a sip of the hot brew. “Did that yesterday.”
“Really?”
“I didn’t want them to miss any more than necessary. It’s difficult enough to settle in a new school without having them get behind.”
“Don’t you have to have records transferred or something?”
“I did that.” She took another tentative sip.
He put his mug down on the desk. “Still, you’re going to need time unpacking, settling in—”
“No.” She ran her fingers over the handle of the mug. “I’m ready. That’s done for the most part. There’s always more to do, but it’s livable.”
He pictured the house in a jumble of boxes. But that was why Jerry had named him executor, to keep an eye on how she was caring for the kids. “Laura, this isn’t a school.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s an office.”
Her expression faltered. “But you said—”
“That I couldn’t train you if you lived in Houston. But I can’t stop working and set up classes, either.”
“Then what?”
She had gone from hopeful to desperate in the space of minutes. She wouldn’t last. “Start by spending some time in the office, watching what I do.”
“Oh.” Deflated, she gripped her mug tighter, then nodded. “Okay.”
She would get bored fast. Sitting at the desk next to his, listening to only his side of telephone conversations, trying to digest a lot of financial information she couldn’t possibly understand. He’d give her a week at the most before she stopped coming around. She’d probably get bored with Rosewood almost as soon.
The phone rang. And her tutoring began.
“So, how was school?” Laura put a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies on the table. She had made arrangements with Paul to be home each day before the children got in from school. Since he looked relieved at the suggestion, she guessed he would have been just as happy if she had suggested a much earlier quitting time.
Gregg grabbed a cookie. “There’s a kid in my class who can cross his eyes, hold his breath and wiggle his ears. All at once.”
“Impressive.” She tweaked the tip of his nose. “Do you like your teacher?”
“Yeah.” He took a swallow of milk. “She said next Monday we can all bring a pet for show-and-tell.”
“Oh.” They didn’t have a pet.
“It’s okay, Mom. Even if we had the aquarium set up I couldn’t take it to school.”
He always rolled with the punches. She put another cookie on his plate.
“Kirsten, how about you?”
She shrugged. “It’s a school.”
“Did you meet anyone who could wiggle their ears?”
Her daughter sighed. “Mom.”
Nothing so unsophisticated for her daughter. “Let me rephrase. Did you meet anyone you liked?”
Kirsten was quiet for a few moments. “Kinda.”
“Does this person have a name?”
“Mandy. She’s sort of new, too. She moved here at the first of the year and started with the other kids.” Kirsten broke her cookie into smaller pieces. “People think she’s neat, though.”
“They’ll think you are, too.” Laura had never worried about Kirsten’s popularity. Like Jerry she had always attracted followers. She smoothed her daughter’s hair, but Kirsten jerked back. Laura kept her sigh to herself.
“If I could catch a frog, I could take that on Monday,” Gregg deliberated.
Kirsten shuddered. “Gross.”
Laura poured more milk into Gregg’s glass. “What if I talk to the teacher? See if you could bring your butterfly collection instead?”
“That’d be cool. It’d be my dead pets.”
“Double gross.” Kirsten rolled her eyes.
The doorbell rang. “After you’re finished with your snack, homework, guys.”
Laura went and opened the door. It was Katherine and Cindy.
“I hope this isn’t a bad time,” Katherine began.
“No, not at all.” She gestured to the living room. “Come in, sit down.”
“We thought you might need a hand with the rest of the boxes.” Cindy held up her cell phone. “The girls are keeping the time open if you agree.”
Laura was touched by their offer. “I can’t ask you to keep helping.”
“You didn’t.” Katherine tucked her keys into her pocket. “Would it be all right for us to phone the others?”
Laura bit her lip. “If you’re sure it won’t be putting you out…”
“We’re sure.” Cindy started dialing almost before the words were out of her mouth.
As the kids shyly passed through and headed upstairs, Laura noticed that Gregg had piled a few extra cookies on top of his books. Oh well, looked like dinner might be late anyway.
It seemed only moments passed before the women began to assemble. And they brought chocolates, brownies and cookies with them. Annie carried in two of her signature pies.
“Chocolate and sugar for fuel,” Emma explained. “Only the bare necessities.”
Again, laughter filled the old house along with the treble of women’s chatter as they went up and down the stairs, unloading boxes, finding places for most everything.
Grace smiled, a mixture of sweetness and mischief. “This way you’ll have to stay in touch with us—if you want to find anything.”
Laura imagined that wouldn’t be a hardship. “I never expected this much…help.”
“I came from the city, too. I wasn’t used to how neighborly people here are. And I wasn’t comfortable with it, at first.” She raised her scarred hand. “But it wound up helping me heal…inside.”
It seemed this woman could see right through her.
“Laura, would you rather have these in the dining room or living room?” Leah held out a pair of slender brass candlesticks, turning them so the afternoon sun hit the aged patina.
“Um…dining room, I think.”
Katherine
