Victoria wasn’t sure how to respond, but she didn’t have to because he added in a very quiet voice, “Me an’ Unca Ben woulda been there to ’tect Mommy and Daddy if I didn’t ask for ice cream.”
“Oh, no, my darling.” Victoria’s heart ached for the blame he carried. Mikey and Ben both felt responsible for something over which they had no control. “Listen to me, Mikey. Having ice cream with your uncle didn’t make those men hurt your parents. You are not to blame.”
“But Unca Ben coulda stopped them if we’d gone home. He coulda,” he assured her with a frown. “Unca Ben is big and strong. His job is to ’tect people.”
“I know.” Victoria bit her lip. She could hardly reassure Mikey that his uncle would be here to protect him because that wasn’t true. Ben felt he had to find someone else to do that—unless she, or perhaps the aunts, could change his mind. “Mikey, God’s even bigger than Uncle Ben. He can keep you safe when Uncle Ben’s not there. You can trust God. When you’re afraid, you can pray and ask Him to make the fear go away. God’s your Heavenly Father and He loves you very much.”
After studying her silently, Mikey resumed plodding through the snow. Victoria inwardly winced at his sad expression, glad for the silence as recrimination filled her. How dare she tell others to trust—she who hadn’t trusted God to find her a man deserving of her love? She’d failed to live up to standards her aunts had ingrained in her. What kind of example would she be to kids who came to The Haven? How could a pregnant single woman talk to them about God, about keeping His commandments? Her cheeks burned with shame.
She kept glancing at Mikey as they walked. Why couldn’t Ben see that Mikey needed him? Now more than ever. She sighed with frustration. Walking had failed to provide her with the answers she craved.
When they returned to the house, Ben waited for them in the kitchen.
“Are you all right?” His dark blue eyes inspected her face.
“I’m fine.” She turned away to make some toast. “The fresh air up here always does wonders for me.”
“Uh-huh.” Something in the way he said that made her twist to look at him. Disliking the speculative look on his face, she quickly changed the subject. “Mikey saw lots of interesting things.”
Thankfully that sent the boy into a long-winded explanation of the sights and sounds around The Haven, leaving Victoria, who was suddenly ravenous, to munch on toast and peanut butter between sips of well-creamed coffee.
“What do you have planned today?” Ben asked when she finally rose to put her dishes in the dishwasher.
“Well, since Olivia and Adele are gone, I suppose lunch will be up to me. Unless—” She checked the fridge and then pumped her fist. “Yes! My dear sister left us a huge pot of soup which means I don’t have to cook.”
“I can cook if you need help,” Ben offered.
“That’s nice of you, though I can cook. Tillie and Margaret would never have allowed us girls to leave The Haven without knowing how to care for ourselves.” She wrinkled her nose as she set a coloring book and crayons in front of Mikey. “It’s just that cooking’s not my favorite activity.”
“What is?” Ben accepted a refill of coffee before leaning back in his chair and waiting.
“Almost any kind of sport. Or anything to do with kids or animals.” She glanced from him to Mikey before asking, “Were you able to discuss—things, while we were walking?”
“Yes.” He studied his nephew with a frown. “The ladies are writing a few letters. This afternoon they’re going to town to mail them and—er—check into some possibilities.”
“Ben, are you sure about this?”
“Pretty sure.” His mouth tightened in a grim line. “I can’t think of any other way.”
Victoria studied Mikey. “It’s just—”
“What do you think of Tillie and Margaret’s idea for The Haven’s newest outreach?” Now he was trying to change the subject.
“Over the top.” Victoria grimaced. “But that’s par for the course for them.”
“I think it’s amazing.” Ben’s face blazed with interest. “Think of the possibilities. What kid wouldn’t want to come here?”
“If only it were that easy,” she muttered.
“You mean your aunts don’t have the qualifications or certifications or whatever they need?”
“I’m pretty sure they do. Tillie and Margaret took all the necessary courses to foster long before they brought us here. And they’re diligent about keeping up with the foster system, constantly adding to their knowledge.” She tapped her finger against her mug. “But more importantly, they have good contacts.”
“In Jasper, you mean?” Ben looked confused.
“Jasper, Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto. You name the place and I can almost guarantee my aunts know someone there who knows someone who knows someone.” Victoria grinned at his visible skepticism. “It’s true. How do you think they got to know so many people?”
“Tell me.” His shrug made her chuckle.
“Their colonel, of course.” Victoria shrugged back at him. “When vets the aunts had written to came for a visit here at The Haven, they told the ladies about the appalling situations they and some of their buddy veterans now lived in. Of course, the aunties had to do something. They enlisted the colonel and his colonel and general buddies to petition the government to spend more on those who’d given their service to this country. Because of the huge support, government response was enacted.”
“Good for them,” Ben said.
“Yes, but more importantly, as folks learned of Tillie and Margaret’s original letter-writing, they began asking the aunts to write to their deployed family members. My dear aunties’ letter-writing ministry grew.” She smiled. “They always include a word about God and invite everyone to visit. Many come to thank them or seek their advice. My aunties have led a lot of people to Jesus and thus continues their missionary work,” she said proudly.
“Now they want to extend it to foster kids. Judging by their past success, I’d say their idea has a good chance of success,” he mused quietly.
“Of course it does,” Victoria said crisply.
“But you don’t want it to?” The words had barely left Ben’s lips when he recanted. “No, that’s not right. You love these ladies. Naturally you want them to succeed. So what’s your stumbling block?” He watched her closely.
“The amount of work. They can take a rest from letter-writing if they need to, but running this place as a retreat will be nonstop. They’re seventy-five, Ben.”
“They seem younger.”
“They can’t run the kind of place they’re describing alone. They’ll need employees, payroll, insurance, programs, knowledge of regulations and, I’m sure, renovations,” Victoria sighed. “There will be a ton of stuff involved.”
“You don’t want to help? Because you’re afraid of the work or...? Say, what do you do again?” he asked suddenly.
“I am—was, a fixer for a hotel chain.”
“A—huh?” Ben’s confusion made her smile.
“A fixer. Solver of problems. If hotel rooms are empty too often, I figure out why and devise strategies so they’ll be booked. If a hotel restaurant isn’t working to capacity, they send me to figure it out. If clients are complaining about something too frequently, or we’re not getting enough repeat business—actually any problems the hotel couldn’t solve on its own were my problem. My job was to fix them.