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Haley stepped inside, Todd on her right, Tyler on her left. Silence descended as she and the boys moved from the front room into the gathering area, as if few in the room imagined little boys coming to Thanksgiving dinner at the church hall.
A tall man stepped forward. Fortyish. Good-looking. Square-shouldered. Broad-built. Dark hazel eyes matched military-cut hair, walnut-toned with hints of light. His assessing gaze went liquid brown while he pondered the boys at her side, as if recognizing something perfect and precious. He blinked and the look was gone, but the integral air of quiet authority and respect remained. Haley had the oddest urge to salute the big guy. Or maybe just hug him. Right about now, she could use a hug.
A pleased murmur stirred an air of delight through the room.
“Look at them!”
“Aren’t they marvelous?”
“Oh, they are!”
“Who are they?”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. It’s just so nice to see such handsome little boys at our feast!”
A tiny smile quirked the man’s left cheek, just enough to show amusement tempered with respect, book-end qualities that few men in Haley’s age range possessed.
This man had both and more, his take-charge attitude calming the confusion within her without speaking a word. He squatted to the boys’ level, but didn’t invade their space. His sensitivity loosened their grip on Haley’s hands, her arms, as if willing to meet the big guy halfway. A neat trick, all told.
“You hungry, boys?”
“Yes.” Todd nodded, emphatic.
“Starving.” Tyler sent a bullish look Haley’s way. “She drove all day and didn’t want to stop anyplace.”
“Ah.” The man appeared to weigh Tyler’s words. “Traveling on a holiday can be tough. Stores close early. Some restaurants don’t open at all.”
“Really?” Tyler poked his head closer to the man, then hooked a thumb back to Haley. “That’s what she said, but I figured she was making it up.”
The man’s gaze traveled up, and not all that quickly, as if appreciating the journey. Deep hazel eyes locked and held her attention long enough to make her heart trip faster. “Does she have a name?”
“Aunt Haley.” Tyler said the words with more than a little distrust.
“She’s pwetty.” Todd leaned closer to the man, too, following his brother’s lead. “And I like her yellow hair.”
“It’s drop-dead gorgeous,” the man agreed easily. He spiked that crooked smile up to Haley and had no idea what his gentle manner was doing to her. He winked at her, stood, reached for the boys’ hands, and to Haley’s surprise, they moved forward. “You guys ready to have Thanksgiving dinner with us?”
“Yes!”
“I am.” Tyler nodded, firm, obviously trying to contain his excitement. His reaction told Haley he was accustomed to disappointment. Her heart broke because she knew that feeling all too well.
“Haley? Haley, is that you?”
The little woman who helped run the mom-and-pop convenience store at the interstate junction bustled out from the kitchen and hurried their way. She flapped her apron and grinned, her high-wattage smile enough to make everything seem almost all right. “LuAnn.”
“And Charlie’s here, too,” the older woman fussed, her silver hair dancing sparks from the fluorescent lights above. “He’s going to be so excited to see you, dear, but who are your friends?” LuAnn Simmons bent low and stuck out a hand, but Haley noticed she handled the boys with deference, like the man had done, hanging back, not encroaching their space.
“My nephews,” Haley explained.
The man palmed Tyler’s head in a sweet gesture, but he moved back as LuAnn stormed in. He didn’t smile but his eyes grazed Haley, LuAnn and the boys. He dipped his chin slightly, noting the white-haired woman. “You’re in good hands. No one goes hungry with Charlie and LuAnn around.”
Haley knew that. She was a constant customer at their little store, its proximity to her new business venture making the Crossroads Mini-Mart a perfect spot for quick food. Consumed with building a new shopping cooperative just across the road, quick and easy food had become a mainstay in her life.
LuAnn’s head bobbed, excited. “‘When I was hungry, you gave me to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me to drink.’”
The man’s face darkened as if a shade had been pulled. He moved back to the kitchen area while LuAnn steered the boys to the still-laden buffet.
Todd cringed back, hesitating, but his nose twitched as if the smell of food broke an unseen barrier. “This is Todd, LuAnn.”
“Todd.” He didn’t take LuAnn’s hand and she didn’t force the issue. She sent him a bright smile, and her cheerful brown eyes made Haley feel less worried and alone. Amazing what a smile can do.
And a half smile, she noted as the tall man rejoined volunteers in the kitchen preparation area.
“And this is Tyler. He’s five.”
Tyler extended his hand to LuAnn. Haley sent him a smile of encouragement. “Thank you, Tyler. LuAnn is my friend. She and I work at stores near each other.”
“Oh.” Tyler tried to look polite, then failed as his eyes darted to the buffet table. “Can we eat now?”
“You most certainly can.” LuAnn drew him forward. She picked up a sturdy stoneware plate and waved a hand. “I know you’re big enough to pick out your own food, Tyler, but this table’s a little high. I think if I hold your plate and you tell me every little thing you want on it, we’d make a good team. What do you say?” She angled a birdlike glance his way. “May I be your partner?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Haley owed the older woman for handling Tyler so easily. She wouldn’t have had a clue. She followed LuAnn’s example, showing Todd the food, letting him choose as he held the black cat snug beneath his arm, unconcerned when he wanted twelve black olives because LuAnn hadn’t protested when Tyler asked for extra gherkins and stuffing. By the time they got the boy’s meat cut and grace said, LuAnn took a place alongside the boys and between a dozen gathered folks and waved Haley away. “Go. Fill your plate. I’ve got this covered.” She flashed a smile at the boys, watching as Todd struggled with the height of the table and the plate.
“Try this, LuAnn.”
The warm rumble of the man’s voice pulled Haley’s attention away from food. She would have thought that feat impossible at the moment, but something in that tone...
With one arm he hiked Todd up, then slipped a thick old-time phone book beneath Todd’s bottom. He resettled Todd onto his new raised “seat,” and the better vantage point made the little boy shine with delight. He peeked up at the man and offered a dimpled grin and a quick salute.
The man’s smile faded.
Pain stilled his jaw. Shadowed his eyes.
LuAnn sent him a motherly look of concern, but said nothing.
He stepped back, turned and moved off to the kitchen again, in the crowd but not of it, Haley was sure on that.
LuAnn shoulder-nudged Haley’s leg. “You. Food. Go.”
Haley filled her plate, the scents and sounds of a family Thanksgiving surrounding her, a big-screen TV perched on a table at the far end of the hall covering the day’s football offerings while people gathered at tables eating, chatting, laughing.
If she’d wished for a perfect Thanksgiving, this would be it.
The fact that this was as close to family as she could possibly get just made that admission more sad.
* * *
Pretty yellow hair?
And then some, thought Colonel Brett Stanton as he commandeered cleanup in the hall kitchen, the image of Haley’s long, curly blond hair worth remembering.
He shouldered his way through a nest of female busybodies who’d gathered out of sight to wonder about the blonde and the two boys.
Brett didn’t wonder. He knew. He’d seen the longing right off. The hunger. The fear and uncertainty clouding their day. He might not know their story, but he knew the wistful look of wanting, wishing, hoping to have or be a family.
Sadness gripped from within, a clear-cut knife strike, the mistakes of the past wrangling a grip on the future.
“Aren’t they darling?” LuAnn hurried up beside him, two plates in hand. She handed them off to one of the chatterbox women and grasped Brett’s arm. “Thank you for being so nice to them. I’m sure Haley’s a little overwhelmed at the moment—”
Brett would have gone straight to shell shock, but he let the understatement pass.
“And this couldn’t happen at a worse time...”
Five sets of ears attempted nonchalance as they keened closer like covert agents on an info-gathering mission.
“But I know she’ll be fine. Just fine. And I’m so glad she saw our sign flashing out front. That’s what drew them in, you know.” LuAnn gave his arm a quick hug. “Brett, thank you for letting us use the sign today.”
She bustled back out, leaving the women and Brett to fill in the blanks. He finished scrubbing the second big roaster and handed it off to Kate McGee for drying. The elderly woman accepted it and offered, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but it did my heart good to see that little crew come walking in, all tired and bedraggled.”
“Ah. A Kate-ism looms, no doubt.” Maude McGinnity flashed Brett a grin he couldn’t help but return.
“Maude, you felt it, too,” Kate insisted. “I saw it in your face, you old bird. You got all moony and goofy the minute you laid eyes on them boys.”
“I did not.”
“Did, too, and I know why,” Kate continued. “They were travelers, finding their way home. Needing food. Lodging. So nice and Christmassy.”
“Oh, my land.” Maude shook her head, shooed the three less-productive women out of the kitchen and made a skeptical face as she layered pots and pans in the kitchen cupboards just so. “You do go on, Kate. Whereas I’d have said they’re hungry, most places are closed and we were mighty handy. What do you say, Brett?”
Brett didn’t make it through twenty-five years of this man’s army by being slow on the take. Uh-uh. He knew these women, knew they’d been watching his initial exchange with the blonde and the boys and there was no getting by the hawkeyes of the Jamison Hose Company’s Ladies’ Auxiliary.
Time to employ diversionary tactics and pretend the waiflike family hadn’t affected him. “The little guy’s about the same age as your great-grandson, isn’t he, Kate?”
“Looks to be.”
“How’s Aiden doing?”
“Adorable! Just adorable!” Kate’s face broadened with laughter, family pride deepening each and every wrinkle in her sweet, old face.
Maude sent Brett a look, half-grudging, half-complimentary, recognizing his ploy. He returned it with a wink, unstoppered the deep commercial-sized sink and moved to the back door. “I’m going to check cleanup outside before it gets too dark.”
“Thank you, Brett.”
He tipped the sludge-green brim of his army cap her way before stepping through the back door.
Bleak November greeted him. Dank. Dark. Gloomy. Gray. Fall had been vibrant with color, but the leaves were pretty much gone now. Here and there a larch tree stood in golden splendor, painting points of light along the Allegany hillsides, their amber needles lingering until late in the season.
November. A month of remembrance for so many. Veteran’s Day... Thanksgiving...
The chilly, dull days afforded too much thinking time, Brett determined. The late-autumn month offered too many moments to bow his head and wish he’d done things differently. But it was too late now.
“Brett, you need help out here?” Charlie Simmons ambled his way, a snug knit cap covering his balding head. LuAnn’s touch, for sure. “Kate said you were looking to make sure nothing got left undone.”
God bless Kate McGee because they all knew he was more likely escaping too many people. Too much interaction. Too much of a good thing that slipped, quicksilver, through his hands. “Just figured I’d catch a breath and give the women some space in the kitchen.”
“I hear ya.” Charlie flashed him a knowing smile before he settled his gaze along the now-diminished row of cars in the parking lot. “We did good today.”
Charlie’s comment embraced more than food. He meant they’d opened doors for folks who might never take a handout, but a party, sponsored by the local firemen and their wives?
That took the sting out of neediness and put it in a whole new light.
When I was hungry, you gave me to eat...
Brett had done that often while deployed. He’d fed locals, helped the downtrodden, guided the weary, all while wearing the uniform of the country he loved. But he’d paid a price he’d never considered, and that realization bit to the core of his being. If only... His wandering thoughts ground to a halt when a warm voice drew his attention to the entrance door.
The blonde...
Haley, he corrected himself internally.
Stepped through the door, her generous smile a flash of sun in a time of rain. The boys followed, their faces more relaxed and somewhat sleepy.
“Haley!” LuAnn followed with Maude McGinnity. Both women bore bags of covered food dishes, the aluminum foil squeaking protest as they moved. “We need a home for some of these leftovers and you and the boys are just the ticket!”
Just the ticket?
The Mayberry-type saying fit the day, the occasion, the people and Jamison, New York, the picturesque little town nestled in the heart of Allegany County.
Haley turned. Surprise and pleasure brightened her profile. She didn’t wave off the food or pretend not to need it. She helped LuAnn snug the packaged plates between tightly wedged items in the sporty red car, then hugged both women while the boys attempted to fasten their belts.
“Thank you.” She smiled at Maude, then LuAnn, grasping each woman’s hand in hers. “You have no idea how necessary this is right now. I had to use all my ready cash on last week’s deliveries, the bank hasn’t released the next draft on the loan as yet, and we need to have that final wing open next week.”
“I know.” LuAnn leaned forward, obviously understanding the woman’s thread of conversation while Brett drew a complete blank. “And if you need anything, anything at all...”
“A babysitter.” Haley lowered her voice and kept a grip on both women’s hands. “This unexpected development has me in a crunch. Tomorrow is Black Friday and my retailers expect me on site. My cousin Alyssa hooked me up with Rory Madigan—”
“A lovely girl.” Maude nodded approval. LuAnn’s quick blink agreed.
“But she’s an Irish dancer and has a feis this weekend in Buffalo. So I can use her tomorrow, but then there’s Saturday and Sunday that need coverage.”
“On a holiday weekend, to boot,” LuAnn added, concerned.
“And our Jessie is due to deliver any minute,” Charlie put in, “or we’d be glad to help out.”
Brett stayed still. Silent. He hadn’t meant to be part of this conversation and had every intention of ignoring his conscience. He’d spent the last two years living life alone. Quiet. In the background except for when it came to the fire department. Just him, the dog and an amazing room full of model trains.
He loved his volunteer firefighting job. Helping others. Battling fires. Covering inspections, as needed. Maybe he was always meant to be a battler and that’s why the army had fit so well.
