Page 30 of Ultimate Freedom

The far door opened, and Demi rushed to finish preparing the hot chocolate and added a plate of homemade cookies. Then she took the bread Charlie had helped her bake from the oven and set it on the racks before buttering the tops.

Charlie helped her carry the mugs and plates to the table and left the one she’d put out for him behind. “I need to check on Glory.”

Before Demi could agree or disagree, he ran to get his parka and headed out the door.

“You have a very comfortable home here, Miss. Fedora.” Mrs. Stanch settled back into her chair.

“Please, call me Demi. And thank you. We’ve done a lot of work to make it livable. My grandfather left me this place years ago. It hadn’t been occupied for a long time, so you can imagine how much had to be done. I still have a list a mile long of repairs I intend to make.”

While she talked, Demi made sure the woman had everything she needed. “Now, as much as I’m delighted to have a visitor, what can I do for you?”

“Oh, nothing. I’ve just come to pick up Charlie.”

“I gathered that. But you see, I can’t let you take him. I promised him a home here with us for as long as he wanted to stay. You can ask him if he’d rather leave, but I’m pretty sure he’d say no.”

Mrs. Stanch’s clear-eyed stare was met with an equally stubborn gaze. She finally continued, “You know he’s been picked up a number of times and would either run away or was taken back.”

Shocked, Demi sat back in her chair. “He has? I thought Beth, his mother, kept him with her.”

“Oh, that’s true. She’d fetch him each time but against our wishes. We knew she didn’t… ahh, provide a decent lifestyle for the boy. Nor did she keep him in school. We’ve followed them from time to time, but as soon as we’d close in, she’d up and disappear.”

“Well, I can assure you, that isn’t going to happen here. Charlie has agreed to start school when it opens tomorrow. First thing, we’ll get him enrolled and pick up whatever materials he’ll need. I’ve talked to the principal, and she’s agreed to evaluate him to decide what level he’s at.”

“Yes. I see. But that isn’t possible. He must come back with me. If you wish, you can go through the formalities of applying to be his foster family. That’s if you want to take him, of course.”

“See, that doesn’t make any sense. I mean, I’ll fill in all the forms and sign any papers you need me to, but why would you force him to go with you when we both figure he’ll just run away. And without Beth waiting for him, who knows what can happen to an eleven-year-old boy on his own in this part of the country? At least, while he’s here, he’s safe.”

Demi watched the other woman surveying the mug in front of her, chewing on her snickerdoodle, and looking as if she’d just found herself in the middle of a world war.

“You want him.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s alone. And scared. Just like I was when I was a lot younger than him. The foster family I lived with was a shitshow. I couldn’t stand the thought of Charlie going through that too.”

“You know I came here to get him. It’s my job.”

“Yes. But I thought your job was to find him a home where he’ll be appreciated and loved.”

“Are you married, Demi.”

“You know I’m not. You called me Miss which tells me that you’ve already looked into my background.”

“I did. And you know what I found? A woman who ran her own successful center in Pheonix for runaway teens. Your reputation was unblemished.”

“That’s a plus, right? You know you can trust Charlie with me.”

“Oh, that was never the problem. The problem is that Charlie has a father. And the man wants him.”

“What?” Shocked speechless, Demi’s mind whirled in circles. Her thoughts flittered back and forth until a question surfaced. “How do you know this man’s his father?”

“I don’t. He says he is and has pictures of them living together when Charlie was a few years younger than he is now.”

“What father’s name is showing on Charlie’s birth certificate?”

“Can’t find one… a birth certificate. His mother moved them around a lot and could have changed her name a hundred times for all we know. We have no record that he was even born in a hospital.”

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