Page 94 of Galen's Redemption
Chapter Twenty-Four
NOVEMBER CAMEin with brisk winds and record low temperatures. Galen was glad he’d started working—volunteering—at the shelter. He got to know many of the residents, who he found he had a lot in common with.
Jeff’s company went bankrupt and closed overnight. When he showed up for work, he was escorted from the premises without even having a chance to get his personalbelongings. He’d spent the last four months sleeping in his car. Alan loved to play chess but rarely got the chance. He was good too.
And then there was Cassandra, or Cassie, as she insisted on being called. She was the girl who had given him the danish that night, and he found her to be an absolute delight. She lived with her mother in a ramshackle tenement with no electricity, heat, or runningwater. Galen was appalled that someone could drag their daughter into something like that, but then he watched as Cassie climbed onto her mother’s lap and was cradled in her arms. When he asked Robert about it, the answer he got was even though the air-conditioning in the shelter was ancient at best, Cassie and her mom came when temperatures soared to over a hundred or, like now, it got too coldfor them to be there. She did everything she could, but no matter what, sometimes Cassie and her mom needed help. It was obvious she loved her daughter, and Galen was shamed that he’d thought otherwise.
Every day he learned a new lesson from these people. The most telling was that circumstances were the difference between success and life on the streets. Cassie’s mother had been a waitress untilshe got pregnant. There were complications—Cassie’s brain didn’t get the oxygen it needed, and as a result, she was developmentally disabled—and they couldn’t afford the hospital bills. She sold their house and everything they owned, and that barely made a dent in what their bills were. She made the mistake of trying one of those firms that say they can help with the bills and collectors, andthey ran off with the money she’d paid them.
Every person had a story, one which Galen had never opened his mind or heart to before, but now his eyes were open and he’d started to understand. He admitted to Robert that it would take him time, but he swore he would get there.
Robert had been meeting with the contractors who were working on the outside of the building, fixing the windows and cracksin the structure. They’d started working on the gaps that let air in first, wanting to stave off the chill until they could fix them permanently. They also worked on installing new thermal windows, and did tuck-pointing on the brick facade.
Galen, however, had another mission that called to him today.
“And Prissy Peter sat down to pour tea for him and Robert Rabbit.” He deepened his voice. “Doyou want sugar?”
“No! No sugar!” the little girl in his lap shrieked.
He tweaked Cassie’s nose. “That’s what Robert Rabbit said! How did you know that?”
“Because Robert doesn’t like sugar, only milk.”
She snuggled deeper into his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her. “You’re a very smart girl, Cassie.”
She gazed up at him and smiled. “I love you, Uncle Galen.”
Her words choked him upand made him proud at the same time.
It had started out of desperation. Cassie’s mother hadn’t slept in days, instead allowing Cassie to curl up and rest. Galen offered to watch Cassie while she took a nap. At first she was hesitant, but then Robert told her Galen could be trusted, and she thanked him. He was pretty sure she was out before her head hit the pillow.
After her mom fell asleep,Galen asked Cassie what she wanted to do, and she begged him for a story. He went in search of a book but couldn’t find any, so he sat down with her and started telling her the story of Prissy Peter. As the days went on, he expanded the world to include Prissy’s friends: Brady the Badger, Robert Rabbit, Marco the Mink, Andy the Aardvark, Noel the Narwhal, and Lincoln the Lion. She ate it up.
Then more kids wanted to hear the stories, so every night Galen spun new ones, each tale more fantastical than the next. Cassie and the other children couldn’t get enough and Galen found himself enraptured by his tiny audience. Each night, while their parents were getting their beds ready, Galen would take them to the common room and they’d all sit cross-legged on the floor as he tried to think ofsomething new. It didn’t matter; they all enjoyed themselves anyway.
They’d always thanked him, but this was the first time any of them said they loved him.
“I love you too, Cassie-Cake.” He tweaked her nose again. “Very much.”
She spun around and got up on his legs so she was looking him in the eye. She leaned in and kissed him, like he’d seen her kiss her mother a hundred times. Tears stunghis eyes at how perfect this moment was.
“Good night, sweetheart.”
“Good night, Uncle Galen.”
She turned and hurried off to where her mom was waiting.
“Nicely done,Uncle Galen.”
He turned and found Robert leaning against the doorframe, smiling at him. His tone was teasing, but there was a warmth there too.
“She said she loved me.”
“What’s not to love? Even if you thought you weren’t worthyof it before—which you were—you have to realize you’re not the same person you used to be, you know.”
“Andy tells me the same thing all the time. That kid makes me believe it, though.”
Robert stepped up and kneaded Galen’s shoulders. “She loves you.”
