palmed the little guy’s head “—is Javier. He’s the youngest of your new responsibilities.”
Cruz stared from the cute kid to the minister. “Reverend Gallagher—Steve,” he corrected himself. “You’ve got this all wrong. There’s no way I can—”
“I found a toad, Reverend Steve!” A little girl sporting twin ponytails bounded through the door. Her presence hiked the room’s energy level as she slid to a stop near Steve’s legs.
“A lively one at that,” Steve replied. The gray-green toad bounded to the floor from her tiny fingers. “Cruz.” His tone changed. Softened. “This is Liliana.”
The girl didn’t peek up at him like her brother had done. She lifted her gaze as if excited by all life had to offer, brows raised, brown eyes sparkling, and grinned.
Elina.
The child was the absolute image of her mother, his beloved cousin, playmate and childhood best friend. Through all the turbulence of his parents’ marriage, Elina had looked after him, played with him and sheltered him. He owed her. He owed her so much, and yet he’d let time and space separate them long ago, and never looked back.
He swallowed hard, facing Elina’s daughter, and knew what he had to do, but hated having to do it because the last place Cruz wanted to be was in Grace Haven, New York.
“Tara, can you take the kids down the hall to see the aquarium? Cruz, you remember my daughter, Tara, don’t you?”
Cruz smiled and extended a hand in greeting. “I believe you had pigtails and braces when we last met.”
“An awkward stage only recently corrected,” Tara replied, laughing. She shook his hand, then took the little fellow from her cousin. “I’ll keep these guys busy for a few minutes while you make plans.”
The only plan Cruz intended to make involved a checkbook and an escape route.
“Our church is part of the ICM,” Steve told him.
Cruz had no idea what that meant. He folded his arms over his chest because just the thought of Grace Haven made him feel defensive. The reality of being here magnified the emotion. “Which is what?”
“The International Children’s Ministry is a nationally certified group that maintains legal jurisdiction for foreign children in times of crisis. We have the power to place children in foster care by approved members of the church and/or the community, along with the laws of a given locality. Dual guardianship is required in all cases.”
“So you are actually authorized to place these children into care in light of my mother’s health problems, despite the shaky legalities?”
“I have the legal right, and the moral obligation that goes along with it,” Steve told him. He swept Cruz and the honey-haired young woman a troubled look. “I’m sure this was nothing either of you expected to be thrust into today, but if there’s one thing that can be said about life, it’s that things are guaranteed to change when you least expect it.”
“Or when people fail to follow legal procedures with little regard to who’s affected.” The teacher directed a frank gaze to her uncle.
“Rosa’s been ill...”
The young woman held up a hand. “I understand that better than most, but the welfare of a child should always come first. And leaving these two precious little ones in legal limbo could mean a quick ticket back to Mexico, when a fairly simple process would have at least made them American citizens. Right now I’m wishing their mother or great-aunt had taken the steps to do the right thing.”
Who did she think she was?
A burr prickled beneath Cruz’s collar, because no matter how attractive this woman might be, she didn’t have the right to attack his family. Even when they were wrong. “You have a law degree, miss?”
“Of course not.”
“And you’ve spent exactly how much of your life being a Latina immigrant?”
His attempt to make her feel bad backfired. “Not being an immigrant doesn’t make me the bad guy here. There are a lot of folks in the Finger Lakes area who have worked exclusively with the migrant and immigrant communities, and I happen to be one of them, so save your breath. I do have respect for the law, and as a lawyer, I’m a little surprised you take it so casually. But then, maybe things are different in the big city. Maybe breaking the laws for one’s personal convenience is more common in Manhattan. You would know that better than I, of course.”
Touché.
Steve grimaced. “While we can’t change what’s happened to put us in this predicament, we might be able to solve the problem, working together.”
Working together was not going to happen. Cruz knew it, but he listened out of respect for a good man, while biting back the urge to look at his watch.
“As I was saying,” Steve continued, facing his niece, “the kids know you. You’ve known them through your friendship with Rosa, and you’ve been Lily’s summertime teacher for two years, and Javier’s since last month. They trust you. They need you, even if the timing is less than perfect because I know you’ve been hard at work on your upcoming project. And while I hate messing up your plans, I really need you on board for this.”
She stared up at him, then drew a deep breath, but before Cruz could shrug the whole thing off and get back in his car, the reverend nailed him with a firm look. “This doesn’t let you off the hook. I’m naming you as the second guardian, Cruz. It’s your family, after all. As an attorney it will be your job to make recommendations to the court about where the kids should go once all this is said and done. Your mother’s compromised health adds a complicating factor to an already convoluted legal situation.”
“What?” He stepped back, hands up. What was Steve thinking? Didn’t their family history speak for itself? Raising children had never ranked high on the list and the children’s current situation highlighted that. “I have no vested interest in this, or anything else here. I am not taking on the care or guardianship of two children, and I actually have a job over five hours away. You need to find someone else to step in if you need two guardians to fulfill the obligation. Someone local.”
“We don’t need a second person,” the young woman said smoothly. “I am totally capable of caring for Lily and Javier myself.”
“The rules require dual caretakers,” the judge reminded them. “Steve and I are bound by that.”
“When innocent children are caught in legal battles, someone has to put them first,” Steve added. “Hence the dual guardianship.” Steve turned to face Cruz more directly. “If you’re really too busy to stay and help out for a few weeks, my only recourse is to send the children out of the area to a place where the rules will be followed.” Steve held Cruz’s gaze. “Just so you know, if I do that, it will crush your mother.”
So now he was suddenly supposed to care about his mother?
Not gonna happen.
He turned and faced the young woman. “You don’t have a husband or significant other that can sign on for the duration? Because one of us has a job to do.”
She
