Route 66 Reunions (28 page)

“This is Darlene,” Sarah said with a warm smile for the woman who appeared to be in her forties.

She didn’t offer her hand, so Kevin simply smiled and nodded. “I’m pleased to meet you, ma’am. Sarah informed me of your plight, and I want you to know I’ll be glad to help you in any way I can. Turning you out on the street, as Sarah so colorfully put it, is not my intention.”

Darlene’s eyes lit up. “Then you’ve reconsidered? You won’t be tearing our home down after all?”

“Why don’t we show Kevin around before we talk?” Sarah touched the other woman’s arm and motioned toward the next room.

Darlene led the way through café doors into a large dining room. Kevin followed Sarah. Two girls sat at the table, apparently studying from textbooks. They called a greeting to Sarah and gave him an appraising look. The scene appeared as a normal home, except both teenagers were several months’ pregnant. In the next room, three more girls lounged on a sofa and chairs watching TV. One of them held a tiny baby. Again, when they glanced up and saw him, he felt as if he’d been judged and condemned. All the girls called a greeting to Sarah. They seemed to accept her in their home almost as if she belonged or was a frequent visitor.

Sarah introduced him to the girls. When she came to the one holding the baby, she said, “This is Kayla. She’s holding Emmie, her daughter who is only two months old. Kayla is attending work skills classes as well as parenting classes while she works part-time and finishes her senior year of high school. She has a full load now, but plans to attend junior college this fall.”

Kayla gave a shy smile. “I’m no different from the others. We owe a lot to this place, and we all work hard because of that. But mostly to make a decent life for our children.”

Kevin nodded but didn’t speak. He knew Sarah was trying to convince him to save the building. More than once, he wondered how she felt after giving up their baby. Even he had felt the loss as a heavy ache gradually lessening through the years. But Sarah had nurtured Trey with her body. She’d carried him for nine months. Surely her loss had been so much greater than anything he’d suffered. Now he knew how she dealt with her pain. No wonder this place was so important to her. Giving time, support, and probably money to help other girls keep their babies and learn job skills most likely helped her deal with her loss.

He listened to their statistics of success and saw the evidence in the girls who were there, but his visit didn’t change anything. Before the day ended, he’d have to tell Sarah.

When they left the home, Sarah thought Kevin would say something promising to Darlene. Instead he gave her a tight smile and said, “Thanks for the tour. You have a nice home here.”

Sarah didn’t know what to do. Should she let him think about what he’d seen first before she pushed him? Not wanting to do anything that might jeopardize any progress she might have made, she simply walked with him to his car and let him open the door for her.

When he slid behind the wheel, she said, “I didn’t keep you too long, did I?”

His grinned as he started the engine. He looked out the windshield and shook his head. “Nope. We have plenty of time for one more thing before I take you home. Your dad isn’t visiting this weekend, is he?”

Why would he ask such a question? She shook her head. “No. Why?”

He chuckled. “Remember how he used to peek out the window when I brought you home, especially if we were later than he thought we should be?”

“Yes, but we never missed a curfew.” Sarah thought back to those nights. “That was one thing he could never complain about you.”

“What do you mean one thing?” Kevin acted insulted. “If he complained about me, he must have looked long and hard to find anything.”

Sarah laughed. “Your ego is still intact.” Her voice dropped to a near whisper. “To be honest, in the end, there was only one thing my parents held against you.”

“The baby.” Kevin grew serious as he pulled into a line of traffic. “I’m sorry, Sarah. They were right. That was my fault. Back then I’d have done anything I could to change what happened.” A soft smile lit his face. “After last weekend, I’m not sure I’d change anything except one.”

“What?” Sarah felt as if her throat would burst with the emotion that clogged it so much that she could barely squeeze the word out.

He glanced at her and then back at the road. “I’d have waited. We got ahead of things, Sarah. I should’ve kept my hands to myself.”

They rode in silence for several minutes as Kevin drove east through the city traffic. Finally Sarah said, “It wasn’t all your fault, Kevin. I agree we should’ve waited, but since we didn’t, we just have to be thankful we’ve been allowed to meet Trey. He’s so much more than I ever expected. We did the right thing by him. Adoption was the best choice for Trey.”

The words were out of her mouth before Sarah realized she’d included him in the decision. Although adoption had not been his first choice, she realized he’d seemed relieved when she told him she wanted to give the baby up. He willingly signed away his parental rights.

Sarah’s musings kept her from watching where Kevin drove. He’d already turned into Grant Park not far from Lake Michigan at the beginning of Historic Route 66 before she noticed.

He flashed a smile at her. “Since you’ve developed an interest in the Mother Road, I thought you might like to take a walk with me right here at the beginning of Route 66. Or as near as we can get to the start and not get run over by traffic, that is.”

Sarah laughed with him as they got out of the car. She didn’t even object when he took her hand and slipped his fingers through hers. She smiled up at him. “I brought Tessa and her boys here. They loved this park.”

They stood close together watching the water spray into the air from Buckingham Fountain. Kevin leaned even closer. “Let’s come back some evening when the lights are on. I’ve heard it’s really pretty then.”

“You’ve never been here at night?” Sarah looked into his eyes.

He shook his head. “No, and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be with the first time I see it.”

Sarah watched the water spray catch a ray of sunshine and tried to sort through the confusing thoughts and feelings the day had brought. Did she hate Kevin or love him? For eighteen years she’d nurtured hatred, but she felt no hatred now. She felt the warmth of his palm against hers and wanted to cry out at the conflicting emotions she didn’t understand. She couldn’t fall in love with him again. She just couldn’t.

S
adie has a secret angel.” Groucho the clown, alias Dr. Harold Jenson, frowned over the heads of a dozen small patients at Sarah in her clown costume. They were gathered in the children’s activity room.

Sadie the clown clutched her oversized red purse close and scowled at Groucho. “Hush, you tattletale clown. It’s my angel I caught, and I ain’t gonna share neither.”

“Make her share.” Groucho told the kids, bringing a cheer and a rush toward Sadie. “Make her show you her angel.”

Sadie shook her head but soon gave in to the eager little faces surrounding her. “Oh all right. But only one at a time gets to see my special angel. And you gotta keep my secret. Promise?”

A little girl leaned against her knee. Sarah moved the bright red purse to her lap and opened it. She reached inside slowly to stretch out the suspense, then pulled a hand mirror to the top so only the first child could see. The little girl’s eyes grew wide and she covered the “Oh,” that escaped her mouth with a chubby hand.

Sadie smiled at the child. “Now don’t you tell who my angel is.”

One by one the children looked into the mirror to see who Sadie’s angel was. Some were surprised, while others scoffed that they already knew, but all walked away with a smile.

While Sadie showed her angel, Groucho attempted to blow up a balloon, letting the air out several times to the children’s delight. Finally he got the job done, and he pretended to tie a thick cord to it. He held the balloon by the knotted stem with the cord loosely wrapped around it. As the last child left Sadie’s mirror, Groucho began walking around the room among the children, holding his balloon high.

“Don’t reckon anyone wants a balloon.” His oversized lips painted in a permanent frown emphasized his negative attitude.

He spoke over the children’s cries of “I do.”

“Nope, reckon not. Might as well pop this one.” He fumbled in a deep pocket in his overalls. “Gotta pin here somewhere.”

“I’ll take it, Groucho!” A boy of about ten years jumped toward the balloon still held high in the clown’s hand.

“Oh.” Groucho acted as if he’d just seen the boy. “You want a balloon?”

“Yes.”

Groucho lowered the balloon until the string dangled in front of the boy. “Here, take this.”

When the boy grabbed the string, Groucho walked away with the balloon still in his hand. The boy’s expression was priceless as he stared at the limp string he held, then up at Groucho, who carried the balloon out the door into the hall. Sadie ran after him. After a stunned moment, the nurses in attendance, the children, and the boy holding the string began to laugh.

Before their laughter faded, Groucho returned with three helium-filled balloons in each hand. Sadie followed with six more. They passed them out to each of the children before taking their leave amidst applause and requests to return.

“That went well, didn’t it?” Harold smiled at Sarah, although his painted frown overshadowed the smile.

“Yes, like it always does. The kids love Groucho and Sadie. Except when they’re afraid of them.” Last week a little girl cried so hard when she saw them, the nurse had to take her back to her room. This group of kids had been cooperative and a lot of fun to work with.

“That doesn’t happen too often.” Harold paused at the intersection of another hall. “I never thought I’d make a good clown, but I’m glad you talked me into it. Laughter is good for the kids. You can’t deny that.”

“I’m glad you agreed.” Sarah gave him a smile. “Here’s where we part. I’ll see you later, Harold.”

Sarah turned to the right while Harold went left. She’d done some clowning in college and loved the freedom it gave to let herself go. When she became Sadie, she was an uneducated clown who got to hold the little ones occasionally and above all give them something to laugh at when life had dealt them a raw deal.

In the ladies’ lounge, Sadie became Sarah again and cleaned the makeup from her face. She packed her red nose and oversized plastic glasses as well as her red and green hair, colorful dress, striped stockings, and red shoes in the large bag she carried.

Finally ready to face the business world again, she headed back to her office and the sandwich waiting to be consumed in what was left of her lunch hour.

Tricia glanced up with a smile. “How’d it go?”

“The kids were great. We had a lot of fun.” Sarah flashed a smile as she walked past. “Groucho didn’t even ask Sadie for a date.”

Tricia laughed. “Cute, Sarah, but not so fast. Who’s Kevin? He wouldn’t be the phone number I looked up for you last week, would he?”

Sarah stopped cold, her hand against her chest. “Kevin? Why do you ask?”

“Because he called while you were gone. He said you already have his phone number, but I wrote out the message just as he gave it to me. He sounds awfully sure of himself. But then maybe he would be since he says he wants to discuss the home.” She shrugged. “You’ll have to be the judge. It’s on your desk.”

“Okay. Thanks, Tricia.” Sarah crossed the threshold into her office while her heart picked up its beat. What could Kevin want now? For three days she’d pushed him from her mind, only to have him intrude again. She saw the paper on her desk and picked it up as she sank into her chair, her lunch forgotten.

Sarah sat and stared at the note. What should she do? Was there anything left to talk about? Kevin said the contracts had been signed. He’d already said there was nothing he could do.

She didn’t know Kevin’s phone number. A quick search of her purse turned up everything except the paper Tricia had given her with his number on it. She’d have to wait until she got home to call him and cancel. And cancel she would, because she refused to spend any more time in Kevin’s presence than she had to.

That evening at home when Sarah called Kevin, his phone rang with neither him nor the answering machine picking up. After trying three times, she muttered, “Why won’t he answer? I know he has an answering machine.”

When she went to bed a few minutes later, she saw the Bible Trey had given her on the bedside table and picked it up. She ran her hands lovingly over the smooth leather, thinking of the young man who had her smile and Kevin’s dimples. What a joy he must be to his parents. What a joy he could have been to her. A mist covered her vision, and she blinked it away. She mustn’t think that way. Giving Trey up was the best thing she’d ever done.

She opened the book to the Psalms and read the twenty-third chapter.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He make me lie down in green pastures….”