Eleanor Jones - A Father's Pledge

“Good idea,” Mike had agreed. “Lily and I will do the necessary paperwork.”

Lily was Ben’s social worker. Luke remembered how shocked he’d felt in that moment. Paperwork! It had seemed so wrong to talk about forms in the same context as planning the life of a child.

“A necessary evil, I’m afraid,” Mike had remarked, noting his expression. “We have to follow the paper trail. Now, why don’t you get Mollie a hot drink and a sandwich before she heads back. You can talk in the small sitting room.”

It had been both strange and strained, being alone with Mollie. She was obviously trying to keep the lid on her emotions. She’d told him what she thought he needed to know: Carly had died in a car accident in London, where she had been working. Jim was ill and without him around their car sales business had gone rapidly downhill and started losing money. Mollie was overwhelmed. Basically, she’d admitted, as she twisted her wedding ring on her finger, she had gotten to a point where she just couldn’t cope anymore, and it was Ben who’d suffered. Taken up with her own worries about business, Jim’s illness and grieving for her daughter, she’d neglected Ben, giving him none of the attention he’d been accustomed to. He’d become cheeky with her, moody, and gone out of his way to cause trouble in any way he could. Once the social worker got involved after Ben’s shoplifting incident, they’d suggested giving her some respite by sending Ben to a school for children who needed help.

“I just hope that I’ve done the right thing,” she’d murmured, breaking down. “But what other choice did I have?”

That comment had set off Luke. “You had me!” he’d cried. “You should have told me what was going on, let me help.”

“But that’s why I asked if he could come here, to Flight,” Mollie had explained. “Now you can help him.”

After Mollie left, Luke had tried to digest everything she’d told him. Why had she kept him in the dark about Carly’s death? And she’d talked about Jim being ill...diagnosed with what, cancer?

Still, he was glad for the opportunity to keep a close eye on his son and finally have some input into his upbringing. And maybe one day... Maybe one day Ben would be able to forgive him for abandoning him. Luke had told himself that he’d done the right thing by leaving his son in what he’d believed to be a stable and loving environment—an environment he didn’t believe he’d been capable of providing—but he’d been wrong. He just hoped that it wasn’t too late to make things right.

Which was why he couldn’t let someone like Kat compromise his son’s well-being. Ben was his responsibility now, and Luke didn’t intend to let anyone put him at risk. He was sorry for slamming the door in Kat’s face, but everything she did was out of order. Ben could have drowned trying to swim in the sea, and who knew what might happen if she was allowed to go ahead with her animal-therapy idea. He’d talk to Mike tomorrow, he decided, and try to make him understand just how dangerous some of her sessions truly were.

Ten minutes later, with a surge of fresh determination, Luke headed outside across the garden to the dining room, hoping he hadn’t missed dinner. The large room was almost empty and the tables were clear, apart from one at the very end of the room, where three children were still eating. Recognizing them at once as Ben’s classmates, he headed across to join them on impulse.

“Any food to spare?” Luke asked brightly, sitting down. “I’m a bit late for dinner, I’m afraid.”

Dennis Baker, a skinny boy with a shock of red hair, just shrugged. “Help yourself. We’ve just about finished anyway.”

“Seen Ben around?” Luke asked casually before biting into a grilled cheese sandwich.

They looked at each other and giggled. “Ben’s never around, at least not with us,” Dennis said.

Luke frowned. “Oh, and why is that?”

“’Cause he’s weird,” explained Dennis.

“He doesn’t go around with anyone,” Dan Kent, the boy on Dennis’s right, blurted out. “Or talk to anyone.”

Luke held back a rush of anger. It was hard not to get emotional when it came to Ben. “Dan, do you remember how you felt when you first came here? You have to try and help new children fit in here, not put them down.”

“We’ll try and help him, then, Mr. Luke,” Dennis agreed. “If you give us a fiver.”

All three boys, including Johnny Cartwright, who’d been silent until now, broke into a fit of giggles. Luke’s frustration surged again. What chance did Ben have of becoming a well-adjusted boy with kids like these around to goad him?

CHAPTER FOUR

THE AROMA OF coffee filled the air as Kat headed along the hallway. Tempted, she followed the scent to the dining room, surprised to see that it was empty, apart from a few boys sitting at one end of the table. Luke was with them, she noted with surprise.

Dennis and Dan were giggling together, while Johnny looked on in awe. She could see by the set of Luke’s shoulders that he was angry about something; when wasn’t he angry, though?

Wondering if she might have to intervene, she strode toward the small group. She knew Dennis only too well, and Luke’s face was dark with contained fury.

“What’s going on here?” she asked in what she hoped was a breezy tone.

Luke swung around, and for a moment, she thought she saw a flicker of relief on his face. “This young man,” he announced, “is trying to bribe me.”

The giggling stopped as quickly as it had started when the children saw Kat. “Wasn’t me, Miss,” Dennis quickly announced.

“He told me he would only look out for Ben if I gave him a fiver,” Luke said.

Kat frowned. “Is that true, Dennis?”

“Ben’s weird,” Dennis responded. “So why would I want to look out for him, anyway?”

Kat pulled out a chair and sat down. “You know why, Dennis. We all look out for each other at Flight. A lot of the kids here have had troubles, including you. You were very unhappy when you first came to Flight, remember? Didn’t people help you?”

Dennis stared at the table and shrugged. “I guess.”

“So hasn’t it occurred to you that maybe Ben is unhappy and homesick, too?”

“Dunno,” he muttered.

“Well, did people help you when you needed it?”

“Might of.”

“There you go, then,” Kat said, smiling. “So you’ll help Ben?”

“I guess.”

“Thanks, Dennis. That’s really kind of you. Isn’t it, Mr. Luke?”

Put on the spot, Luke nodded. “Yes, thank you, Dennis. I guess you were only joking about the fiver?”

Dennis pulled a face. “I guess so. Come on, you two. Let’s go.”

As the three children raced off, Kat laughed out loud. “Bribed by a nine-year-old!”

Suddenly Luke was laughing, too. “Want a sandwich?” he asked, handing her the plate.

“Don’t mind if I do,” she said.

They ate in silence for a minute or two. “You’re good with kids,” Luke said eventually.

“It’s my job,” Kat reminded him. “Surely you must understand children, too, though, having worked here for ages.”

Luke shook his head slowly. “Not really. My job description covers everything from mending fences to placing orders for school supplies, but I haven’t had much contact with the kids. That’s more yours and Mike’s department...and Gwen’s, of course.”

“I’m sorry for insinuating that you don’t love Ben,” Kat said abruptly. “I crossed a line.”

“And I apologize for slamming the door in your face,” Luke offered.

Kat held his gaze. “We’re never going to agree, you know.”

Luke nodded. “At least not when it comes to your therapy courses.” He pushed the plate toward her. “Have another sandwich.”