Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Parker sat upright in bed, clutching Ruffy while tears streamed down his face.
The second Callum stepped inside, his gaze swept the bedroom, searching for an intruder. He’d been around Parker’s age when a man had broken into their house, and they’d had to barricade the bedroom door and stay quiet until the police arrived. Scary stuff for a young boy.
This bedroom was small, and the closet door was open, showing only the handful of Parker’s shirts. Reassured no one else was in the room, Callum sat on the bed and gathered his son into his arms.
The boy’s entire body trembled as he wrapped his arms around Callum and held on tight.
Brynn came in and sat on the edge of the bed, her face a mask of concern.
“What happened, buddy?” Callum gently stroked his son’s hair. “What scared you?”
Parker expelled a shuddering breath and burrowed against Callum’s chest.
Over the boy’s mop of red hair, Callum met Brynn’s worried gaze. Still, when her eyes locked with his, she shot him a reassuring smile and mouthed, You got this .
“I had this dream about Grammy. She was there, and I…I was happy. She hugged me and called me her sweet boy.” Parker lifted his head and looked into his daddy’s eyes. “Then she was gone.”
“Who else was there, Parker?” Brynn asked, her low voice intended to calm and soothe.
“Daddy was there.” Parker once again looked at Callum. “But then you went away, and I was all alone.” Tears slipped down the boy’s face. “Suki came and jumped on me.”
“Suki?” Brynn asked, but Callum made a little motion with one hand that said he’d tell her later.
“Darn that Suki.” Callum’s words brought a smile to Parker’s lips.
“Yeah, darn that Suki.”
“I’m sorry the dream frightened you.” Like Brynn, Callum spoke in a low voice. “But I want you to know that I am here for you. And if Suki comes back, you just tell her that she will have to deal with your daddy.”
“What if she doesn’t listen?” Parker asked, his head still against Callum’s chest.
“We’ll tell her right now to go away. You and I.” Callum’s tone turned fierce. “What do you think?”
“I think yes.” Parker lifted his head, his eyes now clear.
“Okay, on the count of three, all of us, including you, Brynn, will yell out as loud as we can, ‘Go away, Suki, and don’t come back.’”
Brynn nodded, doing her best to hide a smile. It wasn’t necessary, as Parker’s gaze remained focused on Callum.
“Okay, one, two, three. Go away, Suki, and don’t come back.”
The three of them yelled so loud Brynn’s ears rang, but by the end, Parker was smiling.
“Great job, Parker.” Callum held up his hand for a fist bump. “I think a performance like that deserves something special. ”
Interest sparked in Parker’s blue eyes. “Like what?”
Callum shot a wink to Brynn before answering the boy. “How about a bowl of Cocoa Puffs for breakfast?”
“The Cocoa Puffs did the trick,” Brynn told Callum when Parker raced off to get T-Ruff for today’s hike. “He was a different boy at breakfast.”
“I understand.” Callum rocked back on his hiking boots. “I felt the same way after eating mine.”
Brynn laughed. “Oh, quick, tell me. Who is Suki?”
“A cat that attacked me when I was Parker’s age. Mean as a snake.” Callum smiled. “I told Parker about my run-in with Suki after he didn’t want to pet Buttercup. Maybe that story and the Bad Kitty book I read was enough to cause him to have a nightmare.”
“I think there was more to it than that.” Parker’s running feet had Brynn waving a hand. “I’ll tell you my thoughts later.”
“T-Ruff is excited.” Parker held up the stuffie. “He’s never been on a hike before. Me neither.”
A startled look crossed Callum’s face. “You’ve never been on a hike?”
Parker shook his head.
“It’s like a walk,” Callum explained. “You’ve been on walks.”
“Nuh-uh.” Parker shook his head. “Grammy’s legs were bad. She couldn’t walk far and didn’t want me going anywhere without her.”
“I think you’ll really love hiking.” Brynn glanced at Parker’s sneakers. “When your dad buys you new shoes, maybe he’ll get you a pair of hiking boots.”
“Can T-Ruff get a pair, too?” Parker asked.
“Sure,” Callum said. “If they have a pair in his size.”
“Hear that, T-Ruff? We’re both going to get new shoes. ”
“Soon,” Callum promised. “But not today. Today, we’re heading to Peninsula State Park. There’s this huge tower there that is fun to climb.”
“I’m a good climber,” Parker announced. “So is T-Ruff.”
At Brynn’s suggestion, they ended up parking and then walking the Nicolet Bay trail.
“Look, look.” Parker excitedly grabbed Brynn’s hand. “Look at those birds. There’s a whole bunch of them.”
“Wild turkeys,” Callum clarified. “There’re a lot in this area.”
“Did you hear that, T-Ruff?” Parker told his stuffie. “Those are turkeys.”
They paused a little farther down the trail to watch a pileated woodpecker hammer its beak against a dead hemlock tree.
“See the bird?” Brynn pointed. “It’s a pileated woodpecker. You can tell because it has that red crest and those white and black stripes on its face. It’s the largest living woodpecker in North America.”
“Not bigger than the turkeys,” Parker said, quite serious.
“No, not bigger than the wild turkey,” Callum agreed.
“Listen to how they drum.” Brynn paused to listen. “Slow at first, then picking up speed, then trailing off at the end.”
“You know a lot about the bird—” Callum’s words were cut off when the woodpecker thrust its head back and let loose a maniacal-sounding laugh.
“What was that?” Callum asked.
“That’s their call.” Brynn laughed. “Very distinctive.”
“You know everything,” Parker said, his eyes wide. “How do you know so much?”
“My brother, Graham, got a Bird Study merit badge when he was in the scouts. I was away at school then, but he’d send me pictures and information about the birds he researched. This particular woodpecker was one of the birds. I think it was his favorite.”
“I want to be a scout and learn all about birds,” Parker declared.
“Good Hope has its own type of scouting program. That’s the one Graham was in, but no matter where you live, there are scouting programs.” Brynn glanced at Callum. “Right?”
“Exactly right.” Callum pointed. “That’s new.”
Brynn shifted her gaze to see what had caught his attention. She smiled. “It’s actually been there a handful of years. The old playground was deemed unsafe, so they built a new, accessible one.”
Parker’s eyes lit up. “Can I play? Just for a little bit?”
“We were headed to the tower,” Callum began, then appeared to reconsider when he saw Parker’s crestfallen expression. The boy might not argue, but it was clear how he felt. “But we have time for you to play on the equipment.”
“I’ll hold T-Ruff,” Brynn offered when Parker turned to run.
“Okay.” Parker shoved the stuffie into her outstretched hands and called back over his shoulder, “I’m going down the slide first.”
Brynn watched Parker approach the slide. He held back when he saw another boy rush to climb the steps, but the other child said something that had Parker smiling.
“Unless you’re interested in going on the merry-go-round, we could sit for a few.” Brynn gestured toward an open bench that appeared to be made of recycled material.
“Works for me.” Callum took a seat beside Brynn, and his gaze swept the playground. “This is nice.”
Brynn waved when Parker looked their way, and Callum did the same.
“This park is popular with both locals and visitors.” Brynn lifted her face to the sun for several seconds and smiled. “There is a constant push to improve life for those who live in this area. Just last year, the community banded together to work toward increasing internet speed.”
Callum made a noncommittal sound that Brynn took as encouragement.
“I wasn’t here then, but according to my parents, during the pandemic, there were so many people who returned home and wanted to work remotely that increasing internet speed became a priority.” Brynn smiled. “While Good Hope still doesn’t have fiber-optic connections, we now have high-speed availability with satellite and fixed wireless.”
“Are you able to work remotely?”
“I could if I wanted to—the speed is there. Although I work primarily out of the clinic, we have several licensed professional counselors on staff who have clients they reach online.”
Callum rubbed his chin. “My parents used to go into an office for their accounting practice, but they gave up the lease on the building they’d been renting because they can now do almost everything from home.”
“Way of the world,” Brynn agreed. “And you probably already know this, but a new business moved into your parents’ old location. It’s now a yoga studio. Daisy teaches a few classes there every week.”
“You mentioned she has a number of part-time jobs.” After casting a quick glance that assured Callum that Parker, now on the merry-go-round, was still okay, he shifted his body to face Brynn.
“She does. She’s a massage therapist at Golden Door, teaches yoga and dog-sits. Oh, and bartends at the Ding-A-Ling.” Brynn brought a finger to her lips and then smiled. “I probably missed something. Daisy is always doing something fun.”
Callum’s gaze lingered on Parker for several long seconds. When his attention returned to Brynn, the look in his eyes told her that whatever was on his mind had shifted from Daisy to something else. “You had some thoughts on what might have been behind Parker’s bad dream last night.”
Brynn hesitated, recalling her mother’s warning about not bringing her career into personal relationships. “I haven’t done an assessment, and I don’t have the information?—”
Callum’s hand on her arm had her protest stopping midstream. “I’m not holding you to this, Brynn. You’re my friend. I just want to hear your thoughts.”
He’d asked, and she always found it difficult to refuse Callum anything. “Okay, well, it’s clear Parker loved his grandmother. Being with Grammy was all he knew. Suddenly, she’s no longer around, and he’s with you, someone he only just met. What Parker relayed in the dream tells me that he fears being left again.”
Guilt washed over Callum. Had Parker sensed his uncertainty? Sensed his fear that a life with him might not be what was best for his son?
Her expression softened, as if Brynn could read his worry. “You were good with him, listening and reassuring him that you would be there for him. Still, I believe it could be beneficial if there were some way to maintain contact with his grandmother to ease the transition.”
Even before she finished speaking, Callum was shaking his head. “Linette made it clear there could be no further contact.”
“That is unfortunate.” Brynn shifted her gaze to the playground to make sure Parker wasn’t headed their way.
While they watched him play with the new friend he’d made, Parker tossed back his head and laughed. Joy blanketed his face.
“I don’t know what that kid said.” Callum smiled. “It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that Parker made a friend. I’m glad we stopped and let him play. This is good for him.”
“Parker is smart and resilient.” Brynn touched his arm. “Being around family who love and support him will go a long way toward helping with his feelings of abandonment. ”
A startled look crossed Callum’s face. “Abandonment?”
“His mother leaving. His grandmother turning him over to you, a stranger. Leaving the town where he grew up, where he had friends.” Brynn easily slipped into therapist mode. “Children in such situations often feel that their situation is their fault, because of something they did or didn’t do. Those feelings, if not dealt with, can affect future relationships. That’s why I’d suggest you have him see a therapist. Either Trinity or Liam would be excellent.”
Callum arched a brow. “Not you?”
“I’m your friend, his friend.” Brynn met his gaze. “One of my partners would be a better choice.”
“I’ll think about it.” Callum’s gaze returned to his son. “I want to do right by him.”
Brynn’s heart swelled. This, she thought, was the Callum she knew, the one who stepped up and faced any challenge in his path head on.
This man would do right by his son. Of that, she had no doubt.
They never did make it to Eagle Tower. Instead, they let Parker play until it grew close to dinnertime, and everyone began to leave. Even then, they remained a little longer, with Callum and Brynn playing with Parker on the equipment.
Once they arrived home, Callum made dinner for the three of them. The way he saw it, food preparation was everyone’s responsibility.
The spaghetti with garlic butter and steamed vegetables wasn’t anything fancy, but Brynn and Parker appeared to like it. After they’d cleaned up the kitchen, Parker, tired from a busy day, spread the plastic farm animals across the living room floor and played quietly .
“What’s on your agenda for the evening?” Callum asked Brynn, giving the table one last swipe of the cloth. “Want to watch a movie?”
“I’d love to.” Brynn hesitated. “If you can wait a half hour or so. I’m on the NeighborGood Crew and have a few calls to make first.”
“NeighborGood Crew?” Callum asked.
“It’s an organization that finds volunteers for community events.” Brynn glanced at her laptop. “I was emailed a list of people to call about helping with the upcoming Children’s Bike Parade. Apparently, they have enough volunteers for the big Independence Day parade but not for the bike parade.”
Callum’s lips curved up. “My brother and I loved decorating our bikes and riding in that parade.”
“It’s still a big hit with the kids.”
“What kinds of positions do you have to fill?”
“Why?” Brynn offered a hopeful smile. “Interested in volunteering?”
Callum lifted a hand, palm out. “Nope.”
“How ’bout in helping me make some calls?”
“Happy to.”
“Great. I’ll email you the list of positions, and we can split the names.”
When Callum pulled up the file, he scanned the various positions—registration volunteers, decoration station helpers, safety volunteers, water and snack distributors. The list went on and on. The second list held the names of potential volunteers and their phone numbers. He looked up. “How do I know which positions still need volunteers?”
“They all need volunteers. Whatever the person is willing to do, sign them up for that. Since we have their phone number, let them know they’ll receive a text in the next five days with all the pertinent information. ”
Callum studied the list and saw some familiar names. “How do you want to divide this?”
“How about if we divide it in half? I’ll take the top half, and you can take the bottom?”
“Works for me.” Callum stood. “I’ll call from the living room. That way, they won’t hear another conversation in the background.”
“Good idea. And, Callum?”
He turned back.
“Thanks for helping.”
He grinned. “My pleasure. This should be fun.”
Callum soon discovered the conversations didn’t go as quickly as he’d anticipated. Even the people he didn’t know wanted to talk.
“I’m down to my last one,” he called out to Brynn when he heard her end her latest call.
“I’ve only got one more as well.” Brynn stood in the doorway. “Have you picked up any volunteers?”
“I’m batting fifty percent right now, but this call could put me over.”
“Good luck.”
Callum glanced at the name. Luther Gannon, CEO of Gannon Financial. This was a call perhaps better made by Brynn, as Luther and his family lived just down the road from Brynn’s parents on a stretch of roadway known as Millionaire’s Row.
He shifted on the sofa to call out to Brynn but could hear she’d already made her last call.
Which meant it was up to him to contact Luther. As the number rang, Callum wondered why Luther still lived in Good Hope. Gannon Financial Corporation was based in Detroit, and neither Luther nor his wife, Natalia, were Good Hope natives.
“Gannon. ”
“Luther, this is Callum Brody. I don’t know if you remember me, but my parents?—”
“Of course I remember you.” Luther’s initially brusque tone turned friendly. “How are you?”
“Doing well. I’m back in Good Hope for a visit, and I volunteered to help Brynn Chapin find volunteers for an upcoming children’s parade?—”
That was as far as he got before Luther interrupted. “That volunteer spirit is only one of the things that has kept Natalia and me here in Good Hope.”
“You’re permanent residents now?”
Callum’s surprise must have been reflected in his voice, because Luther chuckled. “We have been for years. Now, with the kids, well, there is nowhere better to raise a family.”
“Is your business still based out of Detroit?” Callum wanted to get back to the subject of volunteering, but after making nine calls, he’d been reminded that connecting or reconnecting was always part of a conversation.
“It is. Thankfully, because of technology, working out of a home office is no problem.” Luther paused. “I have to say, your dad is immensely proud of you.”
Callum stilled. “Are you sure you’re not thinking of my brother, Connor?”
“I don’t believe so. You’re the one who does the extreme sports videos, right?”
“That’s right.” Callum swallowed hard against the lump forming in his throat. “My dad talks about me?”
“He shows me your videos every time our paths cross. That last one, well, I don’t know how you do what you do, but I’m impressed.”
“Thank you.”
“I know Anders at Outfitters hopes to get into some of that once he finds the right person. It’s not his thing at all. Maybe you can give him some names. Or if you’re considering staying?— ”
“I’m not, but I’ll be sure to speak with Anders while I’m here.” Out of the corner of his eye, Callum saw Brynn standing in the doorway, leaning against the jamb. He decided it was time to get to the reason for this call. “In terms of the parade, there are several positions open. I can read you the list?—”
“Put me down wherever there is the most need.”
“Great. Thank you.”
“Neighbors helping neighbors,” Luther said. “That’s the Good Hope way. It’s also why we choose to make our home here.”