Second Chance Father

In the two weeks since she’d arrived, she’d taken him to a few places, but never because he’d instigated the outing. This was new, and Elise felt a sense of accomplishment at the difference, even if initiated by his awkward interaction with Jack.

Cody stopped flicking the cards and then pushed the deck toward her nose, his face full of seriousness as he awaited her response.

“The library?” They’d gone to the Claremont Public Library two days ago, and he’d checked out fifteen books, the maximum allotment. Each of them had to do with classic automobiles, rebuilding engines and carburetors and such. As far as Elise could tell, he’d reread a couple of them several times but hadn’t made his way through the entire stack.

Unless he was reading them at night instead of sleeping.

She glanced at his eyes. No dark circles underneath, and his energy level hadn’t appeared to falter during the day. Surely his cabin counselor would’ve noticed if he were staying up all hours in his room.

Or would he?

Elise pointed to the bulging canvas bag Cody had dropped at his feet. “I’m guessing those are your library books, then? You’re wanting to exchange them for new books?”

Too impatient to find the yes card in the stack, Cody jerked his head up and down in a vigorous nod. Then he looked straight ahead, his legs bouncing and fingers drumming madly against his jeans.

Elise had become close to several of her patients in the past, but there was something about Cody that nudged at her heart. His case file indicated he’d had a wonderful family, a picture-perfect life. And it’d all been taken away in the blink of an eye. Maybe that was why she was so drawn to him, and why he reminded her of the one aching desire that had been pushed aside during her marriage, because her husband wasn’t emotionally ready.

She’d wanted children.

She still wanted children.

And Cody stirred that yearning more than any other child. She cared so much for him already, and she wanted him to have a chance to be a part of another wonderful family. He deserved that, and Elise wanted to make that happen by helping him overcome the barriers he’d set in place when his world had been upended.

She prayed this trip to the library would give her some insight as to what had bothered him at Jack’s place. “Okay, then, to the library it is.”

Twenty minutes later, Cody grabbed a plastic red book basket and handed a blue one to Elise. When she’d brought him here before, she’d selected the books that she knew would interest him based on his case file. But this time, Cody pulled her through the library and showcased his knowledge of computers and books, easily searching for his topic on the laptop at one of the information kiosks. He wasted no time writing the call numbers for the books he needed on the provided slips of scrap paper. Then he took off through the stacks at a speed that astounded Elise.

His autistic symptoms might most often be manifested in his knowledge of automobiles, as stated in his file, but the boy had skill in the library too. Each book had the same subject matter, with none of those selected having anything to do with classic cars.

One by one, as the librarian checked out all thirty books—since he put the maximum in each of their baskets—Elise smiled a little broader. Every book had to do with furniture. How to build furniture. How to select the best wood for building furniture. Tools needed for building furniture. Blueprints from craft masters to build one-of-a-kind pieces.

Everything to help him learn about what Jack did at his cabin.

By the time they returned to Willow’s Haven, the sun had started dropping, and Elise wondered if he’d head to Jack’s place to show him the books. “If you’re planning another hike through the woods, you need to tell me, okay?”

Cody nodded once, then climbed out, not an easy feat, since he insisted on carrying all of the books himself, even though they hadn’t fit into his tote. Thankfully, the librarian had provided him with a plastic bag to aid in the process.

To Elise’s dismay, he turned away from the path leading to Jack’s home and instead purposefully strode toward his cabin with the bags in tow.

“I guess you’re going to read until dinner?” She attempted to mask her disappointment. “That’s fine. But if you’d like for me to read some of the books to you, I’d be happy to.”

He never looked back. Simply entered the cabin, where, Elise knew, he’d proceed to his bedroom and crack open the first book.

Sighing, she walked to her cabin and decided to spend the rest of her time this evening journaling the day’s events in her ongoing file. She consulted with her colleagues daily on Cody’s progress, or lack thereof, and they’d seen his recent wanderings as a positive response. She thought so too, and she now knew that he undoubtedly planned to visit Jack again. Which was good for Cody.

For Elise’s heart, however, she wasn’t so sure.

Chapter Three (#ulink_2fa9f061-c4e5-54c9-bf09-044104a1ce0d)

Jack drizzled a generous portion of thick, golden honey across the bottom half of his biscuit, placed the lid back on and then enjoyed the sweet tastes melding on his tongue while watching the sun rise above the mountaintop. He began each morning at the cabin in this manner, sitting on the front porch and watching the yellow rays push through the tree branches and illuminate his property like long, golden fingers.

His mind drifted to yesterday, when Cody ran his fingers across the discarded wood with such reverence that Jack ached to know what transpired in the boy’s mind. Why had he been so upset about the ruined mahogany? Surely it hadn’t been the expense, because Jack suspected the boy had no idea about the cost. And the price didn’t matter to Jack. He could build an entire cabin out of mahogany if he chose to. Not that he would. In spite of the ample funds in his bank account, he’d never been prone to live in excess. He couldn’t justify living frivolously while so many barely scraped by.

But if it hadn’t been the expense, what had bothered Cody so much about the wood? Jack glanced over his shoulder at the rejected piece, propped on the porch, a short distance away from the door. He hadn’t had the heart to throw it in the burn pile, or even take it to the shed to use for a smaller piece of furniture. Because he hadn’t wanted Cody to find it missing when he returned.

If he returned.

Jack was surprised at how quickly he’d developed such an attachment toward the boy. He’d vowed to never have kids again, because of the pain he’d experienced when he lost them, and in moving to the middle of nowhere, he had thought he’d never even be around children again.

But this was different. Cody was different. Not because Jack had changed his mind about wanting children again, but because he had to help this boy who’d been through the same horrific loss that Jack had experienced.

Yet he feared Cody might never come back.

And if Cody didn’t return, neither would Elise.

Jack flinched, the awareness that he wanted to see a woman other than Laney stabbed a shard of guilt into his heart. He’d promised to love Laney forever, till death do us part.

Death had parted them, hadn’t it?

Jack pushed aside the thoughts of Elise and the attraction that brushed the surface of their interactions regarding Cody. Because as much as he wanted to help the child, he also wanted to see Elise.

But he didn’t want to want to see her.

He ran his palm across his slick chin. It’d felt rather nice to get rid of the heavy mass, almost liberating. But it also gave him the sense of being exposed, so that when he did encounter people, they’d see more, know more, about his pain.

However, as much as that prospect bothered him, the fact that his facial hair may have deterred the boy from feeling comfortable around him caused Jack to put his razor to good use. If Cody came back today, he’d make a better effort at gaining his trust.

He looked again to the broken area in his border of trees, the narrow path that’d brought his only two visitors since he’d arrived here. As he watched, the sun rose a little higher, showcasing the very spot where they’d appeared.

And then Jack saw him, ambling out of the path with awkwardness to his steps, as though he were off balance.

“Cody.” Careful not to jump up from where he sat on the porch, Jack maintained his composure and kept his voice steady. “Hey, I hoped you’d come back.”

His gait a little stilted and his pace slow and guarded, Cody eased toward the cabin as though he didn’t want to rush this encounter. Or as though preparing to bolt the way he did yesterday.

As he neared, he tilted his head, the way Jack had seen him do before, and a large chunk of dark brown hair fell across his right eye with the gesture. Today’s shirt was similar to yesterday’s, except it was forest green and had a photo of a ’67 Chevelle on the chest. And like before, he wore dark jeans and those black-and-white tennis shoes, laces untied.

He frowned and stared at Jack’s face, specifically his chin.

Jack ran his hand across the skin. “It’s still me, just no beard.” He thought Cody’s head moved a fraction in a slight nod. Maybe the boy would stick around a little longer this time. Then Jack’s attention shifted to the cream-colored tote hanging from Cody’s right arm and the green plastic bag on the other. They sagged from heavy contents, and Cody clasped his hands together to brace his arms from the weight.

“What have you got there?” Jack pointed to the bulging bags.

But Cody wasn’t paying attention to his baggage. Instead, he focused on Jack’s plate of biscuits.

“Cody?” Elise called his name breathlessly as she emerged from the trail. Jack and the boy both turned toward the woman holding a hand to her chest as she moved toward them. Her cheeks were flushed, and her hair, unlike the last time he’d seen her, wasn’t captured in a ponytail but fell in long, dark waves around her shoulders, the way it’d been when he saw her crying in the woods. Jack made a mental note to eventually learn what made her cry that day, but now wasn’t the time. Judging from her appearance, she’d started the morning by learning her patient had, once again, gone AWOL.

She looked as though she’d yanked on the first clothes she could find, which happened to be an oversize white T-shirt with a disgruntled bulldog in the center and the caption Got Coffee? at the top, jeans that had a rip above the left knee and hiking boots.