny was like a dog with a bone once he set his mind to something, and nothing could be settled right this second. “You and Blake can come over to my place for dinner on Sunday, if he’s not working, and we’ll talk more then. But I promise you, James will be okay.”
“Thanks.” Danny’s shoulders visibly relaxed. Carson teased that Danny couldn’t work at Harmony House because he’d try to take in every kid whose parents weren’t offering to march in parades with them. I was starting to think he might be right.
3
MICHAEL
Tuesday wasthe Monday-est second day of the work week ever. We had just kicked off a new community development project, and I was drowning in a sea of projections. As I sipped my lukewarm coffee, my eyes flickered to a framed picture on my desk. It was Henry and me, all smiles and arms wrapped around each other. My little boy, my world. That photo brought me more comfort than anything else in this building.
Henry wasn’t biologically mine, but he might as well have been. He was my sister’s son. Watching my sister spiral further into addiction was heartbreaking, and when she’d called me from jail, crying because she was pregnant and didn’t know what to do, I’d stepped into action without thinking about anything but that little baby. How they—he—deserved a stable life filled with love.
My sister was back in jail, still struggling with addiction, and as much as it hurt, I knew she’d likely never be the parent Henry needed. He was my anchor, reminding me of what was important in life, and I’d do anything to give him everything he needed.
As I flipped through some files, my mind wandered back to the old photograph in the basement. The one with Danny. I found myself longing for simpler times, though I knew my current responsibilities lay far from them.
I cursed past me for holding onto the picture, because it was a stark reminder of everything that would never be. I wasn’t lying when I said I was happy he'd found Blake when he moved away, but it stung knowing Blake was a better man than I could ever be.
Shortly before eleven, my phone buzzed. I expected it to be the reminder I set for the noon meeting, but instead, it was a call from Henry’s daycare. The concerned edge to Mrs. Wheeler’s tone worried me. She was typically unflappable. “Michael, I'm so sorry to bother you, but we need you to pick up Henry. He’s not feeling well.”
My heart raced as I scrolled through the calendar on my desktop trying to figure out how I could reschedule the afternoon's meetings. “What’s going on?”
“He’s running a slight fever, and he’s a bit lethargic.” I wouldn't have worried if it was just a fever, but the lethargy was concerning. “I'm sure it's nothing more than the bug we’ve had filtering its way through the classrooms for a couple of weeks now, but we can't have symptomatic kids in the classroom.”
“I completely understand.” Unfortunately, Mayor Thompson was much less forgiving. While he was smart enough to not make any outright jabs at me being a gay single father who'd adopted his sister's child, the man had ways of making his opinions known.
I looked at the mountain of work piled on my desk, and then at the clock. My meeting was in an hour, and I couldn’t bail on it. If the call had come in any other day, I’d have canceled, but it had been a fight to get everyone in the same place at the same time for today.
My mind scrolled through the list of people who could help. Mrs. Jenkins used to be my go-to but she’d been dealing with her own health issues recently. I wasn’t going to expose her to any unnecessary germs. Piper, one of the part-time clerks, would also pick him up for me but she was out of town this week. It seemed everyone was tied up one way or the other. My mind finally settled on one person.
Billy.
Henry adored him. He was like a big teddy bear that every kid wished they could hug all day. Henry would be in good hands with Billy taking care of him.
I thanked Mrs. Wheeler, my voice a mixture of urgency and gratitude, and assured her I’d have Henry picked up as soon as possible. The moment I hung up, my fingers swiftly dialed Billy’s number.
“Hey, Michael!” Billy's voice was warm and inviting, as always. I could picture his bright smile through the phone. I wondered if he was at Harmony House, working his magic in making the world a better place, one kid at a time.
“Hey,” I started, trying to keep the desperation from my voice. “I really need your help. Henry’s sick, and the daycare wants him picked up. I’m in meetings all afternoon, and I can’t leave. Can you grab him for me? Please?”
There was no hesitation in his voice, and that’s what I loved about Billy—he was always there when I needed him. “Of course! I’ll head over there right now. Don’t worry about a thing.”
My chest eased up a bit, like I could breathe for the first time since that call from the daycare. “Thank you. Seriously, you’re a lifesaver. Please check on him and let me know if he needs to see a doctor or anything. I trust your judgment.”
“Will do,” he said in a tone that was the epitome of reassurance. Then, in classic Billy fashion, he added with a hint of playfulness, “And tell those spreadsheets and projections they can’t hog you all the time.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’ll be sure to pass along the message.”
We said our goodbyes and I hung up, breathing a little easier knowing Henry would be taken care of. Billy had that effect; his mere presence could turn raging emotional storms into gentle breezes.
