Page 73 of Candy Canes & Caroling

“Fine, yeah, great.”

“That’s a lie,” I said, leaning my elbows on the table and propping my chin on my hands. “You’ve been fake drinking that coffee for ten minutes.”

Gabe glanced down at it as though he just realized it was still there. He rubbed his forehead a bit but wouldn’t make eye contact. “Sorry, I’m a bit distracted. I didn’t mean to be bad company.”

“You’re not bad company, Gabe. I’m just concerned something is wrong, and you’re afraid to ask for help.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” he said, finally looking at me. “I have to make a decision that could change our lives, and I don’t know how to do it.”

“Are you thinking about leaving Bells Pass?” I couldn’t hide my surprise. Gabe and Heather were as invested in this town as Ivy and Shep. He was a detective and still took shifts as an EMT. Heather had a business and worked with her brother on the housing project.

“Oh, God no,” he said, holding up a hand. “We’re Bells Passers for life, Irving.”

“That was always my impression,” I said. “Something is eating at you, though.”

“Heather can’t have children since she had surgery for her pituitary tumor.”

“I see,” I said, even though I didn’t. “I didn’t know Heather had a brain tumor.”

“When she was a teenager. It’s the reason she developed acromegaly. Her health concerns are under control now, and she’s stable again on a new regimen, but that’s to keep her hormones in tight check. A few years ago, before we married, she went into a health crisis when her hormones became imbalanced. The hormonal changes in pregnancy would likely kill her since adjusting her medications to balance them out would be nearly impossible.”

“That makes sense. It’s unfortunate. I’m sorry?”

“You made that a question,” he said with a chuckle and waved his hand. “I was aware when I married her that we wouldn’t be able to have our own children. I’m okay with that. My genes are a bit like Russian roulette. My family has some severe mental health issues, and while I don’t, my brother very much did.”

“Wait, you have a brother?”

“Had a brother,” he said. “Long story, but he passed many, many years ago.”

“Okay, so I’m confused. You’ve already decided not to have kids, so I’m unsure where this is going.”

Gabe rubbed his hands over his face and shook his head. “Talking to you about this is uncomfortable.”

My hands went up in the don’t shoot position. “I’m not prying, Gabe. If you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to.”

“See, that’s the problem. I need help, but talking to you about it could make me look like an ass.”

“I highly doubt that’s possible, Gabe.”

His laughter filled the diner briefly before he closed his mouth again and shook his head. “Heather and I have been approved to be foster parents on track for adoption.”

“Wow. Well, that’s fabulous, Gabe.”

“Thanks. We both want kids, but we know it’s better if our home is a place for a child who otherwise wouldn’t have one.”

“Admirable, but also tricky,” I said. “You have birth parents to deal with besides the county. You also have trauma considerations and behavioral health situations that stem from them.”

“Yep, which is why we talked with the foster placement about taking a very young child available for adoption. We would foster for a while before we adopted to make sure we were a good fit for the child.”

“But?”

“They called me today that they have a child who needs a home. She was abandoned at a hospital in a different county, but no one could or would take her beyond an emergency placement for a few days. If we don’t take her, she’ll have to go to a state home.”

“Wow, that’s a hard decision to make. You know for sure the baby has been abandoned?”

“Yes. Her mother signed over her rights within the first seventy-two hours, and the father is unknown. We still have the waiting period where mom can change her mind, but she has no means to care for her, so the baby girl is essentially an orphan.”

“That takes away any trauma considerations.”

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