Love & Order: Labor Day (Holidays In Hallbrook Book 1) Read online

  She pulled the dog toward the front room. “Stay, boy.” April closed the door behind her, locking him in the room. “If he isn’t put up, he thinks he’s one of the family and should be able to eat at the table accordingly.” She laughed. “I don’t usually him let back out until after dinner.”

  “Sounds like a handful. Looks like a handful. Must be a handful.” Garrett forced a smile. April was insane to add a giant dog to her already chaotic mix of responsibility. He followed her down the hall and into the kitchen, the aroma of tomatoes and garlic greeting him. His stomach rumbled. He hadn’t had a thing to eat since this morning on his way to the office.

  “You have no idea.” She grinned. “But you’ll get a chance to find out.” Her soft laughter was like music.

  Garrett frowned, unsure of what she meant. He was almost afraid to ask, but he sure hoped his mother hadn’t taken in a dog—especially not one the size of Godzilla. He wouldn’t have a clue what to do with it, especially considering his dislike of dogs. He may not have visited his mother often, but they talked at least once every two weeks, and not once had she mentioned getting a dog.

  “Let me introduce you to the kids properly. This is Bryan, and he’s nine.” She tapped the top of his head and then moved on down the row of children, almost like a game of duck-duck-goose. “This is Melanie, and she’s seven. And this is Sandy, and she’s three. Sandy doesn’t talk much, but the doctors say she’ll be fine in no time. They’ve all had a lot to deal with over the past few months, and her way of dealing with the emotions has been silence.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.” It sounded as though the kids had gone through more trauma than a child should have to deal with, and it made him wonder about their story. When he was Bryan’s age, the trauma of his parents splitting up had been monumental, especially given the divorce was his fault.

  April lifted the lid off the first pot. “Just stir this occasionally until you’re ready to eat. The noodles get dropped in the sauce, stir them frequently, and they’ll be ready in ten minutes if you prefer them al dente, otherwise, let them cook a minute or two longer. Easy enough, right?” April looked at him with confidence in her eyes, a confidence he didn’t deserve.

  “Smells awesome. Looks as though you made enough to feed an army.”

  “That’ll last you a day, tops, but I’m sure your mother’s friends will be stopping by with lots of food to help out. Here’s my card if you need anything. You can call, and I’ll help any way I can. I know this is going to be a tough transition for you—” she reached out to touch his arm, “—but you’ll be fine. I’m sure of it.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate that. And don’t worry, I’ll be okay. I’ve handled this sort of thing before.”

  “If you say so.” April crossed the kitchen to where a wheeled suitcase was parked in the corner. She pulled up the handle and started toward the front door. Garrett and the kids followed, Melanie stopping to let the dog out.

  “Here, let me get this for you.” He picked it up and hauled it to her car. He would have expected a much bigger suitcase considering the kids.

  “Thanks. Don’t forget, call me if you need me.” She leaned down and hugged each of the kids. “I’ll see you three soon, I promise. Be good for Mr. Bradley.”

  April wasn’t making any sense. And why weren’t the kids getting in the car with her? And for that matter, why wasn’t she getting the dog? Something was seriously wrong with this picture.

  She slid in the driver’s seat and started the car before manually rolling down her window. “Take care.” April waved, put the car in reverse and started to back up.

  The motion of the vehicle snapped him out of his trance. “Wait. Where are you going? You can’t leave your kids here.” Normally calm under fire, Garrett couldn’t keep the panic out of his voice.

  She stopped the car and leaned toward the window. “They’re not my kids, they’re yours.” April seemed confused. Which was far better than stupefied, and exactly how he felt. She had this all wrong.

  “I don’t have any kids.” The children looked as though they were about to cry, and he felt awful, but he couldn’t let April drive off without them and the dog.

  “Should have known he wouldn’t want us.” The boy grumbled in a low voice, grabbing his younger sister’s hand and taking off for the house. Melanie glanced at April and then glared at him before running to catch up with her brother and sister.

  “What’s the meaning of this?” Garrett demanded an answer, his patience running out. He could handle a lot of things, but this wasn’t in his wheelhouse.

  April got back out of the car and faced off with him. “Your mother adopted these children three months ago. Haven’t you talked to her solicitor yet? I would have thought—”

  Garrett wince. Adopted. As in legally hers. Why would his mother adopt kids at this stage of her life? She hadn’t even consulted him about such an important issue. And she’d had three months to tell him.

  You haven’t been home in over six months.

  “You thought wrong. What am I supposed to do with them? I don’t know the first thing about children. I have a job. An apartment in the city. What am I supposed to do?”

  “Step up.” Her answer was short and to the point, the thin set of her lips driving the point home. She was serious

  He swallowed hard and turned back to the house where three kids and the dog were waiting and watching.

  “I’m sure Charlie will explain everything.” The compassion in her voice was genuine, making him feel slightly better.

  “Our meeting isn’t until Monday, and the celebration of life is tomorrow. Don’t you think you could provide me with a few more details? You seem to know a thing or two about the situation.” He was desperate, and he couldn’t let her leave without a better understanding.

  “The children lost their parents three months ago, and your mother didn’t want them to end up in the foster care system, so she adopted them with a promise to always do what was best for them. Their mother was a friend of hers from church. I was the assistant caseworker assigned to them, which is why I volunteered to stay with them until you arrived. They know me. They are sweet kids, and it’s been hard for them to lose their parents and now their grams.”

  “Grams?” There was so much he needed to ask her, the meaning of Grams the least of them, but that’s what came out.

  “It’s the name they called your mother, short for grandma.”

  April got back in her car. “I’m a sucker for these kids and will do anything I can to help, but right now, I’ve got to make sure I can keep my job. I’ve missed a lot of work and need to catch up on my caseload.”

  “Fine. I’ll figure a way through this situation for the next few days until my sister can get leave and decide what she wants to do. Clearly, she’s the better option to handle this unexpected situation.” He didn’t feel as confident as he tried to sound. There were two problems. He didn’t know when his sister would be home, and he didn’t know a thing about taking care of kids, not even temporarily.

  Chapter Two

  Garrett returned to the front porch; four sets of eyes trained on him. He didn’t even know where to begin. “I didn’t mean what I said, the way it sounded. I had no idea you were living here or that my mother was your grams.” It wasn’t a word he’d ever heard associated with his mother, and it didn’t come naturally. “What do you say we start over?” He had a suspicion the next few days depended on making peace with the trio. His fate hung in the balance as he waited for them to answer.

  “I guess that depends what you intend to do with us.” Bryan stood with his arms crossed, his feet slightly apart as he drew a line in the proverbial sand.

  “Well, the first thing we should do is eat the food April fixed. Seeing as my mother adopted you, something I didn’t know, by the way, we’re family. I think we should talk and get to know one another. Maybe things will look a little better.” Garrett could eat his way through an all-you-can-eat buffet and thing
s wouldn’t look better. This entire situation was like something out of a nightmare, only it seemed things wouldn’t return to the way they were when he woke up in the morning.

  “I meant after that. Are you going to put us in a foster home? We’re not going let anyone split us up. There’s a girl at school they did that to, and she hasn’t seen her brother in three years. Grams promised to take care of us. Are you giving us the same promise?” The boy was way beyond his years, and Garrett didn’t have the slightest clue how to answer. How did you reason with a nine-year-old going on fourteen?

  Garrett ran his hands through his hair, needing a few seconds to find the right words. “I don’t have a crystal ball, and I haven’t had a chance to go over the legalities, but I can give you the same promise my mother did.”

  The kid’s faces lit up with hope. “Yes!” The two older kids exclaimed, giving each other high five.

  “Now wait a minute, just so we’re on the same page, the promise is that I’ll do what’s best for you.” He didn’t want to add to the long list of disappointments they’d been through the past few months.

  “Figures. I’m going inside to play on my tablet.” Melanie shrugged away from her brother, a pout on her face. “Come on, Rufus.” The dog followed her inside.

  “Dinner will be in about fifteen minutes,” Garrett hollered after her. Wonderful. In charge less than five minutes, and he already had one of them mad enough to flee the scene, her faithful dog not far behind. “Any chance you know how to cook spaghetti?” He directed the question at Bryan. “I don’t cook.”

  Bryan nodded. “Anyone can boil water and stick spaghetti in it. I learned that when I was like seven.”

  Having a nine-year-old cook dinner didn’t seem right. “If you say so. Your grams did all my cooking, so I didn’t get many opportunities in the kitchen. I guess we’ll find out if you’re right. Can you keep an eye on Sandy while I’m inside trying not to burn the house down?”

  Garrett caught the hint of a smile as it creased Bryan’s face, but it was gone just as quickly. “Sure. I usually do. She is my little sister.” Bryan’s emphasis on the word was a sharp reminder of the problem they faced. These kids might all belong together, but not with him.

  Bryan turned, pulling his sister toward the house, but she resisted, looking up at him, a question in her eyes.

  Garrett felt a tug in the region of his heart as he stared down into her expressive baby-blue eyes. Eyes that held far more sadness than a young child deserved. He took a step toward her and knelt. “It’d be all right, I promise.” He reached out to ruffle her hair.

  “Come on, Sandy.” Bryan led the little girl inside, but Sandy’s eyes didn’t leave him until the door closed.

  Garrett shook his head. He was considered one of the toughest attorneys in the business for a reason. He didn’t back down. And he wasn’t going to shy away from this challenge. How hard could it be to take care of them until he talked to Charlie, and Angelica got home? Except for the idea of taking them to New York, even if only for a few days, scared the heck out of him.

  He entered the house and made his way to the kitchen. The garlic aroma was stronger now than before, his stomach reminding him yet again how long it had been since he’d had something to eat. Picking up the ladle, he stirred the sauce the way April had instructed. If it tasted like it smelled, it would be the best part of his night. He turned on the burner under the pan of water and dumped in the box of spaghetti and covered it with the lid. Ten minutes for al dente-a cooking term he actually recognized.

  After setting the alarm on his phone, he watched and waited. Bryan was right—there was no way he would screw this up. Garrett leaned back against the counter and used his phone to check his emails.

  There was a sizzling noise behind him, and he glanced at the stove, shocked to see a bubbly liquid dripping down the sides of the pan. He pushed off from the counter, shoved his phone in his pocket, and grabbed the potholder to shove the pan to the back burner. Cloudy water flooded the stovetop making a huge mess, but at least he saved the spaghetti. He turned down the burner and put the pan back on it to let it finish cooking.

  His alarm sounded off a few minutes later. April had already set the table in her infinite wisdom, so now all he had to do was serve the food. The woman was an expert with kids and cooking. Efficiency was a highly admirable trait, but the kitchen wasn’t exactly at the same level as the boardroom. It would seem even he could handle the learning curve of kitchen duty.

  “Kids,” he hollered, “dinner!”

  Melanie and Sandy wandered in and sat. Bryan, on the other hand, was noticeably absent. Garrett navigated his way down the hall, stepping over toys. He reached the living room and discovered the boy completely absorbed in a game on his tablet. So much for keeping an eye on his sister. Garrett pulled an earplug out of the boy’s ear. “What happened to watching Sandy?”

  “Mel said she would do it.” The boy shrugged.

  Garrett shoved back the reprimand that popped into mind. “Dinner is ready. You need to come to the table and eat.” Dealing with a child not willing to listen wouldn’t be the same as dealing with an employee who didn’t listen. It wasn’t as if he could fire the kid. They were stuck together—at least for now.

  “I’m not hungry.” Bryan stuck the earplug back in his ear and resumed playing his game.

  Garrett pulled the plug from his ear again. “April went to a lot of trouble to make this dinner, and you will come to the table to eat it. I know you’re unhappy with what’s going on, but it’s her you’re hurting if you don’t eat the dinner she prepared.”

  Bryan hesitated for just a minute before powering down his tablet. He headed for the kitchen, and just like that, crisis averted. April had left an impression on these kids in the short time she’d stayed with them.

  “You didn’t wash your hands,” Melanie corrected Bryan as he pulled back his chair and sat down.

  “Did too, so mind your own business, little Miss Busybody.” Bryan glared at her.

  “Did not.” Melanie wasn’t backing down.

  “Kids, please. Bryan, we both know you didn’t, so please go wash up, and I’ll serve dinner.” Garrett jumped into the conversation, surprising the kids. They fell silent, surprising him.

  The kid did as he was told—thankfully. Garrett wasn’t sure what he would have done if he hadn’t. Probably let him eat with dirty hands. He searched the cupboards for a bowl to put the spaghetti in.

  “What’s that smell?” Melanie asked, scrunching up her nose in distaste.

  “What—”

  “It smells burnt. Seriously?” Melanie jumped to her feet and hurried to the stove, pushing the pan to a cold side burner.

  It was ten minutes, exactly as April told him to do. Or it had been about four minutes ago. The conversation with Bryan had slowed him down.

  “Ummm, I don’t think so.” She lifted the lid and peered inside. “There’s no water.” Bryan and April had been wrong, he couldn’t cook spaghetti. It would seem he’d failed Cooking 101. “It’s ruined.”

  “I could pour out what’s on top and leave the burnt spaghetti in the bottom of the pan. The sauce will cover any burnt taste on the food.”

  “If you say so.” She looked at the spaghetti, a heavy frown on her face.

  Garrett took the pan and dumped the pasta into the bowl, the entire mass landing with a thud.

  “Didn’t you stir it?” Melanie shook her head.

  “No one mentioned anything about stirring.” He felt like a fool. It was a simple task, at least according to everyone else. Failure was a bitter pill to Garrett.

  “Are you for real? Have you been living in the dark ages?” The disbelief in Melanie’s childish voice drove home the magnitude of his failure.

  “I told your brother that my mother did all the cooking. And in college, I ate fast food. And now, I have people that cook for me or I eat out. It’s never been a skill I needed to learn.”

  “Now what are we supposed to do?
We can’t eat this.” Melanie scrunched up her face.

  “One thing I am good at is delegating duties. I’ll get Bryan to cook some more spaghetti seeing as he knows how.” He hated to give up control, but for the sake of dinner and his hunger, he’d do it.

  “Bryan? He can’t cook.” She rolled her eyes. “But I can.”

  “Aren’t you seven?”

  “I am. But I’ve been cooking mac and cheese and spaghetti since my last birthday.”

  “Okay, then. If you’d cook a fresh batch of spaghetti noodles, that would be perfect.” One thing was for certain, it couldn’t be any worse than his attempt.

  Bryan moseyed back into the kitchen just as he handed Melanie a new pan. “Smells like burnt crap.”

  “That’s enough from you, young man. Your sister is making a fresh batch.”

  The next ten minutes were spent in silence, and it was a relief when Melanie announced dinner was ready. She made it all look so easy. Garrett took up the plates and ladled plenty of sauce on the noodles before sliding each plate in front of each of the kids.

  “You have to cut up Sandy’s food. And that’s way too much for her.” Melanie picked up her napkin and draped it across her lap.

  I can do this. Garrett took half the food off Sandy’s plate, cut up the rest, and set it back in front of her. He took his seat, anxious to eat. The burnt odor still lingered but had lessened considerably.

  Rufus bounded into the kitchen and sat next to Bryan. Garrett remembered April’s warning about letting him in the kitchen. He got up and led the dog down the hall and locked him in the front room. By the time he returned, Sandy hadn’t touched her food.

  “Isn’t she hungry?” he asked.

  “Umm, it’s spaghetti, and you have to feed her. She’s only three.” Melanie stared at him as if he’d grown another head.

  So much for eating his own dinner. Bite after bite, he fed Sandy, minutes ticking by with each forkful. Did kids always eat this slowly? Sandy pushed his hand away, the food spilling from the fork onto her booster seat. She immediately reached for it, smearing her fingers in as she tried to pick it up and put it in her mouth, her face soon covered in sauce.