Darlene Gardner - A Time To Forgive

As he’d listened to the symphony perform in the gilded Concert Hall, somewhere between the bull-fighter theme from Bizet’s Carmen and the finale from Rossini’s William Tell Overture, he’d set his mind on getting to know Abby Reed better.

His venue of choice would have been a quiet dinner for two at his town house, but with the addition of a nine-year-old, his home was no longer so private.

When he’d caught Abby peeking looks at him during the concert, he thought that accomplishing his mission wouldn’t be difficult. But something imperceptible had changed since the concert’s end, because the looks she’d stolen on the bus seemed more like glares.

The bus had arrived at Blue Moon Elementary five minutes ago. An hour remained in the school day, so Abby had already sent the protesting students back to their classes. Connor had called a goodbye to Jaye, but she’d given him her back. Neither of them, it seemed, looked forward to the punishment he’d mete out tonight.

He waited for the ex-military chaperone to finish telling Abby how much she’d enjoyed the field trip before he approached Abby, who was heading for the brightly colored main hall of the school. “Miss Reed, can I talk to you for a minute?”

He thought she might ignore him and keep on walking, but then she turned. It was a windy day, and her short dark hair had gotten slightly tousled in the brief walk from the bus to the school. The appealing disarray should have made her seem more approachable, but he read reluctance in her stance. “What is it, Mr. Smith?”

It had been a long time since he’d been so nervous at the prospect of asking out a woman. He cleared his throat, thinking it best if he eased into the subject. “You were right about letting Jaye stay to hear the concert. I could tell she was enraptured.”

He sensed some of the tension leaving her body and imagined she looked a fraction more relaxed.

“She was. You should look into getting her private lessons.” Her gaze sharpened. “You do let her practice, don’t you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

She hesitated, then said, “No reason. As I was saying, extra lessons would help her. There’s only so much I can teach her when she’s part of a group. If you’re interested, I have a sheet with names and phone numbers of private teachers that I’ll send home with her.”

“That’d be great.”

“Fine.” She seemed to think the conversation was over and started to turn away.

“But that wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”

She regarded him so coolly, it felt as if the temperature in the elementary school had dropped. Now was probably not the optimum time for what he had in mind, but he wasn’t sure when he’d get another chance.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

One of the inspirational quotes J.D. used to spout during football season sprang to mind. The kid had a ton of them, all meant to motivate himself to become the best athlete he could be. They’d worked, too. J. D. Smith had been well on the road to athletic glory before that son of a bitch had robbed him of his life. Biting back the familiar rush of anger, Connor thrust his brother from his mind and concentrated on the saying.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Would you have dinner with me this weekend?”

If he’d asked if she’d cut off her right arm and give it to him, she couldn’t have looked more appalled. “No.”

He rocked back on his heels, surprised at the firmness of her response. He’d been refused before, but never so baldly. But maybe he’d made a mistake. Once again he checked her left ring finger. Yes, it was still bare.

“Are you involved with someone else?” he asked.

“No. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to my classroom.”

She took two steps before Connor recovered enough to find his voice. “Wait.”

Reluctance written plainly on her face, she turned back to him. “What’s the matter, Mr. Smith, aren’t you used to being turned down?”

“It’s not that. It’s the way you did it.” He scratched his chin. “You could have softened the blow, said something about how it’s against your policy to date relatives of students.”

“I don’t have a dating policy,” she said. “But if it bothers you that much, let me rephrase my answer. Thank you for the invitation, but no thank you.”

He frowned. “If I’ve done something to offend you, I’d sure like to know what it was.”

“You mean besides not signing the permission slip until I came to your office and then showing up late for the bus?”

He was about to point out that technically he hadn’t been late, but they’d already covered that ground. “Besides that.”

Her chest rose, then fell. Clearly she wanted to be rid of him. “Jaye’s told me some things.”

“What things?” he pressed.

“I know you hadn’t seen her in years until recently.”

“That’s right,” he said slowly, wondering where she was going with this.

“And I know you felt like you had to take her in.”

“That’s right, too,” he said. “The alternative was foster care, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Am I supposed to give you points for that?”

He cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

“It was your responsibility to take her in after her mother died. You—”

“Hold on a minute,” he interrupted, trying to make sense of her tirade. “Jaye’s mother isn’t dead.”

“But Jaye said…” Abby’s voice trailed off, and her brow knotted before understanding dawned on her face. “I take it her mother never had cancer, either?”

“No cancer, as far as I know. But then I don’t know a lot about the situation. She and Jaye showed up at my place one night a month or so ago. The next morning, Diana was gone.”

“She just left Jaye without a word?”

“Without a word to Jaye. She left a note for me, saying she needed time to work things out and get her head on straight.”

Abby shook her own head. She clearly didn’t understand what would drive a mother to abandon her child, but neither did Connor. “No wonder Jaye’s having such a tough time.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I’m doing the best I can, but it doesn’t seem to be enough.”

“Am I supposed to be impressed that you’re now doing what you should have been doing all along?” Her voice held an edge.

“I’m not trying to impress anybody.” He felt as though he were defending himself, but he wasn’t sure for what. “Jaye’s family. It’s my responsibility to help her out.”

“It was your responsibility to work harder at keeping in contact with her,” she snapped.

He cocked his head, wondering at the cause of the unfriendly glint in her eyes. “Do you have a problem with me?”

“Yes, I do,” she retorted. “Don’t you think Jaye knows that you don’t really want her? That’s a hard thing for any daughter to swallow about her father.”

Connor gaped at her as her resentment toward him finally made sense.

“Jaye’s not my daughter,” he said. “She’s my niece.”

ABBY WAS SURE SHE’D BEEN struck speechless before, but couldn’t remember when.

She stared at Connor, suddenly viewing him in a brand-new light. He wasn’t a deadbeat dad. He was a bachelor uncle who’d taken in a young girl who had nowhere else to go.

“If you’re not her father,” she said slowly, “where is he?”

“Diana—that’s my sister—doesn’t know who Jaye’s father is. She had Jaye when she was seventeen. Rumor was that most of the boys in town had Diana before that.”

He related his sister’s history in a flat voice Abby suspected hid a wealth of emotion.

“After she got pregnant, Diana went to stay with our great-aunt near Roanoke. She lived there until Aunt Aggie died about five years ago. Then she just took off with Jaye. She’d call from time to time to say she was okay but we didn’t know where they were until last month.”