Chapter 4
Chapter Four
“Hi there, I’m Nina Strom, one of the counselors here.
” A young woman, she probably wasn’t even thirty yet, breezed into the room carrying a puzzle.
Tisha eyed the box with a picture of puppies frolicking in a flower garden.
The woman wore her brown hair twisted into a bun.
She had on leggings, ballet flats, and a V-neck T-shirt under a worn cardigan.
“Hello.” Tisha smiled, draping her hand over Sadie’s shoulder, which Sadie promptly shrugged off. “I’m Tisha Binford, and this is my daughter, Sadie.”
“I’ve met Sadie, Mrs. Binford, but hello. I’m pleased to officially meet you as well,” Ms. Strom said.
Tisha glanced at Ethan, sitting across the table beside Brody.
“Mr. McGuire, it’s nice to see you again. My brother is a huge fan of yours.”
Ethan gave a tight smile. “Thanks. Trent, right? How is he doing?”
“Great. He lives in Nebraska and works for his in-laws on a farm. Seems to be living his best life.”
“Glad to hear it. Please tell him I said hello.”
Tisha sat back. A huge fan? Of what? She sat up straighter and pasted on a smile. “Sadie and I are ready to do whatever we can to make this work.”
Nina’s dark eyebrows sailed upward. “Today’s session is quite simple.
Our goal is to focus on teamwork. Collaboration, I’m sure Mr. Price explained to you, is one of our core values.
So you’re going to work together on a puzzle.
It’s only three hundred pieces, and it’s brand new, so you’re the first ones to try it. ”
“Oh, I like to be first.” Sadie clapped her hands.
Ms. Strom set the box down in front of Brody and Ethan on their side of the table.
“Here, Brody, why don’t you unbox it? And if there aren’t any questions, I’ll let you all get to it.
I’ll be back in an hour to see how things went.
In the meantime, if you need me, just poke your head out the door. I’m right down the hall.”
“Great, thanks,” Ethan said.
Brody lifted the lid and pushed it aside. Then he turned the box over and dumped it out.
“Wow.” Ethan frowned. “Those pieces are smaller than I expected.”
“Dad, I’ve done puzzles like a million times.” Brody pushed his sleeves up. “It’s no big deal.”
“I’m glad you’re feeling confident.” Ethan patted Brody’s shoulder. “Why don’t we start by finding all the pieces that go around the edge?”
“Or we could let them do the puzzle however they want,” Tisha said. Why did he have to be such a taskmaster?
Ethan scrunched his brows together. “It’s just a suggestion, Tisha. I like to do the border first. It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something.”
“Oh, and is that the goal here? To accomplish something?”
He paused, his hand hovering over another piece. “Yes. If I’ve been assigned a task, I like to complete it.”
“See, I like to enjoy the experience and allow my daughter to have a little fun along the way. Do you have something against fun?”
Sadie gave her a strange look.
“What? No, I don’t have anything against fun. But we only have an hour, so why don’t we work together to finish this puzzle?” He picked up the lid and studied the image. “Puppies. Cute. I like them.”
Tisha sagged in her chair. This wasn’t going at all how she’d planned.
She thought she and Sadie would show up and demonstrate that they were here to be part of the solution.
Because, to be honest, she was still a little concerned about how Sadie had overreacted and kicked Brody in the shin.
Especially since she wasn’t a hundred percent certain that Brody had meant to be mean.
Maybe he’d made an honest mistake. She did not want her little girl labeled a troublemaker, that was for sure.
Come on. Focus.
Tisha twisted her wedding rings in a slow circle around her finger.
She was spiraling. She had to get out of her own head.
Sadie and Brody were turning all the pieces over and chatting about something they’d done in science today that they’d both enjoyed.
Well, that was progress. Tisha tried to meet Ethan’s gaze and smile, but he was not paying any attention.
She found a couple of pieces that went together to form the border. It looked like grass. Ethan took a piece, reached across, and popped it right into the gap in front of her.
“There.” He grinned.
“Um, you could have just handed me the piece.”
“Except I could already see where it belonged from here. You’re welcome.”
She narrowed her gaze. Was he trying to aggravate her? Tom’s mention of Ethan’s past work filtered through her head. “So, my father-in-law says you had a career in the Coast Guard?”
“Twenty years as a rescue swimmer and then an aviator.”
“My dad’s an awesome pilot,” Brody declared, making a pile of pink and red pieces.
“My dad was a pilot too,” Sadie said.
“Well, my dad flies helicopters and rescues people.”
“I used to rescue people.” Ethan added another piece to the sky-blue border on the table in front of him. “Right now, I fly people up to the top of the mountain so they can ski down to the bottom.”
“Oh, my dad liked to help people too,” Sadie said. “Here, Brody, here’s another red piece.”
Ethan’s phone rang. He plucked it from his pocket, glanced at the screen, then sighed. “I need to take this. Excuse me, please.” He left the room.
How about that? He got to leave the meeting to take a phone call. Did she get to take a break and step out if she wanted? Ms. Strom probably made special exceptions for her brother’s heroes.
Relax. You’re being unreasonable.
She glanced down at her purse sitting by her feet, then noticed she had flour on her jeans. She tried to wipe it off, but it clung to the denim.
“So, Brody, what did your mom do?” The question was out of her mouth before she could snatch it back. Brody looked at her, shock flashing across his face.
“My mom’s gone. She’s in heaven.”
“Yeah, my dad’s in heaven too,” Sadie said quietly, glancing down at the table.
Oh no. Tisha’s stomach sank. How had she squashed all the joy that quickly? “I’m so sorry, Brody. You must really miss her.”
Nodding, Brody glanced toward the door. “When’s my dad coming back?”
“I’m sure he’ll be off the phone in just a minute.”
“Good. I don’t—we don’t—talk about my mom. Hardly ever.”
“That’s too bad,” Sadie said. “We talk about my dad all the time. At the cabin, our new place, there are pictures of him everywhere.”
“True,” Tisha said. “No shortage of pictures of your daddy. Brody, do you have a favorite picture of your mom?”
Brody shrugged.
Ethan strode back into the room. His eyes flashed and two mottled splashes of red stained his neck. “What are you doing?”
“Excuse me?”
“I heard you asking him personal questions. The kinds of things I’d prefer you not mention because you’re going to upset him.”
“Dad, it’s fine,” Brody said. “I’m not upset.”
Seriously? She reached for another puzzle piece. “We were just talking, Ethan.”
“Yes, about my late wife, whom you’ve never met. And you barely know my son.”
“You were being kind of nosy, Mama,” Sadie said.
Whose side was she on? “I’m sorry, Brody.”
Brody squirmed in his chair. “I said it was fine. Can we do the puzzle now?”
“Absolutely,” Ethan said. “Let’s stay on task.”
“Completing a task doesn’t have to be just about getting the job done,” Tisha insisted. “Sometimes conversation can be helpful. Some people feel it’s a nice icebreaker.”
He stared at her, his expression unreadable.
“What?”
“You have something on your face.”
She dug around in her bag for a mirrored compact, then flipped it open and checked her reflection.
Oh. So he wasn’t messing with her. Flour and a smudge of dried pie-crust dough clung to her cheekbone.
She scraped it off with her fingernail, then tucked her compact back in her bag.
“You know what?” she said. “I’ve been thinking, and I’m determined to find the right flavor of pie for you. ”
“Really? You’re asking me about pie right now?”
“Yep.” She flashed him a smile. “Because I think a slice of rum raisin would be right up your alley.”
“Rum raisin?” Brody said. “Ew, gross. Raisins don’t go in pie.”
“Sometimes they do. I think we should make your dad a rum-raisin pie.”
Ethan shook his head. “I don’t want pie. I want us to finish this so we can get out of here.”
“On second thought, maybe you need something with prunes or lemons to match your sour mood.”
He narrowed his gaze. The tension in the room thickened.
“At this point, it’s probably best if you find a new taste tester,” he said.
Ouch. She hadn’t meant to upset Brody or Ethan. And her attempts at lightening the mood had clearly backfired. She glanced at Sadie, who watched the exchange with a furrowed brow.
Before she could think of a response, Mr. Price entered the room, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Tisha straightened in her seat, grateful for the interruption.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Mr. Price craned his neck to see the puzzle. “Looks like you’re making progress.”
Ethan gave a curt nod in response, focusing on the puzzle pieces in front of him.
Brody beamed up at Mr. Price. “This is fun,” he said. “I like it.”
Tisha managed a small smile, relieved that the attention had shifted away from her awkward conversation with Ethan. She glanced over at Sadie, who was already connecting more pieces to the puzzle with renewed interest.
Mr. Price gave a nod of approval. “Glad to hear things are going well. Great job, everybody,” he said. “I’ll check in again before I leave for the day.”
“There sure is a lot of checking in,” Ethan muttered under his breath.
Tisha shot him a warning look before turning back to the puzzle. She noticed a piece that seemed to belong near the center and reached for it, only to have Ethan grab it just before her hand landed on it.
“Let me,” he said, smoothly fitting the piece into place.