Page 79 of Fourth Heartwarmers Trilogy
While he’d tried to explain his reasons to them in the café, she’d made her own promises to herself. No matter what it took for them to take care of Charlie and Maisie, she would be all in.
After lunch, they brought the kids back to their house where she suggested naps and was pleased when they headed to the bedroom without a whimper or argument. In fact, Charlie spoke up immediately. “I’ll read to Maisie. She has a favorite book, and I know all the words. Come on, Mais.” Once the little girl headedinto the room, Charlie stopped to explain, “Maman always needed time to rest, and we got used to being on our own. We won’t be any trouble.”
Her heart did a somersault after hearing his serious plea, and she got the feeling that the little boy had decided to behave in the best way possible so they wouldn’t change their minds about looking after them. Colin returned from making his calls in the kitchen in time to hear what Charlie said. Once their door closed, he came over to Jaqueline and whispered, “The little guy is terrified we’ll leave them. I can’t blame him.”
“I know. It’s so sad. Did you contact the lawyer?”
“Yes. My own lawyer in B.C. has a buddy who works in Montreal – Cord Ballenger. He’s on his way here to help deal with this. Should be here by three p.m. He’s going to let me know as soon as he’s on the train, and we’ll have a conference call so I can explain everything. Cord seemed to think it might be a hard ask to keep the kids without being related. He figures there’s a possibility we’ll have to let Child Services take the kids into custody until we can get the courts to agree to let me foster them.”
“That sounds ominous and exactly what we don’t want to happen. Both kids are trying to keep it together, especially Charlie. If they separate them from us and each other, it won’t be good.”
Colin sat beside her on the couch. He patted the hands she couldn’t seem to keep still. “I know. It’s all happening so damn fast, like a runaway roller coaster.”
“Right, eh? First the snow collapsing on them, then their mother dying in the hospital, and now the court threat. Funny thing is, I wanted some excitement on this holiday, something I could take home and tell my gramma about since she gifted me this trip for Christmas. Truthfully, I never expected this landslide of stories.”
By her tone and from her words, Colin began to laugh. “Better not tell her everything. If she’s too old it could be detrimental to her heart.”
“Not my Gigi. She’ll love this story and be all in as far as helping with the kids. Not like Mum who’s a wee bit hard to deal with. Gigi’s a sweetheart. You’ll like her.”
“Then I’ll look forward to meeting her. We just have to clear these hurdles over the next few days and pray there won’t be any restrictions on me taking the kids back to Vancouver.”
“Once the judge hears that you’re a professor at the University of B.C., he’ll understand that you have commitments to fulfill, won’t he?”
“That’s what I’m praying happens. But I’ve watched Law and Order for years and from what I’ve seen, when it comes to the law, nothing is easy.”
Jaqueline giggled. “Practically a law degree comes with that show. Look, I was thinking, when you want to talk openly with your lawyer, how about I get a taxi to take me and the kids to the stores downtown so they can visit Santa, maybe pick up some decorations for the house. That will keep their minds off their troubles.”
Colin’s face brightened. “Would you really do that? It’s a fantastic idea.” He reached into his pocket and pulled a debit card out of his wallet. Then he wrote a number on a card with his particulars and passed it over too. “Here, buy whatever you want for them.”
Jaqueline laughingly teased, “You trust me with this?” She waved the card in front of her. “I saw a really beautiful tanzanite bracelet the other day in the window of Chancy’s for an exorbitant price that could be mine.”
He reached over to gently caress her face, his voice low and hoarse with emotion. “Buy it if you want it. Just treat the kidstoo.” Before he could add more, his phone rang, and he made a face of regret before walking away to take the call.
Shaken to her very core, Jaqueline didn’t move. No man had ever quite reached close to her heart before, and the experience left her shaken. Colin had no idea that his touch had left her wanting more… much more.
***
An hour later, the taxi dropped Jaqueline and the kids off near old town, and they wandered through the shops filled with tourist souvenirs nestled between food places and clothing stores. Their favorite for the three of them was the fancy Christmas place where the kids had a ball checking out all the ornaments still left on the shelves.
Not wanting to take advantage of Colin’s generosity, but still wanting to give them a treat, Jaqueline offered a deal. “We each get to choose one smaller item and all three of us have to decide which bigger one to buy. Okay?” She had full intentions of paying for the more expensive article.
“Yes, please.” Maisie hopped up and down in her outdoor garments that were opened enough for her to be comfortable indoors. And Charlie undid the buttons on his worn winter jacket as well, sticking his tuke in his pocket. Jaqueline sensed their excitement, understanding they intended to take their time, unlike a few of the other more gregarious children rushing dangerously around in the store.
In fact, two of the boys who were making the most noise while being silly, accidently pushed over a display, forcing the mother to deal with their naughtiness. “Look what you’ve done now. I told you to stop being such brats. I’m fed up with the both of you. We’re leaving.” Before the cashiers knew what happened, themother ushered both of the rotters outside without even offering to pay for the broken trinkets.
One young cashier in particular looked devastated, and Jaqueline couldn’t help but commiserate with her. “How terrible. I’m sorry.” She saw the girl picking up the pieces, her face registering total frustration while she muttered, “Now I’ll have to pay for this myself. It’s not fair. But the owners expect us to enforce the “you break it, you buy it” rule and that… that woman didn’t give me a chance to explain before she split.”
“I’m so sorry. I’ve no doubt she took off on purpose. Look, just add the amount to my bill.”
“Seriously? You’d do that?”
“Sure. It’s not gonna bankrupt me but if you paid, it would mean you worked a few hours for nothing.” She smiled kindly at the thrilled teenager and ushered the kids to the side wall where all their merchandise was on display. “Take your time. Look carefully at all these ornaments before choosing the one you want the most.”
Maisie let out a squeal, hopped in place, and clapped her hands. “Can I have the angel, pwease? It’s Maman. She’s an angel, right? See Charwie. The angel has the same hair and blue eyes as Maman.”
Charlie smiled in agreement. “Yep. It does look like her alright. May I have the same ornament?”
“No Charwie,” Maisie seemed instantly upset. “We only have one Maman.”
