Holly Jacobs - A One-of-a-Kind Family

“Not yet, Anna,” Colm said. “You could stay longer, ’cause you have no date, remember?”

She expected Liam to agree that it was time for her to go home. She was sure he’d be polite. He’d make some noise about how he was sure she had something else to do. But what he said was, “Maybe we could all play a game? If you have the time, Anna.” He seemed to say her name with more ease.

Colm grabbed her hand. “Yeah, Anna, that’d be good. We can play a game.”

Anna smiled. “Maybe a hand of Go Fish?”

“I don’t know that one,” Colm said.

“If you can find some cards, I can teach you.” She’d barely got the words out when Colm shot down the hallway toward the living room.

“Are you sure Colm can handle a card game?” Liam asked.

“Liam, he can count and read a lot of words. It might take him a while to get the feel for the game, but he’ll do fine.”

And he did. Within a couple of hands, Colm had the idea and was holding his own.

“Go fish!” he shouted gleefully.

Anna did and on Colm’s next turn, he put all his cards down. “I got ’em. You gave me that five and I got it.”

“Great job, Colm.” She glanced at her watch. “But now, I really need to get home. I have an early day tomorrow.”

“You have an early day here tomorrow?” Colm asked.

“No. We talked about this, remember? We marked the calendar in the kitchen. I’m back the day after tomorrow.”

Colm threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly. “Okay. I’ll miss you, Anna, ’cause you teach me lots of stuff, like making spaghetti and puttin’stuff in the fridge after we’re done eatin’. You teach me good.”

“I taught you—”

He interrupted. “Yep, you did.”

Liam was smiling—again. Anna thought she could easily get used to seeing that expression on his face. He said, “Get your shower and put your pajamas on, bud. I’ll show Anna out.”

“Okay. ’Night, Anna.” Colm hugged her again.

She mussed his hair. “’Night, Colm.”

She knew from Liam’s tone that he wanted to talk to her, so she waited until Colm disappeared up the stairs and said, “Yes?”

He didn’t look annoyed, but if not, she wasn’t sure what he wanted to talk about.

He simply said, “Thank you.”

“For…?”

“For everything. You were right. Colm is capable of so much more than I ever imagined.”

His admission surprised and touched her. “You’re welcome.”

“Anna, I have to go out of town on Thursday. I know that three days is short notice, but it’s only one night, and I wondered if you’d found someone to stay with Colm?”

Anna had put off confirming someone. She wasn’t sure why, but had a sneaking suspicion that it was because she didn’t want to share the Franklin brothers with anyone else. “If you don’t mind, maybe I’ll stay with him? I mean, it’s one night, and it would give us more time to work together. I see so much potential in Colm, and there doesn’t seem to be enough time in my day to try as much as I would like to with him.”

Liam didn’t offer his opinion about her staying with Colm. Instead, he said, “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“You can, but I don’t promise to answer.” She smiled, hoping to soften her response. Liam was so much more approachable tonight that she didn’t want to jinx it.

“Why?” was all he asked.

“Huh?”

“Why do you do what you do? I can’t imagine the money is fantastic. And it seems that the hours are long. So, why do you work for Sunrise?”

That was a question that Anna not only didn’t mind answering, but relished sharing. Maybe Liam would understand her goals for Colm better if she did.

“I had a client. Denny. He was starting his first job at a local plant where he would be packing boxes. It wasn’t only him. I worked with the supervisor, as well. I explained that I’d help Denny get the rhythm of the job down, and stressed that he should do well with the status quo, but that for out-of-the-ordinary things he would require someone to help him. I like being sure that a client’s boss has realistic expectations. Two months after I’d gone, Denny’s supervisor called and told me that they’d hired a new person and that when the woman had made a mistake on the assembly, Denny had gone over and helped her. He said that Denny had told her that everyone makes mistakes. That she should take her time and ask for help when she needed it. The supervisor was so impressed. He wanted to employ more people from our program.”

“Those were your words that Denny said, weren’t they? I recognize them from Colm. If you make a mistake, it’s like the milk—you clean it up and start over. Things like that.”

“Yes.” She knew she could be somewhat repetitious with her catch phrases, but her clients needed to hear them over and over until they fully understood them. “And to answer your question, that’s why I do it. There are so many special people out there. They might take longer to learn something, or they might need to learn a bit differently than most folks, but with some assistance and time, they can lead remarkable lives. And if I can help that along, well, it means something to me. My job is important to people and that’s why I do it.”

Even as the words left her mouth, Anna wished she’d said something…well, something less. She felt naked. Exposed. And, Liam Franklin was the last person she wanted to feel like this with.

She wasn’t sure why and she wasn’t about to explore the reason. “I really should go now. Thanks for allowing me to share Colm’s first meal.”

“About Thursday,” Liam said before she could bolt out the door. “Yes. I knew you’d suggest someone reliable, but I’d have worried. I trust you with Colm. It’s a big meeting, and I appreciate you saving me the worry. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be here on Wednesday and you can give me the specifics of your trip then.”

“I’ll see you day after tomorrow, then.”

“Wednesday,” she agreed, then rushed out. Admittedly, an annoyed Liam Franklin seemed much easier to deal with than this insightful one.

Anna wasn’t sure why.

“OKAY, Li, what gives?” Patrick Yu asked breathlessly on Friday night as Liam got out of his car.

His neighbor pushed his walker at NASCAR-worthy speed toward Liam. Meanwhile, Liam was pulling his suitcase from the backseat, anxious to get in the house, a sense of…he wasn’t sure how to define it. Anticipation? Excitement?

He’d talked to Colm on the phone last night, and his brother had seemed fine. More than fine. He’d been excited that Anna was spending a night. “It’s like a sleepover, Liam. I never had one of those before, but you used to. Now, it’s my turn. Me and Anna are gonna make s’mores, but I don’t know what those are, still we’re going to make ’em.”

Patrick waved a hand in front of Liam’s face. “Earth calling Liam.”

Liam gave himself a mental shake. “Sorry. How are things, Patrick?”

“Fine. I was asking about the new woman? Actually, I asked what gives, and by that I meant, tell me about your new woman. I’m old and live vicariously through your exploits, which I have to confess, are very few and far between.” The elderly man ran his hand through his very thick gray hair, leaving it looking as if the barber had modeled his style after Einstein’s.

“She’s not my woman,” Liam assured his neighbor. “Even if she was, I can’t imagine Anna would want to be referred to as my woman.”

Patrick chuckled. “Probably not, but I’d never use the term in front of her. I might be old, but I’m not dumb. Women don’t take kindly to being called women. I heard some don’t even like being referred to as ladies? I’m guessing gals and broads are off-limit terms, as well. Me, I stick to people when women are about. It saves a lot of hassles. But she’s not here, so tell me who is she if she’s not your new woman? Her car’s in your driveway a lot lately. And I couldn’t help but notice it was here all night.”