Slow Ride (Riding with Honor) (3 page)

He found it odd that she didn’t appear to have any freckles.  Most redheads he knew were coated with them.  She had the nicest complexion he’d seen on a woman in some time, with creamy, smooth skin.

“She really is a sweet child…sometimes
,” Lilly replied with a wink as she walked past him to the mailbox.

He headed into the garage bay and found Bobby working on the frame for one of the four custom motorcycles they were building for a new client.  Dickie was under the hood of a car and the youngest member of their four man crew, Chuck, was hunched over the workbench looking at a part.

“So what’s the deal with the baby?” Dickie asked.

“Becca is going to try to set
up a visit for me,” he said. “I went and did the DNA swab on my way here so now I just wait.  Did you find out anything yet, Chuck?”

Lilly had recently moved to Florida from New York.  She was a widow
, but her late husband had been involved with some illegal business deals that Lilly found herself caught in the middle of.  The trouble had eventually followed her here to the shop in the form of a corrupt FBI agent. 

If it hadn’t been for Chuck, she might have been killed.  Unfortunately, Chuck had hit the guy in the back of the head with a gun he shouldn’t have
been carrying.  Chuck was on probation for some things that happened when he was in high school.

“Becca talked to my probation officer and he is filing a motion or some such to talk to the
judge about it.  Hopefully, since I haven’t been in any other trouble since I was in school and I have a job and stuff he’ll go easy on me or just forget the whole thing,” he said.

Tommy
could tell that Chuck was worried and couldn’t blame him.  It was a direct violation of his probation and could potentially send him to jail.  Chuck was a good guy, not anymore rowdy than he’d been at that age.  As rough as he’d had it growing up in a single parent home, Chuck had it much worse.

When lunch time rolled around Lilly brought them each a sandwich from the local Deli.  As thrilled as he was for her and Bobby, it was hard for him to watch them together sometimes.  They’d been through a lot but had made it
work and were looking forward to their upcoming wedding. 

It was obvious to anyone who looked at them how much in love they were.  They seemed to have some special bond and he couldn’t help the little twinge of jealousy he felt at still being alone.  Oh there were women who followed after him trying to get him to notice them, but somehow what Lilly and Bobby had seemed on a whole other playing field.

As he finished up the last of his lunch Lilly came out to the bay, “Hey, Tommy, Becca’s on the phone for you.”

Walking over he picked up the other cordless phone.

“The case worker says that you can visit the baby around five this evening.  The foster mother will be present because you have not been established as a biological parent.  You will not be able to hold her because she is simply too ill.  I asked about Gretchen and they said it would be fine but only if she isn’t sick,” Becca said. “I’ll meet you there at five…don’t be late.”

He hung up the phone and thought about Gretchen.  It was a crap shoot on whether she would behave herself during the visit but he figured it best to introduce her to the baby as soon as possible.  He called and left a message asking Ms. Atkinson to call him back.

When she finally did call him back he was surprised at not getting an earful about Gretchen’s behavior.  In fact, the new teacher hadn’t sounded the least bit upset and had said Gretchen was fine.  Maybe his luck was finally turning around and Gretchen’s good mood, or whatever it was, would last through their visit with the baby.

“Hey man, can I borrow the truck tonight?”
he asked Bobby.

“Sure, Lilly has the keys
,” he replied.

As he entered the office Lilly was on the phone so he leaned against the counter that ran across the top of her desk and waited. 

After hanging up she eyed him curiously and asked, “What’s up, Tommy?  You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

“I’ve just got a lot on my plate right now.  I’m going to use the truck tonight and Bobby said you have the keys
,” he answered.

Digging the keys out of her purse she handed them up and as he reached for them, she pulled them back out of his reach.  “You’re a good man
and
a good father.  Gretchen is a little hard to take but she’s healthy, smart and well taken care of.  She has you to thank for that.  If this baby
is
yours I expect she will turn out much the same, even
with
such a rough start.”

He could only smile at her.  Lilly was too nice of a person, she seemed to naturally see the good in any person and any situation.  He took the keys and signed out on
his timesheet and purposefully placed it in Chuck’s mail slot. 

Lilly had done wonders with the office in the short time she’d been working there and had a place for everything and everything in its place. 

Lilly stood up and swatted him across the shoulder.  Then leaning over took his timesheet and put it in his own slot.  “Don’t make me hurt you,” she threatened with a laugh.

“You
can’t
hurt me,” he replied with a grin.

“No but Bobby can
,” she threatened again.

Laughing
, he headed out to the truck and was soon enough pulling into the preschool parking lot.  As he got out and headed toward the door Gretchen and Ms. Atkinson stepped outside.  Gretchen was talking a mile a minute and smiling!  Gretchen didn’t take to well to strangers so he was a little taken aback.

As he approached them Ms. Atkinson said
, “Thank you for everything today, Gretchen, you were a huge help.  You’ll be here tomorrow right?”

“Don’t worry Miss Atkinson I’ll be here in case they do put more kids in our class
,” she replied with another smile.  Then turning to him she said, “Ready, Daddy?”

He really didn’t know how to respond to her cheerfulness. 
Our class?
  Where was his obstinate Gretchen who gave him hell but left him with a smile?  The brown eyed wonder before him now looked both happy and excited… about school no less.

Grabbing his hand Gretchen pulled him around toward the truck but not before he caught Ms. Atkinson’s eye.  She blushed slightly and looked away before saying
, “See you tomorrow, Gretchen.”

With that she turned and headed quickly to the right of the building and he couldn’t seem to help but follow her progress across the parking lot.  Her hair flowed behind her like a cape and a visual of her bent over him naked with all that hair flowing around them sprang to mind. 

Shaking the image from his head he looked down at Gretchen who was skipping along beside him holding his hand. 
Wow!
  Whatever Ms. Atkinson had done was nothing short of a miracle.  He’d never seen Gretchen so… carefree?

“Did you have a good day?”
he asked knowingly as he pulled the truck out of the parking lot and headed toward the hospital.

“Yep, I’m the student leader for the class since Ms. Atkinson doesn’t have an
aide,” she announced.  “I help her with the other kids.”

“So what do you do to help?”
he asked.

“I get them to pick up the toys and books after playtime, I get them to line up for recess, I pass out the milk at lunch and snack time, I pass out stuff for our projects, and I even take papers down to Mrs. Hargrove all by myself
,” she said proudly.

“Wow, sounds like you had a busy day, I bet you’re tired.  Maybe we should wait until another day to go…”
he started.

“NO
, Daddy!  Go where?” she asked, looking out the window.

“Well…there is this baby at the children’s hospital… and she’s kind of sick and all alone.  I thought it might be nice if we visited her…but if you’re tired we might need to wait until another day
,” he said.

“I’m not too tired!”
she said. “I want to go, Daddy.”

“Well since you did so well at school today and you’re being good now…maybe we will…but you have to be on your best behavior
,” he warned.

“You have to be nice to be a better person
,” she said.

That was a novel idea coming from Gretchen.  “That’s pretty intense there
, Gretchen, where’d you hear that?” he asked.

“Miss Atkinson told me
,” she replied.

“Sounds like Ms. Atkinson is pretty smart
,” he said.

“She’s got pretty hair too, don’t you think so Daddy?”
she asked after a long pause.

That she did.
  “Yea, she’s got pretty hair too,” he agreed as they pulled into the hospital parking garage.

As the elevator took them to the NICU floor of the children’s hospital Gretchen again grabbed his hand and smiled up at him.  He rather enjoyed this side of her.  Stepping off the elevator he watched as Becca approached them.

“I’m sorry, Tommy but the baby isn’t doing so well at the moment and the nurse on duty wants to check with the doctor before approving a visit,” Becca said.

“Is it the withdrawal?”
he asked. 
Damn Casey.

“Yea, the baby has been crying inconsolably and hasn’t kept anything down all day.  She weighs so little she can’t afford to lose any more weight
,” Becca said.

The other elevator sounded and he felt Gretchen release his hand.

“Miss Atkinson!” she cried and ran over to the woman.

“You all know each other?” Becca asked incredulously.

Looking at the woman who was now holding Gretchen’s hand and smiling down at her, he said, “Yea, she’s Gretchen’s preschool teacher.  Why?”

He watched as Ms. Atkinson approached along with another dark haired lady.  Becca shook her head in amazement but didn’t answer him.  He was a little slow sometimes but
then it hit him and he couldn’t help but smile at the trick karma was playing on him.

“Carmen
,” Becca said, stepping forward and shaking the dark haired woman’s hand. “This is my client, Thomas McMurray, and his daughter Gretchen.”

“This is Dana Atkinson, the temporary foster mother
,” Carmen said, eyeing him up and down.

“I spoke to the head nurse on duty and they are checking with the
doctor before approving a visit.  There have been some complications with the baby today,” Becca said.

“Is she ok?” Dana asked nervously.

He noticed the look of fear that crept up her face and though he shouldn’t, he couldn’t help the small bit of anger he felt.  Having someone he actually knew and would see on a regular basis be a party to the devastation his bad choices had caused, just didn’t sit well.

“She’s crying and not eating and they won’t let me see her
,” he replied in frustration.

“She is currently addicted to drugs, weighs less than two pounds and is struggling to live Mr. McMurray.  Perhaps we should await the
doctor’s opinion,” Carmen said sarcastically.

Leaning in to him Becca said quietly
, “Why don’t you and Gretchen have a seat over in the waiting area for a minute while I talk to Carmen?”

“Come on Gretchen let’s go have a seat
,” he said.

“Can I stay with Miss Atkinson?” Gretchen asked.

“It’s ‘May I’ when you ask permission.  May I stay with Ms. Atkinson?” Dana said.

“May I stay with Ms. Atkinson?” Gretchen repeated.

Was the woman serious?
  He could feel his mouth gaping open but couldn’t seem to stop the incredulous look he knew he must be giving her.  She looked him in the eye for several seconds before looking down at Gretchen.

“Why don’t you
all
go have a seat in the waiting room while Ms. Waters and I talk?” Carmen suggested.

He turned and headed into the waiting room with Gretchen and Dana following behind him.  He sat in a chair and surprisingly
Ms. Atkinson
sat down in the chair right next to him.  Gretchen came over and crawled up in his lap.  This brought forth a smile from the woman.

“You should get comfortable Mr. McMurray.  I was here for three hours yesterday before they finally let me see her
,” Dana said.

“Tommy.  Call me Tommy
,” he said to her.

“Dana
,” she replied smiling at him again.  Her smile wasn’t the seductive ones he usually received from women.  Her smile was more like a consolation or assurance that everything would be fine.

“How bad is she?  Do you think its ok for …to visit?”
he said nodding his head to indicate Gretchen.

“I don’t mean to sound negative Mr
… I mean…Tommy, but it may be her
only
chance…” Dana said.

“But if by some chance she’s not…mine…maybe I shouldn’t…introduce them
,” Tommy said, hoping for once the conversation would either be outside of Gretchen’s grasp or of no interest to her.