Page 22 of Second Start: Family
His voice hadn’t changed and he didn’t come close to a smile, but she felt an easing in him.
It pushed her to say, “The girls have also mentioned a Gramps.”
He nodded. “Their mother’s father. There was a break. Annie’s mother took the two girls when they were about Dan’s age and never looked back. Didn’t see him much at all, but … Well, since Christmas, we’ve seen him every month or so. He is their grandfather,” he said, as if he needed to explain why they were seeing the man.
“They’ve talked about their adventures at Christmas.”
“Adventures,” he repeated.
She might be putting too much into one even-voiced word, but she thought she heard a bit of wonder, mixed with regret, fatalism, relief. If she’d had to say, she’d assign the positive emotions to his kids’ Christmas, the negative ones to his.
But she didn’t have to say. She didn’t have to parse his emotions.
Not her job.
Only his daughters’ emotions mattered to her. Because they were her students.
“They enjoy spending time with him,” Kenzie said.
“Yeah.” She heard a thread of surprise behind his answer.
“They’ve connected with him. And with the other adults who were there — Bexley and Kiernan, Eric and Pauline. Those were very positive interactions for them.”
He clearly caught her drift that more interaction with those adults would be good for Lizzie and Molly.
She caught a micro flicker of his earlier regret with a side-order of weariness.
Abruptly, he jerked one shoulder. This time when he spoke she had no trouble recognizing the shift to business.
“Came to talk about Lizzie and Molly and how they’re doing in class. If you can’t do it now, we can try another time, but I hoped you could as long as I’m here.”
“Sit down, Mr. Quick.”
“Might as well call me Hall.”
There was nothing in those repeated words for her heartbeat to stumble over.
She sat behind her desk, ready to address their only reason to be talking.
CHAPTER SIX
As Hall went in search of Vicky, his mind was still on the other teacher.
I am not farming out my kids.
He shouldn’t have snapped at her. Again.
Wasn’t her fault that circumstances were what they were.
Even if her health allowed it, Mom couldn’t come up here. Not with Pam having to earn a living and needing someone to take care of Tim.
Gramps wasn’t in any shape to take on the kids, even if the old man could be persuaded to leave his store for a stretch. And the distance ruled out anything more than the occasional visits.
What did that leave?
Sell out the ranch for whatever he could get, pack them all up and go to Arizona, where Mom could watch all the kids.
Just what his mother had always had in mind for her retirement, he was sure.
