Page 10 of Saving Salem
“Come on in. Salem’s putting Chloe down for a nap. Why don’t we grab some sweet tea while we wait? Shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes. That little girl’s had a rough night. She’s teething and in pain, which makes her grumpy.” Douglas grinned. “Which makes my wife grumpy, too, because she can’t stand seeing that baby hurting. All she wants to do is pick her up and carry her around, rocking her.”
“I seem to remember somebody mentioning Chloe was teething.” Jack followed Douglas into the kitchen and watched as he filled three glasses with ice and tea, handing one to him.
“Watching Patricia with a baby in her arms again brings back memories of her with Nica when she was little. When we got all our boys, they weren’t infants or even toddlers. Until our daughter was born, she never got to experience holding a baby in her arms. Now she’s a grandma, and loves her grandson to pieces, but he isn’t here all the time. Having Chloe here, well, it’s bringing up feelings she hasn’t had in a long while.”
“My mom’s the same way around babies. If she walks into a room and there’s an infant there, she makes a beeline straight there, and insists on holding it.”
“You were an only child, weren’t you?”
Jack nodded. He knew his parents had tried for another, but hadn’t been lucky enough to get pregnant again. Then his dad had been killed, and his mother hadn’t remarried, so he’d ended up as a one and only.
“I had two brothers, Gator, and Hank. I was the middle boy. Gator’s the oldest, and he was always the most responsible. The most adventurous too. Hank was the baby, and we all tended to spoil him. It was different, having ready playmates, never being alone. Though sometimes,” Douglas chuckled, “you desperately prayed to be alone.”
“I had friends growing up, but I imagine it’s not the same.”
“You’re right, it’s not. My brothers were my best friends, even though we fought like cats and dogs a lot of times. But something we discovered along the way was that family means everything. Family comes first and foremost in every decision, every important event. But the biggest thing we discovered was that families come in all shapes and sizes, something Patricia and I discovered when we were told we’d never be able to have a biological child.”
“You have Nica.”
“And I thank God every night for giving me my precious girl. But she didn’t come along right away. My Patricia, bless her, wanted a child with all her heart, and it nearly broke her when we found out we couldn’t have one. Truth be told, it almost killed me too. But sometimes providence steps in and changes your path. That’s what happened with us.”
Years ago, Rafe had told Jack about how he came to be a Boudreau, including legally changing his name when he turned eighteen. He hadn’t been able to be legally adopted by the Boudreaus because his biological father had refused to relinquish custody, even though he’d been in prison at the time, doing life without parole. That Rafe had ended up with a family who’d come to love him had been solely because of the man sitting across from him and his big heart. Rafe had been the first son Douglas and Ms. Patti had brought into their family, though he’d been far from the last.
“You and Ms. Patti are an example others should follow about how to raise a family, Douglas. And I know your sons are proud to be called Boudreaus.”
He watched Douglas closely, the play of emotions on the big man’s face easy to read. A proud man, his family meant everything to him, and he wasn’t ashamed of people knowing how he felt about them.
“I love the whole lot of them. Wanted to wring their necks sometimes, but I wouldn’t trade a single moment with any of ’em for anything. What I’m trying to say, in a roundabout, rambling way, is blood ties aren’t the only way of having a family or making a difference in a child’s life. Sometimes all it takes is a leap of faith, taking that first step. It can be scary, it can be exhilarating, but every step is worth the risk. But the hardest part—besides making the decision to help—is realizing that everything is uncertain, and you don’t hold all the answers. Heck, we don’t hold even one of the answers, that lies with the Almighty. But sometimes, taking one small step forward can change your life.” He smiled. “It did mine, and I have never regretted one single minute.”
Jack wanted to laugh because he’d spent the whole night agonizing over how he could help Salem, running scenarios through his mind, each one more outlandish than the previous, until he’d landed on what he’d figured as the best and brightest solution. Hour after hour of figuring out how he would approach the problem, and with a couple of sentences, Douglas handed him the answer.
“Rafe’s told me how he came to live with you, Douglas, about how you sat beside him at the hospital when he was so scared. He had nobody, but you were there at his side. You didn’t have to be, you’d done your job as a volunteer firefighter, but because a small boy asked you not to leave him, you stayed. Made him feel safe when the whole world made him feel alone. He’d lost his mother and his father in one horrendous ordeal, but he had you. You didn’t know him, had never seen him before the accident. It would have been so easy to walk away, turn his care over to the hospital and then to Child Protective Services. Instead, you made him your son.”
Douglas got a faraway look in his gaze, and Jack had the feeling he was remembering, reliving those hours of sitting by a child’s hospital bed, knowing that when the morning came, his fragile life would be upended by tragedy. His mother was dead, killed in an accident that his father deliberately caused, and he had nobody else. No one to champion him, to make sure he didn’t fall through the cracks of an overburdened system, or worse—end up in a neglectful or abusive foster home.
“Far as I could see, I didn’t have a choice. You don’t turn your back on a child who needs you, not when you’ve got the capacity to help.” When Douglas’ eyes met his, Jack knew his mind was made up. Not that there was any real doubt. After weighing all the pros and cons and listening to everything Chance said, he’d come up with a plan. Wild and crazy and so far out in left field it might as well be out of sight, but it was a plan.
Now he simply had to convince Salem that it was a plan that could work.
Salem stared atJack, eyes wide, trying to process the words he’d just spoken. Either she’d lost her mind, or he’d just asked her to marry him.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?”
Jack gave a self-deprecating grin, ducking his head so she wouldn’t notice the blush on his cheeks, at least that’s what she guessed. “I know it’s a crazy idea, but gimme a second to explain.”
“What’s to explain? I understand perfectly what you’re trying to do, Jack. Just like when you came to help rescue me when Tarik tried to take me back to the U.A.E., you’re looking to be the White Knight, riding in to rescue the helpless princess.”
Jack shook his head. “There’s nothing helpless about you, Salem. I might not know you as well as the Boudreaus do, but I watched you when Tarik held a loaded gun on you and Gabi. You kept your head, came up with a plan, and managed to outsmart him, even though you were several months pregnant, and he was stark-raving nutso. You’re raising a beautiful little girl alone, and from what I’ve heard, you’re working two jobs as well as taking online classes to get your shot at being a graphic artist. That’s not helpless, princess, I call that pretty darned amazing.”
Warmth spread through the center of her chest at his praise. She wasn’t doing any of that for herself, she did it for Chloe, but nonetheless it was nice having somebody acknowledge all her hard work.
“Then why, Jack? Why are you proposing? I realize you’re a nice guy and the Boudreaus love you, but we barely know each other. It’s extreme, to say the least.”
He drew in a deep breath, his expression swiftly morphing from concerned to serious in the amount of time it took her to finish the question. Seeing him last night had been a shock, one that left her more confused than ever. Though she’d run into him a couple of times when she’d been visiting the Boudreaus, they’d kind of been drive-by encounters, a quick hello and he’d be gone, or she’d be headed toward wherever she’d been going. Only once had they spoken more than a handful of sentences to each other, except for that one time. Heat raced into her face at the remembered interlude. She couldn’t deny they had chemistry, and she found him attractive, but she’d ignored it, because she wasn’t ready to even think about getting serious about anybody. Might not be for a long time.
Now, suddenly, out of the blue, he’s proposing marriage? It didn’t make sense. Then again, nothing about this whole situation made sense. Tarik’s family with their demands. Chloe being thrust into the middle of an acrimonious custody battle with complete strangers wanting to control her wellbeing. Salem knew the Amirs had an agenda; she simply hadn’t figured it out…yet.
When had her life become so screwed up? She was beginning to feel like she was starring in a TV movie of the week, one of those mysteries where the heroine was always in danger, and she hadn’t been given the script.
