Donna Gartshore - Instant Family

But now, as they looked at the vandalized cabin, Frankie prayed silently, an ache of regret in her throat. God, I wanted You to meet us here.

Suddenly, rapid footsteps came up behind them and Frankie spun quickly around. The man approaching them was very handsome. He was also very angry.

“What are you doing?” the stranger demanded. His dark blue eyes seemed to give off sparks of fury. “Why are you lurking around these cabins?”

Frankie attempted to give Rae a reassuring smile and stepped in front of her, adopting a defensive stance. Not that she thought she had any real hope of intimidating this stranger, since she stood at five foot four and he had to be at least six feet tall. Still, if he imagined he was going to threaten them or get anywhere near her daughter, she’d do whatever she could to prove him wrong.

“We’re not lurking,” Frankie told him, hoping that if she spoke loudly enough it would mask the way her voice was shaking. “I paid to rent this cabin and we get here and—this!” Her hand flipped toward the vandalized cabin with a gesture that managed to be both defiant and defeated.

The man studied them with a speculative look on his face, then relaxed his shoulders and stepped back.

* * *

Ben Cedar felt decidedly chagrined. He had thought the small, slight figure wearing cutoff shorts, a T-shirt and a baseball cap was a teenage boy, with his little sister, but he’d already launched into his tirade before he realized his mistake.

This woman, whoever she was, might be dressed in a boyish fashion, but up close she was unmistakably female. He didn’t think he’d ever seen skin quite as smooth and golden peachy or features so delicate. He could see the sheer resilience it took for her to keep her brown eyes locked to his. Behind her, the girl peeked out, her eyes wide and her hands over her mouth.

Ben felt even worse and tried to give the little girl a friendly smile, but she gave an audible gasp and retreated.

The woman looked like she would take great pleasure in maiming him or worse.

“I’m sorry,” he said, attempting to rectify the situation. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He tried to push out another smile, but the truth was that he didn’t need any more complications added to his summer—or to his life—and he just wanted the misunderstanding to go away as quickly as possible.

The woman didn’t answer, but her expression clearly said that he wasn’t convincing her.

“My name’s Ben Cedar,” he said, making another attempt. “My father and I are here for the summer. We’ve spent every summer here since I was a kid. My mom used to...” He stopped himself and said more briskly, “Well, anyway, yours isn’t the only cabin to be vandalized. It’s been happening all over the place and some of the town businesses have been hit, too. It’s really put a damper on people’s vacations.” Regret darkened his eyes. “It’s a real shame, too,” he said. “This has always been such a great place for families. I have a lot of happy memories here. I don’t know what’s gone wrong, though I have some suspicions.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that, but my daughter and I don’t appreciate being accused,” the woman said. Despite the slight tremor in her voice, her stiff posture and rigid mouth told Ben that she wasn’t about to concede her ground easily.

Lord, please help me make this right.

“Hello, there!” said another voice.

Ben closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a pulse of anxiety. Now was definitely not the time for his father to make a scene. He silently reminded himself to be patient. His dad couldn’t help his behavior and, besides, having one last memorable summer with him was one of the main reasons that Ben was here.

Ben thought about what was facing him at summer’s end, and an acute ache pulsed behind his eyes. But he couldn’t dwell on that now. The time to move his father into full-time care loomed soon enough without him letting his worry about it devour the days they had here.

His father grinned and waved happily at the little girl, and Ben braced himself.

“Would you like to walk down to the beach with me and look for seashells?” he asked her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to say to a little girl he had never met.

Ben saw the woman study his father for a moment, and then a glimmer of understanding crept into her eyes.

“Dad, we don’t know these people,” he said, willing a gentle voice, almost as if speaking to a child. “And you know what I’ve told you about talking to strangers.”

The man hung his head and shuffled his feet back and forth in the dirt on the road between the cabins. The action stirred up a small cloud of dust.

“Did you have your nap?” Ben asked.

His dad shrugged and his open face threatened to collapse into a scowl.

Ben pretended not to notice the change in his dad’s mood and pushed away the foreboding in his own gut. It was, he reminded himself, the least he could do to take care of his father. Especially since there were times that he hadn’t been there when he should have been.

“You know I told you that if you had a nap and gave me some time to get some things done, I would take you for ice cream,” Ben said, pushing down the surge of guilt that threatened to rise up into his throat. The last thing he needed was to feel more guilt over this woman and girl he didn’t even know.

The man’s mouth made shapes without any words coming out and he kicked the dirt harder, in an expression of inarticulate frustration.

“Mom?” The girl tugged on her mother’s hand and whispered loudly, “What’s wrong with that man?”

“Rae...” the woman began to protest.

“It’s okay,” Ben said, directing his words to her. “My father has Alzheimer’s disease. I’m not sure how to explain that to your little girl.”

Her lovely brown eyes searched his face for a moment and then she gave a small nod. She glanced down at the girl.

“I’ll explain later, Rae.” She looked at Ben again. “Any ideas on what I can do about the cabin?”

“If you can wait until I get my dad settled again, I’ll take you down to the office and you can talk to the people who manage these cabins.”

“Will they be able to do anything about it? I think I should go talk to them right away.”

“They’ve been getting cleaning crews out. If you can hold off just a bit, it might help if I go with you. They’ve known Dad and me for a long time.”

Ben’s father started to wander off and Ben reached out and took his hand. They tussled briefly as the older man tried to get away, but eventually he calmed down and allowed his son to lead him back toward their cabin.

“There’s a good place for ice cream just at the end of the walk,” Ben said over his shoulder. “Turn right. It’s the place with all the big umbrellas.”

After a challenging ten minutes or so, Ben got his father settled back into their cabin and gave him a pile of hand towels to fold to keep him preoccupied. He found that repetitive activities calmed his father.

Ben eased himself out the cabin door, locking it behind him. He walked quickly, then broke into a jog, anxious to get to the Ice Cream Adventure as soon as possible. He had to admit that it wasn’t only because he was worried about what his Dad might do if he got bored of folding and realized that he had been left alone in the cabin. He told himself that he just wanted to get the situation rectified as quickly as possible. But something about the woman—her fragility, combined with her obvious determination to be strong—tugged at him.

When he spotted them sitting under a gaudy orange umbrella, nibbling and licking at ice-cream cones, Ben breathed a thankful prayer.