“I’ll be here for sure, hon. I’m working a double shift today. Now, you lie down and rest for a while. I’ll be back to check your temperature.” Then she turned to Eric. “Mr. Granston, why don’t you go on down to the cafeteria? I’ll keep an eye on your daughter for you for a while.”
Eric stood up and stretched his long legs. “I could use a sandwich and a cup of coffee. Cassie, maybe you can get to sleep if I’m not in here talking to you.” He ran a hand through his dark hair before leaning down to kiss Cassie. “I’ll be back in about twenty minutes, princess.”
Then he slipped out the door, stepped into an empty elevator and pushed the button for the lobby. Happy memories of wintry days and warm kisses in the snow had momentarily taken the edge off reality. He’d lost Hope, and getting her back was going to be difficult. If not impossible.
The elevator stopped, the doors came open and Eric came face to face with the very object of his thoughts.
“Hello,” he said and stepped out.
“Hi. I didn’t realize you were coming here,” Hope replied, looking startled to see him.
“This morning’s closing finished quickly, so I stopped by,” Eric replied. “Where’s Beth?”
“She’s still at school,” Hope answered as she tucked some hair behind an ear. “I only had to teach until noon today.”
Eric nodded. Then there was awkward silence between them. Now what? Eric wondered. Lunch, he suddenly remembered. “I’m going to get some lunch. Cassie is finished eating, and she’s resting right now.”
“Oh, well, maybe I’ll wait a while before I go up.” Hope readjusted the slipping shoulder strap of her canvas tote bag before it could slide down her arm. “She won’t rest at all if I walk in right now.”
“That’s probably true,” Eric said. “I’m on my way to the cafeteria for something to eat. Want to come along?”
Hope looked at him in what she knew was probably an amusing combination of surprise and skepticism. She couldn’t quite believe he was making the offer.
“You can go on up if you’d rather. I won’t be offended,” he added, then paused.
Hope smiled. “Actually, I’d like to talk to you about something. Maybe this would be a good time.”
Oh, no, Eric thought, what did she want to discuss? Did it involve a guy named Shelton? He pointed toward the nearby cafeteria. “Let’s go,” he said, and they walked down the hallway together in an uncomfortable silence until they entered the à la carte line.
“Coffee, please,” Eric requested of the waitress behind the counter. Then he ordered the special of the day: grilled cheese with a bowl of tomato soup, and coffee. Hope asked for the same, but with decaf instead of regular coffee.
Soon they were seated at one end of a long cafeteria table, eating together for the first time in months. “I don’t know, but I’m wondering if maybe we should have ordered something else,” Hope remarked after sampling a bite of her sandwich. “Grilled cheese in a restaurant is hardly ever as good as homemade.”
Eric watched a frown crease her forehead. “You’re probably right. But it looked better than the other choices.”
“That’s true,” Hope replied with a brief smile. “Maybe we should have chosen another place to eat.” Then her smile faded. Maybe she shouldn’t have said something that hinted at more than he’d offered. She hadn’t thought how it might sound until the words were out.
“Maybe so,” Eric agreed, easing the moment of tension he’d seen on her face. “You wanted to talk to me?” he asked. His curiosity was increasing.
“Yes,” she agreed, “I do need to discuss something about Beth with you.”
“She’s not sick—”
“No, no, Eric, it’s nothing like that. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Hope responded. “It’s just that, she’s becoming something of a discipline problem at school. I’ve been with Cassie so much lately, I didn’t notice Beth’s behavior. When I picked her up at school the other day, Greg Shelton, the principal, took me aside and filled me in on some facts I wasn’t aware of.”
Eric took a sip of his coffee. “And did Greg have some ideas on how to solve the problems?” Like spend the rest of your life with him, maybe? he thought unkindly.
Hope frowned in response to his question. “Do you know him?”
“No,” Eric said with a shake of his head. “But I’ve heard about him.” And about his needs as perceived by Grandma, Eric thought. “So, what did he tell you?”
“Beth has been sent to his office twice this month.”
“For what?”
“At first, she was repeatedly talking when she wasn’t supposed to, then she was disrespectful to another child. But then it progressed quickly to intentional disobedience when she started refusing to do what her teacher told her to do. She lost her recess every day last week without telling me, and the notes her teacher has sent home to me—Beth’s destroyed them! Greg is really worried about what this is going to turn into if we don’t take some action. Soon. And so am I.”
“I’ll talk to her,” Eric assured her. “But Beth is good at hiding her feelings, so it might not be easy to get to the bottom of this matter, even though I think we both know the root of it.”
“Her sister’s illness,” Hope said. “But Beth is more like you in temperament than she’s ever been like me. I’m hoping you can help her in some way I can’t.” Hope looked down at what remained of her lunch as she gathered her thoughts. “Grace told me about her plans for the cruise when I saw her a little while ago. She said they’re leaving tonight for Florida.” She looked up. Now for the difficult part. “I appreciate your willingness to stay with us while they’re gone.”
Eric stared into the gentle blue eyes that seemed even prettier now than in the years that had passed. “You don’t mind my being there?” he asked.
“Eric, it’s not easy for me to admit this, but I really need your help,” Hope replied.
He nodded. It wasn’t the answer he’d wanted, but it was an acceptable one—a place to begin. “I’ll do what I can, Hope. You know that.”
“I know, but…I must be doing something wrong with Beth. She seems to want to be independent of me, and yet, honestly, I think she needs more of me than she gets.” Hope blinked hard, and Eric knew she was fighting back tears. “Being here for Cassie, substitute teaching and taking care of the basics at your parents’ home is about all I can deal with these days, Eric. Beth turning into a disciplinary problem wasn’t something I’d thought would ever happen, but it has. And, I feel like I’m not doing a good job as a mother.”
“You’re exactly the mother she needs, Hope,” Eric stated quietly. He knew how hard she could be on herself. “But if she needs extra attention right now, then I’ll be there for her.”
Hope wiped her mouth on her paper napkin. “Just spend time with her, maybe help with her homework like you did yesterday, watch her play ball…anything like that would mean a lot.” She studied Eric’s face without smiling, and wondered how he could have stopped loving her. After all they’d shared together? Then she realized she’d been silent too long. “I—I want to thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me for helping out with my own children—” he began.
“No,” she interrupted. “I mean, I really want to thank you. Since our separation, you’ve not neglected the girls at all. I was afraid that—” She stopped, knowing she might be entering territory better left alone.
“You were afraid that what? I’d not want to see my kids?” Eric prodded, his instinctive