“Gael’s parents were never in the picture,” Jenny said. “But he was raised by the most wonderful grandmother. When she passed away, I got the call that there was a boy who needed a home.”
“Wow,” Erik said. “Did you decide right away?”
“Yes,” she said, looking up at him with a smile. “I had been expecting to foster a much younger child or toddler, but the minute I got the call, I justknewI was supposed to say yes. And then I met him, and… well, you see how wonderful he is. I still can’t believe it sometimes, how lucky I am to get to be his mom.”
Erik nodded, moved.
“Although it’s a bittersweet thing,” she went on softly. “To know that he’s only with me because the sweet woman who raised him is gone. I would do anything to bring her back to him.”
“I’m sure he knows that,” Erik said.
“I try my best to make sure he never forgets her,” she said. “He tells me stories about her, and we try to make her recipes. And of course we’ve kept up with her favorite TV show.”
“Ridley Hospital,”Erik said, nodding.
“Exactly,” Jenny said.
“I didn’t want to say it in front of him,” Erik told her, glancing up to make sure Gael was still focused on the display. “But an actress who used to be on that show lives right here in town. We probably won’t run into her today, but you never know.”
“Who is it?” Jenny asked, her eyes wide.
“We’ll let it be a surprise if it happens,” Erik teased.
She laughed, and he felt it right down to his toes.
He knew exactly what she meant about feeling like she and Gael were meant for each other. He was feeling the same way right now.
Why can’t we all be meant to be a family?
8
JENNY
Alittle while later, Jenny was still walking between Erik and Gael. They were heading beyond the big stone barn and up a slight hill, past stands selling food and treats, on the way to the fields and pens of animals that families could visit with.
“Hot apple cider,” Gael cried, pointing to one of the stands by the barn.
“Would you like some?” Erik asked him.
“Yes,” Gael said, turning to Jenny. “I never had it hot before. Can we?”
“Absolutely,” she told him, glad he wasn’t asking for the candied apples at the booth next to that one.
They stood in the short line, Gael practically dancing in place.
It was so good to see him acting like a kid. Maybe itwas because he’d been raised without siblings, or maybe it was just something he had naturally, but Gael could be so patient and mature that sometimes Jenny forgot he was only nine. She loved seeing him get silly and excited and ask for an apple cider like a normal kid.
When they each had a steaming paper cup of the fragrant treat, which Gael heartily approved of in its heated form, they continued up the hill. About halfway up, they stopped to watch a man in a cowboy hat leading a dapple pony with a little girl on its back around a paddock.
“Whoa,” Gael said, looking surprised. “That’s a really little kid to be riding a horse.”
“Would you like to try?” Erik offered.
But Gael shook his head, so they continued up the hill a bit to where pens of chickens of every kind strutted, clucked, and cried out to the kids who were buying handfuls of dried corn to offer them.
“Can I feed the chickens?” Gael asked excitedly.
“Of course,” Jenny told him, digging in her bag for some change.
