She reminded herself that this was all for the best.
Even so, she couldn’t help but feel sad.
Then came the sound of the doorbell, and Jilly rushed to open the front door.
A man and woman in their late fifties came inside, all smiles. The woman hurried over to Liam, but the man approached Riley.
“You must be Ms. Paige,” he said.
“Riley, please,” Riley said, her voice choking just a little.
“I’m Scott Schweppe, Liam’s uncle,” he said. He turned toward his wife, who was giving Liam a big hug. “And this is my wife, Melinda.”
With a slightly awkward chuckle he added, “But I guess you already know that. Anyway, I’m so glad to meet you.”
Riley shook his offered hand. She noticed that his handshake was warm and strong.
Unlike Riley, Melinda didn’t bother to hold back her tears. Looking up at her nephew, she told him, “Oh, Liam! It’s been such a long time! You were so little when we last saw you. Such a handsome young man you’ve become!”
Riley took several long, slow breaths.
This really is for the best, she told herself again.
But until a couple of days ago, it was about the last thing she’d expected to happen.
It seemed like only yesterday when Liam had come to live with Riley and her family. In fact, he’d been here less than two months, but Liam had fit in perfectly and everyone in the household was already very attached to him.
But now it had turned out that the boy had relatives who wanted him to come live with them.
Riley said to the couple, “Please, sit down. Make yourselves comfortable.”
Melinda dabbed her eyes with a tissue, and she and Scott sat down on the couch. Everybody else found places to sit except Gabriela, who hurried away to the kitchen for refreshments.
Riley was a bit relieved when April and Jilly started making small talk with Scott and Melinda – all about their two-day drive from Omaha, where they had stopped for the night, and how the weather had been along the way. Jilly seemed in good spirits, but Riley detected sadness behind April’s cheerful demeanor. After all, she had been closer to Liam than any of them.
As Riley listened, she observed the couple closely.
Scott and his nephew looked a lot alike – the same lanky build, bright red hair, and freckled complexion. Melinda was on the stout side and looked like a perfectly conventional, good-natured housewife.
Gabriela quickly returned carrying a tray with coffee, sugar and cream, and some delicious home-baked Guatemalan cookies called champurradas. She served everybody as they talked.
Riley noticed that Liam’s aunt was looking at her.
With a warm smile, Melinda said, “Riley, Scott and I can’t thank you enough.”
“Oh – it was my pleasure,” Riley said. “He’s a delight to have around.”
Scott shook his head and said, “I’d had no idea how bad things had gotten with my brother, Clarence. We’d been estranged for such a long time. The last I’d heard from him was years ago, when Liam’s mother left him. We should have stayed in better touch, if only for Liam’s sake.”
Riley wasn’t sure what to say. How much had Liam told his aunt and uncle about what had happened?
She remembered it all too vividly.
April had just started dating Liam, and Riley had taken a liking to him right away. But after a frantic call from April, Riley had rushed to Liam’s house and found him being beaten savagely by his drunken father. Riley had subdued the man, but leaving Liam in his care had been unthinkable. Riley had brought Liam home and set up a place for him to sleep in her family room.
This living situation had been precarious, of course.
Liam’s father kept calling and texting his son, promising to change and not to drink anymore – emotional blackmail, pure and simple. And it had been awfully hard for Liam.
Scott continued, “You could have knocked me over with a feather when Clarence called out of the blue last week. He sounded like he was out of his mind. He wanted my help getting Liam back. He said … well, he said some stuff, let me tell you.”
Riley could imagine some of the “stuff” Liam’s father had said – probably including what a vile, horrible person Riley was for taking Liam away from him.
“Clarence said he’d stopped drinking,” Scott said. “But I was sure he was drunk even when he called. Sending Liam back to him was a crazy idea. So there seemed to be only one thing to do.”
Riley felt an emotional jolt those words …
“… only one thing to do.”
Of course, that one thing wasn’t to let Liam stay and live with Riley’s family.
It was simple common sense.
He should go and live with his nearest relatives.
Melinda squeezed Scott’s hand and said to Riley, “Scott and I are empty nesters, you know. We raised three kids, two sons and a daughter. Our girl is finishing her last year of college, and the boys are married and successful and ready to start families of their own. So we’re alone in our big house and we miss hearing young voices. For us, this is the perfect time.”
Again, Riley felt a sharp twinge.
“… the perfect time …”
Of course it was the perfect time. What was more, these were obviously perfect people – or as nearly perfect as parents could be.
Probably a lot better at it than me, Riley thought.
She was a long, long way from balancing everything in her own complicated life – the duties of being a parent and the often conflicting, sometimes dangerous duties of being an FBI field agent.
In fact, she sometimes found it to be almost impossible, and having Liam here hadn’t made her life any easier.
She’d often felt as though she wasn’t giving nearly enough attention to her kids – including Liam. She had stretched herself much too thin when she took him in.
Besides, how could he keep living in that family room until he went to college?
Just how was Riley going to send him to college, anyway?
No, this really was for the best.
Jilly and April kept the conversation going, asking all about the couple’s children.
Meanwhile, Riley’s head was filling with worries.
She felt as though she’d gotten to know Liam well in just a short time. After years of estrangement from him and his father, what did these people know about him? She knew that Scott was the owner of a thriving bicycle store. He also seemed to be in remarkably good shape for his age.
Would he understand that Liam was by nature clumsy and nonathletic?
Anything but a jock, Liam loved to read and study, and he was the captain of his school chess team.
Would Scott and Linda know how to relate to him? Would they enjoy talking with him as much as Riley did? Would they share any of his interests?
Or would he wind up feeling lonely and out of place?
But Riley reminded herself that she had no business worrying about these things.
This really is for the best, she told herself again.
Soon – much too soon, as far as Riley was concerned – Scott and Melinda finished their cookies and coffee and thanked Gabriela for the delicious refreshments. The time had come for them to go. After all, it was going to be a long drive back to Omaha.
Scott picked up Liam’s