Summer on Blossom Street (Blossom Street #6)(19)

“Can we go to the park?” Cody asked as I f illed a mug and stirred in cream and sugar. “You said we could.”

“I’ll take you and Chase there this morning,” I told him after my f irst restorative sip. With the shop open until eight that night, I wasn’t due at work until twelve. Margaret would open and Elise would arrive later in the afternoon.

Casey mumbled something I couldn’t decipher. Cody bristled. “I’m not a baby.”

“Babies go to the park with their mommies.”

“Casey, that was uncalled for,” I said disapprovingly. “You’re a guest in our home, but I can’t and won’t put up with any form of disrespect. Is that understood?”

Casey didn’t respond. Instead she stood and carried her bowl to the sink. “I need to leave for school now.”

“It’s too early, isn’t it?”

“No,” she said with such def iance that I was hard-pressed to question her.

Casey disappeared into her room and returned a minute later with a book in her hand.

“What time does school get out?” I asked.

“Noon.”

“Oh.” We hadn’t discussed this aspect of Casey’s stay. “Brad won’t be home until after three.”

Casey didn’t seem concerned. “I’ll hang out with my friends,”

she said.

Frankly I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea. “Would you like to catch the bus and come on down to my yarn store? I’ll talk to Ms. Boyle and see about getting you signed up for day camp if you like. Maybe you could start tomorrow.”

“A yarn store?” Casey made it sound like the last place on earth she wanted to be.

“I can teach you to knit if you’re interested.”

Casey ignored me.

I wrote out instructions about which bus to take and which stop to get off at and gave her the fare. Casey stuffed the coins in her jeans pocket and left soon afterward. As soon as the door closed, Cody whirled around to face me.

“She’s not staying, is she?”

“It’s just for a couple of days,” I promised him.

“I don’t like her.”

“We haven’t had a chance to get to know her,” I said. In every likelihood that wouldn’t happen, either.

No sooner had I spoken than the phone rang. A quick glance at the call display screen told me it was Evelyn Boyle.

“Morning,” I said as cheerfully as I could manage.

“How’d it go last night?”

Looking at the kitchen door, I wondered what to tell her.

“Okay, I guess,” I f inally said. “Casey went to bed almost right away.” I couldn’t prevent a sigh. “Unfortunately, things didn’t start off well this morning. I’m afraid Casey and Cody don’t have a lot in common.”

“Give them both time to adjust,” Evelyn advised.

“Time?” I echoed. “Casey’s leaving tomorrow, isn’t she?”

Evelyn paused, and that short silence told me everything I needed to know.

“The problem is,” Evelyn said with obvious reluctance, “the family that was going to foster Casey is on vacation. I can try to f ind another one, but that’ll take a day or two, and we’re always short of homes in the summer.” She paused. “I hate to ask this, but to be on the safe side could she stay with you for a week? I should be able to f ind a suitable family in that time.”

“A week,” I repeated, a little shocked. “I’ll need to check with Brad, of course.”

Cody walked up and stood directly in front of me, hands on hips, his thin arms jutting out as he glared up at me. His thoughts on the matter were perfectly clear.

“And of course Cody will have a say, as well.”

At this rate I’d need clearance from Chase, too.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d get back to me as soon as you can,”

Evelyn said.

“Of course.” Slowly I replaced the receiver.

“Mom!” Cody wailed.

I looked down at him. “Can we be kind enough to let Casey stay with us an entire week?” I asked. “What do you think?”

My son shook his head. “No way!”

“Okay, then I’ll call Ms. Boyle back and tell her it’s impossible. Casey will have to pack her things and go.”

Cody studied his bare feet and shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Just a week, right?”

“That’s what Evelyn said.” I didn’t mention that a few hours before, the social worker had promised that it would be two nights at the most.

Cody chewed his lip. “What do you think?”

I was of two minds, but compassion won out. It wouldn’t be an easy adjustment for any of us. Casey wasn’t going to make this pleasant. However, I’d seen that glimmer of a smile in the young girl’s eyes. When I’d said Cody wasn’t bad for a boy, Casey and I had connected for a few seconds.

“Mom?” Cody pressed.

“If your father agrees, I think it’d be f ine for Casey to stay the week,” I told him.

“Okay,” Cody muttered. “But only one week and she can’t call me a baby ever again.” He nodded emphatically, as if that settled the point.