Chapter 1 #2
It was a double-edged sword, Ellie knew.
They were from different sorts of dysfunction, but the Parks family at least had a genteel sort of dysfunction to it.
Well, until Melanie. She’d taken quiet dysfunction and turned it into something loud.
“I’m retired,” he reiterated. “And my house has just been finished. I’m starting up a ranch on the outskirts of town. I’m in a great position to take this on.”
“Do you have … Are you with somebody?”
“No. What does that have to do with anything?”
“It just seems like a weird thing to me. That a single man would voluntarily curb his … I don’t know, his game?” Which was maybe what her students would call it. Or maybe not. She was always a little bit behind on the slang. And they were happy to point it out to her.
“I sowed all the wild oats I need to. I traveled with the rodeo for fifteen years. I’m done with that. I have all the money I need, and I’m just settling in to have a more normal life.”
“I’m planning on buying a house in about eight months,” she said.
“Good. You’re also going to be working full time away from home.”
“I don’t have work in the summer.”
He looked down at the little girl in his arms, and then there was a knock at the door. “Hello,” came a soft voice. A woman with dark curly hair and dark, soulful eyes came in. Her entire demeanor was calm. Empathetic.
The exact sort of demeanor you wanted in a school counselor or a child services worker, she figured.
“Hi,” she and Clark said at the same time.
“My name is Daisy Lynnfield. I am a social worker. I was here when your sister and her partner relinquished their parental rights. They also said that they had close family who could take their child.”
“Me,” Ellie said. “I’m her sister. I’m a teacher. I …”
Daisy nodded. “Yes. Melanie did mention that she had a sister. But Ty also mentioned a brother.”
“That’s me,” said Clark. “We’re both financially able to take care of a baby. And in very different places in our lives.”
She appreciated that Clark hadn’t tried to push himself out in front of her.
“It’s completely understandable if neither of you is prepared to take this on now. We can find temporary placement for the baby until we can make some decisions.”
Ellie tried to imagine that tiny baby in Clark’s arms going into the home of a stranger.
What if they didn’t get her back? What if they never saw her again?
She didn’t know enough about the system.
Obviously, she’d taught kids over the years who were in care, but she always had the sense that the system was underfunded, understaffed, and overcrowded.
The idea of this little girl being caught in that impersonal, imperfect system terrified her.
And God knew what would happen. This social worker couldn’t guarantee her safety.
There would already be so much … so much trauma baked into that little body.
Who knew how stressed Melanie had been during the pregnancy.
Whether she’d been on drugs or having withdrawals from them at different times.
Where they’d been sleeping, what sort of care she’d gotten.
“No. That won’t be necessary.”
“I could take her now,” Clark said. “I mean, I’ll have to get a car seat.”
“We can help with that,” the social worker said.
“I want to take her,” Ellie said.
“You said you were getting a house in eight months, Ellie. What kind of living situation are you in right now?”
She wanted to punch Clark for questioning her. She was responsible, and she always had been. Always. Even all the way back in high school, and he knew that. To question her, as if she might not have all her ducks in a row, as if she might bring their niece into a bad situation, was just obnoxious.
“I’m rooming with Mrs. C.,” she said, knowing that would shock and horrify him.
His face contorted. “Seriously? The biology teacher?”
“Yes. I’m surprised you paid attention.”
“Just enough to graduate,” he said.
“So you two know each other,” the social worker said.
“Yes. We both grew up here,” Ellie said. “And our siblings have been …” She sighed heavily. “They’ve been together since high school. Toxic and together, in active addiction pretty much since they were sixteen. We’re their …”
“We’re the emergency contacts,” Clark said.
That they were. “So yeah,” she said. “We know each other.”
“I don’t think there’s any reason that we have to choose,” Clark said. “We can share custody. Like divorced parents, right?”
“In Oregon, yes. Particularly in cases of kinship adoption. If you want to adopt.”
“Yes,” they both said together.
“The field will be clear for that,” Daisy said. “The parents have relinquished their rights, and both of them said that they wanted you to be involved.”
“Is there a birth certificate or …”
“Yes, but in the event of adoption, both of your names can go on it.”
She and Clark looked at each other. His steely blue gaze was hard, but determined.
Was she really going to do this? Were they going to adopt this baby?
No thought had gone into the decision. And if it was any other situation, she would’ve said no.
She wasn’t prepared to be a mother. The idea wasn’t even on her radar.
She hadn’t been in a relationship in at least three years.
She’d been focusing on teaching. On getting her life in order.
She was a ducks-in-a row kind of person.
Probably a side effect of being the older sibling of a sister who was constantly on the verge of crashing out.
But there was no choice here. This baby was their niece.
And they were both from dysfunctional families.
The families that had created Ty and Melanie.
She and Clark had their lives together. As much as she wanted to be harsh on him because of his family history, she had to admit that he was doing well.
But doing this with him? That meant submitting herself to a constant feeling of fight or flight. The constant stomach-tensing, heart-palpitating Clark of it all.
You’ll get used to it. For her.
“This is what we want,” she said. “We want to adopt her.”
“Then we’ll work with you to make that happen.”