Two Weeks (The Baxter Family #5)(67)

For a long time Alma listened. Then she took a deep breath and seemed to hold it. “Mr. Green.” She exhaled. “I truly appreciate the call. Can I . . .” She paused, clearly bewildered. “Can I call you back tomorrow?”

A few more seconds and the conversation ended. Alma set her phone down and turned to him. “Theo. That was a private adoption attorney.” She blinked, like the conversation was still hitting her. “Mr. Green. He said he usually didn’t make these calls on a Sunday night, but he needed help.”

“With what?” Theo had no idea where she was going with this. “What did he want?”

“The state gave him our names. Said we might do a short-term foster care of an infant. For two weeks.” She leaned back in her seat for a few seconds and turned to him once more. “While the birth mother decides whether to go through with an adoption.”

Foster care of a newborn? For two weeks? Tears blurred his eyes. He blinked a few times so he could still see the road. “Why would they call now? Of all things?”

“There’s a girl. She keeps changing her mind about placing her child.” Alma went on to explain the situation. “It’s possible they won’t even need us. He just wanted to know if we were open.”

Theo wiped his hand across one cheek and then the other. Sure, their file was still active, their license to do foster care still valid. But a few years ago they had asked the state to stop calling until further notice. “How in the world?”

“Someone must’ve made a mistake.” Alma searched his eyes. “The state never should’ve given him our name.”

Theo was quiet, letting the reality wash over him. “It was all Vienna talked about before . . .”

Alma’s voice filled with purpose for the first time since the accident. “We should tell him yes, right?”

“Absolutely.” Theo heard the catch in his voice. “Only God could’ve done this, Alma. Only God.”

“Definitely.” Alma was crying now, too. They might’ve struggled to find each other this past week, and the road ahead was nothing but steep hills and sharp dropoffs. But right now they didn’t need words to know what the other was thinking.

They were not alone. God was with them and He could see them. He cared. Because only He could’ve brought about this phone call from the adoption lawyer. A way of letting them know that Vienna was still living, safe with Him. Because this wasn’t just a matter-of-fact call with a simple request.

It was their daughter’s dream come true.





20




Some days Cole felt like he was carrying boulders in his backpack.

Elise had gone thirteen days without changing her mind. Thirteen days when all they talked about was the baby and whether they should stay in Bloomington for the summer or get settled in Louisiana and have the child there.

They talked about where Cole would work and how quickly he could start taking online classes. Elise had done the research. Liberty University had a crazy amount of online degrees. Hundreds of options.

All this made Elise happier every day. Her life was falling into place.

Not so much for Cole. His was falling apart. At least that’s how he felt.

There were times when he would be sitting in his science class and just the sight of Elise made him work to catch his breath. Not the way she had affected him back in the beginning, when he couldn’t take his eyes off her. But because the pressure piling up on him was too great to inhale under.

Like he was suffocating.

Here was the worst of it: He could only blame himself.

Yes, he was in love with her. He still could barely think when her eyes caught his, or when he heard her laugh. And he was beyond blown away by her talent as an artist. He had found one of his mom’s old easels and a box of paints she didn’t use anymore. For the last few weeks Elise had come to his house a handful of times, and always she worked on a painting: Cole at bat in his Clear Creek uniform.

Yes, he loved everything about her.

But that didn’t mean he was ready to change his life plan. Didn’t mean he had it in him to move to Louisiana and start working full-time to provide for her. And it certainly didn’t mean he was ready to be a father. He wasn’t even nineteen.

Like always, his dad was right. But what was he supposed to do about his promise to Elise? Now she was counting on him. At different times, when the weight of it all built up and pressed in around his shoulders, he thought about finding a way to tell Elise. But then he’d look into her eyes and know that all he wanted was her.

Whatever the cost.

It was Easter Sunday and finally Elise was doing something she’d promised him weeks ago. He picked her up a few doors down from her aunt and uncle’s. They still didn’t know about him or the baby. Elise planned to tell them tomorrow. During his away baseball game.

“My mom says I have to explain everything to them. As soon as possible.” She had shared this with him at lunch Friday. “I haven’t been very social around them. They probably think I hate being at their house.”

Cole hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the details. Elise had talked about exactly how she should tell them, which words to use and what she should say. How they might react.

The whole time Cole kept shifting beneath the boulders in his backpack.

Didn’t she see that he had more to deal with than whatever uncomfortable moments might come out of being honest with her aunt and uncle? Cole had so much to think about he was afraid his head might explode. Where was he going to work? And what if he’d mentioned marriage a little too soon? What if they ended up not getting married? Was he still supposed to work to support Elise and the baby? And for how long?