“Did you have a nightmare, sweetie? It’s okay. You’re safe now.” Dana’s crooning broke into his thoughts. She was a natural mother… He immediately rejected the plan that began to form. No. Ridiculous.
Ollie put her hand on Dana’s thigh and looked pleadingly at the schoolteacher, tears brimming in her eyes. “You’re not going to put Jean in the closet, are you? You said you don’t do that.”
Dana shook her head. “My closets are for coats and school supplies. I don’t think Jean would make a very good school supply, do you?”
Ollie looked puzzled. “What would she be?”
Dana frowned, thinking it over. Brady felt a curious emotion begin to spread through his chest, squeezing his heart like a giant hand. He couldn’t stop watching the schoolteacher and the girls. Ollie’s sweet face was filled with a grave earnestness that Dana apparently could not resist, because she reached out and gave the girl’s plump cheek a reassuring rub. That gesture alone sealed things for Brady. He couldn’t save these kids by himself, but together they could. They could provide a home for Karen, Jean and Ollie. The plan terrified him, even though it made perfect sense.
“Well,” Dana said, answering Ollie’s question with utter seriousness. “I think she’d be an awfully good paper clip.”
A little laugh burst out of Ollie. “But she’d have to lie flat all the time.”
“Could she be a staple?”
“No! Scissors!” Ollie chortled and made a big cutting gesture with her arms.
“She’d have to snip things,” Dana reminded her.
Brady watched in bemusement as Jean’s wails subsided to occasional hiccups. Even though she didn’t say anything, the brightness in her eyes indicated she was listening.
“I know,” Dana told Ollie, giving Jean another squeeze. “Jean could be the paste!”
“She’d have to be really, really, really sticky,” Ollie said, bouncing up and down on the bed. Then she froze and Brady saw a wet stain start to spread across the sheet. Ollie’s face collapsed and her tears returned. “I didn’t mean to.”
“What’s wrong, honey?” Dana asked.
Ollie didn’t say a word, but the tears spilled onto her cheeks.
“I think she’s had an accident.” Brady gestured to the spreading stain.
“Oh.” Dana didn’t blink. She gave Ollie a big smile. “I think you need to go to the potty right now.”
“No cl-cl-oset?” Ollie whimpered.
“You don’t look like a Magic Marker to me. Go sit on the potty right now.” With considerable effort, Dana managed to stand with Jean in her arms, then she moved over to Brady and thrust the girl at him. His surprise must have shown. Dana grinned at him. “It’s either Jean or potty duty. Your choice.”
It really wasn’t that crazy a plan. “I’ll take Jean,” he said, pulling the child close to his chest and being careful not to poke her with the edge of his badge.
Dana nodded as she left the room with Ollie. “I thought you might.”
Brady thought Jean had fallen asleep she was so quiet and still, but when he looked, her huge eyes were peering up at him.
“She thinks you’re going to put her in the closet,” Karen informed him.
“Why would she think that?” Brady made his voice neutral so Karen wouldn’t detect his anger.
“That’s where Momma puts us when we’re bad.”
Brady felt a chill run down his spine. “Your mother shouldn’t do that.”
Karen shrugged. “We always deserve it, and anyway it’s only for a little while. Just a day or so. She’s always nice when she lets us out.”
Brady didn’t want to hear any more. He sat on the bed and turned his gaze to Jean who was tracing the ridges on the seal of his badge with her small index finger. Then, in a move of complete trust, she snuggled closer into him, the sharp bones of her elbows jabbing into his ribs.
He sat that way for what seemed like a long time and analyzed his plan from all angles. If he tried to file for temporary custody on his own and didn’t get it, there would be only two places for the children to go—back to Bev, if and when she returned, or into the system. Neither option was acceptable.
Bev would probably move out of the area, and the poor girls would just be treated like excess baggage until she deserted them again or, worse, found a more permanent way of ridding herself of her children.
In Child Protective Services, the girls might go to a good home, but then again they might not. The likelihood that they’d be split up would be high. Ollie and Jean had good chances to be adopted, but Karen was too old. Crazy as the plan had seemed ten minutes ago, by the time Dana returned to the room with Ollie wrapped in a towel, her cheeks scrubbed to a bright pink, Brady knew the only way to ensure that he would be granted temporary custody of the children by the judge would be if he were to get married. And since there was no woman in his life—certainly no woman the girls would trust—that meant he had to convince Dana to be his bride.
“Sorry it took so long,” Dana apologized. “It was just easier to give her a bath.” She produced three folded T-shirts. “Nightgowns,” she announced, quickly pulling one over Ollie’s head. She handed another to Karen.
“Now, who wants to help me change the sheets?” she said, her voice bright, obviously unaware that while she, Ollie and Karen worked, he was finalizing his plan. It made perfect sense. Not all marriages started with love. She seemed to be a pleasant enough woman and practical, too. Being a schoolteacher in such a rural area proved her dedication to children. He didn’t doubt that he’d grow to love her, in, of course, a brotherly way—over time.
“I think a bath is in order for Miss Jean,” Dana said once the bed was remade. “When I feel sad, a warm bath always makes me feel better. Also, monsters don’t like water.”
“Another bath?” Brady asked.
Dana gave him a small smile that caused a pulse to beat erratically in his throat as she held out her arms for Jean. “Come on, missy.”
Okay, not so brotherly.
“I like baths,” Ollie said sleepily, already snuggled down into the clean sheets. “You make them fun.”
“Thank you, miss. Now, you have a good night’s sleep.” Dana dropped a kiss on Ollie’s cheek. “For Miss Jean, we are going to have a special keep-the-meanies-away kind of bath.”
“I can do it,” Karen said.
Dana looked gently at Karen, “You’ve done so much already, I think you should rest, because you’re going to have to be strong for tomorrow.”
“Still—” Karen shrugged “—I usually do it.”
“I promise to take good care of her,” Dana offered. “Do you mind? I like giving little girls baths.”
Karen looked undecided and then crawled into bed next to Ollie. She ignored Brady and addressed Dana. “He’s leaving, right?”
Dana communicated three different messages with one meaningful glance at Brady.
“Uh, yes.” He started to walk out of the room.