far enough to reveal one dark eye, and peeked out at her.
“It’s chocolate chip. Of course, if you don’t like that kind…”
One pudgy hand reached out. Tina quickly handed him the cookie and turned to rejoin the class, subtly motioning Zac to follow. “How about a carton of milk to go with that?”
Without looking back, she proceeded to get the milk, insert a straw and set the carton at an empty place at the low table as if she fully expected Justin to agree to sit there. “Here you go. Nice and cold.”
For a moment it looked as if he was going to continue to hang on to Zac in spite of Tina’s assured manner. At the last second he let go and slid into the scaled-down plastic chair. None of the other children said a word. They were all too busy studying the new arrival and his daddy.
Across the table, little blond Emily began to giggle, when Justin bit into his cookie and half of it crumbled and fell on the floor. Tina was about to offer him another, when she saw Tommy McArthur carefully break his own cookie in half and lean closer to hand the piece to Justin. She was too far away to hear what the boy said, but she figured it had to be funny because Zac had his lips pressed tightly together and was struggling not to laugh.
To her relief, Justin accepted the gift and whispered something back to Tommy before stuffing the whole half of the cookie into his mouth at once.
Zac stepped back quietly. As soon as he was far enough away, Tina joined him. “What did Tommy say?” she asked.
Shaking his head for a moment to compose himself, he said, “I think my son just took his first bribe. He promised Tommy he’d see that I didn’t dunk him in any paint.”
“No wonder you looked like you were about to burst!”
“I was surprised he even remembered me. I told you I didn’t understand little kids.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. Nobody really does. They don’t even understand themselves.”
“You sure seem to know how to handle them, though. I was worried Justin would pitch a fit when I tried to let go of him. It was amazing he didn’t.”
“I think sometimes we underestimate the adaptability of children. All I did was act like sitting at the table with the others was the most natural choice for him to make, and he made it. It’s that simple.”
“For you, maybe. When I told him he was going to day care this morning, he threw a terrible tantrum. It’s a wonder the folks at the motel didn’t hear him and call the police.”
“Have you found a house, yet?” Tina asked, keeping watch on the children as she talked.
“No. And I’m getting pretty frustrated.”
“Well, as long as you don’t throw a tantrum…”
“Very funny. Although I did feel like it yesterday when we drove seven miles out of town to look at a place and found out it was already rented.”
“In a close-knit area like Serenity, most of the best places never get advertised. People just hear they’re going to be for rent or for sale, and tell their friends.”
“Terrific.”
“It has its advantages. For instance, I happen to know that the house two doors north of me is going to be vacant soon. It’s in a nice neighborhood and only about a quarter-mile from the high school. Would you be interested?”
“Interested? At this point I’d practically kill for a decent place to live.”
Tina laughed. “I don’t think you’ll have to do anything quite that drastic. I’ll talk to the folks who are moving as soon as I get home tonight and find out all the details for you. Hopefully, there won’t be too long a wait.”
“You’d go to all that trouble for me? Why?”
Looking up into his eyes, she saw how much her kindness had affected him. This was a man who apparently wasn’t used to experiencing the honestly offered concern of strangers. Or accepting their help. He was never going to fit in around here if somebody didn’t set him straight. Tina immediately decided it was her duty to be that person.
“In small communities like this one, Mr. Frazier, folks help each other all the time. It’s how we are. We don’t need specific reasons to look out for one another. We just do it. A lot of us behave that way because Christians are supposed to, but we aren’t the only ones who show kindness. Pretty much everybody does. It’s one of the blessings of living here.”
“I see.”
Tina decided to press ahead. “Do you have a church home? If not, you can’t beat the one I go to,” she said enthusiastically. “We’d love to have you visit this Sunday. At nine-thirty I teach a Sunday School class of children Justin’s age. He should be comfortable enough with me by then to enjoy it. Regular church starts at eleven.”
“We’ll see.” He glanced at Justin. “I guess I might as well try to get out of here. I do have a lot to do.”
Tina scanned the table where her charges sat. “I think you’re wise to leave him with us right away, instead of getting him used to having you stick around. He’ll be fine. Just go over and tell him goodbye as if you’ve done it that way a thousand times. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“What if he cries?”
“Then, I’ll give him a hug and comfort him until he stops, the same as you’d do,” she said. To her dismay she noticed that the man seemed a bit put off by her comment. Surely he didn’t expect a motherless child to do without a lot of cuddling, even if his father didn’t view it as a natural masculine response.
“You do whatever you think is right,” Zac said. “You can reach me at the high school all afternoon if you need me. What time should I come back for Justin?”
“We like to lock up and be out of here by six-thirty. Will that work for you?”
“I’ll make it work,” he said.
Tina watched him walk stiffly across the room and bend over his son. The boy didn’t seem at all upset when he bid Zac goodbye. Funny. She’d dealt with lots of little ones in the past and she’d expected at least a mild protest, especially since Justin hadn’t had time to make friends yet.
Hanging back, she waited for the boy’s reaction rather than anticipating difficulties and telegraphing her own concern. If he accepted his father’s departure, there would be no reason to treat it as anything but routine.
Zac straightened and headed for the door. He never hesitated, never looked back. If Tina hadn’t spotted the moisture glistening in his eyes as he passed, she might have believed he wasn’t concerned about leaving Justin at all.
Chapter Two
Tina wasn’t surprised that Zac was the first parent to claim his child that day. It was barely four-thirty when he arrived. Justin looked up from the rug where he was pushing a toy race car, broke into a wide grin when he spotted his daddy and ran to him.
Zac tousled the boy’s thick brown hair.
