Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
Lizzie had been infuriated when she saw Jeff sitting at the table with Mr. Cantrell. The meddling Navy SEAL hadn’t called her and told her there was any change in the situation since she’d seen him yesterday afternoon while drinking coffee at his mother’s table. Obviously, something had changed. JT had bags of belongings sitting at his feet while he hugged the Cantrell children and told them goodbye.
“You can’t take him,” she repeated.
“Yes, I can. And I am.” He waved a piece of paper as though to say “gotcha.” That smug look in his eyes was so irritating. “The Cantrells have given me permission to take JT with me on a Christmas vacation to meet Mr. and Mrs. Wolf, the people his father had intended to raise him.”
She glared at Jeff. Why the hell hadn’t he called her and told her this? She resented being blindsided. But on the flipside, she hadn’t called Jeff to tell him that the paperwork had come through and that she was going to pick JT up that morning. She had her very busy day completely planned almost down to the minute.
She’d pick up JT and head east toward the regional airport. The state orphanage was only thirty minutes out of her way. She’d planned in plenty of time to drop off JT before she continued on to the airport. Her flight was to Chicago where she had a two-hour layover. She’d hoped to get a light lunch before catching her flight to Miami. Her parents would pick her up and she’d be at their house in time for supper. The schedule was tight but very doable.
Finding Jeff at the Cantrells’ house that morning had thrown a wrench in her entire day. Her trip to see her parents and spend Christmas with them may have just disintegrated. Her heart fell into her stomach. So much for looking for a new job in warm sunny Florida, not to mention a whole week’s worth of her mother’s fantastic cooking and pampering. She truly missed her parents. Thankfully, she’d mailed all their Christmas presents to Florida.
Realizing that everyone was looking at her, Lizzie pulled herself together. “Excuse me, Jeff, may I have a private word with you?”
He looked at his watch before his gaze met hers. “All we’ve got is about a minute.” He gestured for her to step into the mudroom off the kitchen where he closed the door behind them.
“What the hell, Jeff?” flew from her mouth. The words startled her. She rarely used curse words.
He stared at her for a long moment before he had the decency to look contrite. “Everything happened so fast last night. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf got hold of my CO and agreed to take JT. They have bought both JT and me tickets to D.C. on the flight that leaves around noon.” He made a show of looking at his watch. “I have a few stops to make before we get to the airport, so we really need to leave now. As you can see, JT is also ready…and excited.”
“You’re catching the noon flight to Chicago?” Lizzie asked, knowing it was the only flight leaving at that time. That was the same flight she was on.
A mental picture of a much smaller JT resting in a big hospital bed, exhausted after an intense session of physical therapy where he was determined to be able to walk again flashed through her brain. That little boy owned a piece of her heart, the part that reared its head and told her that a good home filled with loving parents was exactly what she wanted for him. Perhaps this Mr. and Mrs. Wolf could provide JT with the love and encouragement he deserved.
“Yeah, why?” Jeff answered the question she’d forgotten she had asked.
“Have you looked into Mr. and Mrs. Wolf?” She answered his question with a question.
“Of course. You don’t believe that I’d be taking JT to the home of a known serial killer, do you?” he accused.
A good, safe, loving home was what she truly wanted for all the children in her care. Lizzie’s mind was made up. “I’m going with you. Technically, I am legally responsible for JT. If I get there and discover that this new family is not suitable, I have the legal right to bring him back to Kansas and find him a new foster home here. If it turns out that they are a wonderful, caring couple, then I can expedite the paperwork to get them legal custody. First, though, I need to interview them and check this family out.”
Jeff shrugged and made a production of looking at his watch once again. “JT and I have to go. Now.” He turned and opened the door to the kitchen where the entire Cantrell family were hugging and kissing JT goodbye.
“Time to go, JT,” Jeff announced.
The young boy looked up at her with hope and excitement filling his entire body. “Miss Lizzie, I’m getting a family. One that my father picked out for me.”
She certainly hoped that she wouldn’t have to disappoint the small, wonderful child.
After a quick goodbye and many thanks to the Cantrells, she hurried to catch up with Jeff. “Follow me to my place so I can gather more things. I’m packed to go to my parents’ house in Florida. I’m sure the shorts and T-shirts in my bag won’t keep me warm in D.C., especially after the storm that just hit them. I’ll just take a minute to throw in some warmer clothes. It’ll only take a few minutes.”
Jeff opened the passenger side door and helped JT into the SUV. “Meet me at my mother’s house. I have to pick up my bags. As soon as I drop off JT, I have to return to base.” He handed several plastic grocery bags into the truck and closed the door. As he rounded to the driver’s side, he added quietly, “I’m going to see if my mother has another suitcase that she’ll lend me for JT. He can’t fly with those.” He tilted his head toward the vehicle. “I’ll drive to the airport. I have to take the rental car back, but before we go there, I need to stop at the mall and buy him some new clothes. At least something that fits for him to fly in.”
She nodded once. “Deal.” Closing her car door, she quickly backed out of the driveway and headed to her house. Mentally she ran through her winter clothes and decided which ones to pack. Swooping through her place, Lizzie grabbed her favorite sweater from the laundry basket, a pair of warm wool slacks, her second favorite sweater from the pile on her closet shelf, a turtleneck, and rushing past her tallboy dresser, she grabbed a pair of black leggings. Everything she’d snatched had professional and layering in mind. She paused for only a moment before she grabbed the dark blue suit jacket that matched the slacks. She’d wear it under her winter coat on the airplane so it wouldn’t get quite so wrinkled. She threw everything in the backseat. At Jeff’s childhood home, she’d stuff it into her suitcase.
When she reached the Arwood house, she parked in the driveway, leaving room for the other two cars to get out. It only took a minute to expand her suitcase and carefully fold the new warmer clothes into it. To save time, she carried it to the door and knocked, entering when someone inside yelled come in .
In the living room, she found JT trying on the clothes he’d brought in the grocery bags.
“Nothing fits well,” Jeff grumbled.
“I’ve been on the phone with Sally Escambia who runs the Clothes Closet at church, but they don’t have anything in his size,” Mrs. Arwood announced as she entered the living room.
“They can have all these.” Jeff gestured to a two-foot-deep pile of clothes.
Lizzie watched Mrs. Arwood’s shoulders drop before she inhaled deeply. The older woman squared her shoulders as though resolved.
“I’m following you to the mall.” Mrs. Arwood stepped to the hall closet and slipped into her winter jacket before she knelt in front of JT, grabbed his shoulders, and pulled him into a hug. “I’m buying you new clothes for an early Christmas present.” She looked at Lizzie and Jeff. “Let’s go.” Glancing at all the grocery bags and piles of clothes, she waved her hand. “Leave all those. I’ll take them to the church. We always have plenty of people in need.” She smiled warmly at JT. “You get a whole new wardrobe for Christmas.”
At the mall, they stepped into a box brand store and last-minute shopping madness. On the way in, they had agreed they would park JT in a changing room, and the three of them would bring him clothes to try on. Twenty minutes later, JT left wearing new clothes from the skin out, dragging a Spider-Man suitcase stuffed with everything from dress shoes and a button-down light blue shirt to blue jeans and long-sleeved T-shirts. Over his new winter jacket, he carried his matching backpack filled with toys to entertain him on the long flights and a shabby, worn small child’s shoe box . The only thing he’d kept from his old life was the hand-knit scarf Mrs. Cantrell had given him the previous year for Christmas.
It was a good thing the regional airport was small. While Jeff and JT returned the rental car, Lizzie was able to change her second leg ticket from Miami to Washington. She’d been able to get on the same flight as Jeff and JT, but since they were seated in first class, there was no way she could sit nearby on either leg. She also wasn’t very happy when she discovered the price of the last-minute flight from Washington to Miami. She only hesitated a minute before she handed the agent her credit card. Internally shrugging, it was going to cost whatever it was going to cost. She needed to do this. She could only hope her boss would approve the additional expenses.
Lizzie took a few minutes while waiting for their plane to arrive to call her parents.
“Hey Mom, I’ve had a slight change in plans,” she revealed as soon as her mother answered the phone.
“Please don’t tell me you’re not able to come,” her mother begged.
“No, I’m still coming, just not today.” Because it was almost noon, she’d figured out that it would be nearly five o’clock by the time they landed in D.C. Since she and Jeff hadn’t had an opportunity to discuss exactly where the Wolf residence was located, she booked her flight to Miami the next morning.
“Oh, no. Don’t tell me you got caught in that storm. I didn’t see on TV that it had reached your area yet.”
“No, Mom. No storm.” How to explain to her parents? “Remember the little boy a few years ago that I placed with the Cantrells? The one who had been in the hospital and the rehab center after a deadly car crash?”
“Yes. I remember JT. Such a sweet young child.” Her voice brightened. “You found him a forever home?”
“I certainly hope so.” The words came from Lizzie’s soul. “It’s a long story and I’ll tell you all about it when I get to Florida, but I’m escorting him to Washington, D.C. to meet the couple his father designated to raise him.”
“You’re taking that young boy all the way to Washington, D.C. by yourself?” Her mother worried too much. She had been an adult for a long time and had been placing and removing children for the past several years.
Lizzie glanced over to where Jeff and JT were playing one of the many handheld travel games his mother had purchased. “Not exactly.” She smiled. “That’s part of the long story but the bottom line is Jeff Arwood made this whole thing happen.”
“Jeff Arwood? He was always the most handsome boy in school. And the nicest. Not to mention how smart he is.” Her mother had taken on that tone all mothers had when trying to convince their child of a good life match. Little did her mother know that Lizzie wasn’t very happy with the Navy SEAL at the moment. She was still upset with him that he hadn’t called her and updated her on his plans.
“Is Jeff coming on down to Florida with you?”
The question shocked Lizzie. “No. Of course not. He has to be back to work as soon as we deliver JT to his new family.” At least that’s what she supposed. He hadn’t talked about his plans after they met with the Wolf family. What he did afterward was of no concern to her. She was going to Florida, which reminded her of the additional ticket. After sharing the new flight information with her mom, she observed people exiting the plane that had just arrived.
“I’ll call you back later, Mom. We’re going to be boarding soon.”
“We love you,” her mother said in her normal signoff.
“Love you, too. I’ll see you real soon.” Lizzie ended the call and walked over to stand beside Jeff and JT. Being in first class, the two were able to board first. She grabbed Jeff’s arm before he walked to the plane. “Will you please wait for me at the gate in Chicago?”
Jeff took JT’s hand and nodded. “Of course.”
Lizzie squeezed into the middle seat between two men who could’ve been linebackers for the Kansas City Chiefs. It was going to be a long two-and-a-half hours.