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“This is the best possible scenario.” I said it more to myself, but Noah nodded in agreement.
“Seems like it. You can give me that, by the way.” At my frown of confusion, he gestured to the clipboard I hadn’t realized I was still holding. I handed it over and he smiled at me reassuringly. He was a calm sort of guy, and his smile made me feel slightly better.
Gabe put away his phone and turned back to us. “She’s on her way.”
“What did you say?” I mean, seriously. How did you tell your own foster mother that you needed her to foster your kid that you only just found out existed?
“Just that there was an urgent situation here and it would be great if she could come. I didn’t really know what else to say.” The confusion in his eyes made me want to hug him.
“How about we all go inside for some coffee while we’re waiting. You can sit with Jesse for a bit and talk, Gabe, unless that would make you uncomfortable.”
“No, that’s fine.” We all turned toward the house, with Mack saying he’d leave us to it and heading off toward the barn. “To be honest, I’m more worried about Jesse being uncomfortable. It’s a pretty fucked up situation he’s in.”
“Sure is.”
Noah must’ve had a hundred questions, but he didn’t say anything else as he led us into the house and through to the kitchen. Jesse was sitting at the island with Genevieve, playing a game on a tablet. He looked up briefly when we walked in, then straight back down at his device. Honestly, he was a hard kid to get a read on, because he was so quiet and closed off. I couldn’t tell if he was upset, sad, angry, scared, or just couldn’t give a shit.
It was the most awkward cup of coffee I’d ever had, but we did our best to power through, making polite conversation while Jesse continued to play his game. Finally, an alert on the security system signalled someone was coming up the drive. The car pulled up and I saw both Bruce and Ellen getting out. Good, the more support the better. Gabe went out to greet them and I watched through the window as he explained the situation, which understandably took a while. Finally, he led them into the kitchen. Ellen’s expression was calm and friendly, as if she hadn’t just been told shocking news. She took charge instantly, showing Noah her credentials, complimenting their kitchen, telling them how impressed she was by what they were doing with the ranch. Then she asked, very politely, for a bit of time alone with Jesse. “Gabe, you can stay.”
We moved silently into the big living room, with its floor to ceiling windows showing the sky had turned hazy pink and purple in the setting sun, and sat down on the big leather sofas. “What’s she doing?”
Bruce answered. “Since she doesn’t have a file to go off, she’ll just be doing an initial assessment. Making sure there are no signs of abuse that need tending to, or anything that might need immediate treatment, like if he’s sick. Then she’ll explain that he’ll be coming home with us for a few days until we can sort out his situation. It’s mostly just about building trust, to be honest, making sure he knows he’s safe and that he’ll be taken care of.”
“That sounds good.”
“You can tell she knows what she’s doing and that she’ll look after him really well.”
“Thank you, that means a lot coming from you, Noah.”
Not that I needed it, but Noah’s ringing endorsement of Ellen was another good sign. “I’m just so glad we’ve got her.”
“Me too,” Genevieve agreed. “Maybe it’ll all turn out for best, even though the circumstances are so awful.”
“What’s he like – Jesse, I mean?”
She bit her lip, her gray eyes serious. “Very quiet. Keeps to himself. Hasn’t really made friends. This is the first week-long camp we’ve run here, so it’s a learning process for us. Seeing what Jesse was like, how he really wasn’t interested in the physical activities, made me say to Noah we need to look into putting together a program for kids like Jesse.”
“What kind of program?”
“He loves to read, so we should definitely have a library. In fact, I don’t know why we didn’t think of that before. Also, maybe some tech stuff, as long as it’s not too much. The last thing we want is kids spending even more time on devices, right? But maybe if they can play online games together, it’s a way of bonding for them and can be a good foundation for building friendships.”
“Sounds good.”
The conversation lapsed after that and I let it, since I couldn’t think of a damn thing to say anyway. Gabe, Ellen and Jesse came out shortly afterward, Ellen with her hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Jesse’s happy to stay with us, so we’ll head off now. Get a decent dinner into him and get him settled. Hopefully he gets a good night’s sleep. Thanks for everything.”
We hustled out, saying goodbye to Noah and Genevieve. Then we had the weird discussion of who would go in which vehicle. I’d come with Gabe, obviously, but I’d feel ridiculously out of place going with him and Jesse. Ellen settled it like the expert she was. “Okay, I think it’s best if Jesse and I ride with Gabe, if you don’t mind, Ally? Bruce can drive you.”
“Of course.” I looked to Gabe, trying to see how he was feeling. Nope, still that closed off expression. I got into Bruce’s car with a sigh, wishing for all the world there was something I could do to help.
Bruce dropped me off at Gabe’s and I watched his truck pull in three doors down. The sun had fully set now and all I could make out was their shadowed forms moving up the drive and inside the house. Lights came on and I could easily picture Jesse being taken into the kitchen, Ellen chatting all the while, making him feel comfortable. I honestly couldn’t imagine what Gabe was doing.
“You all right, sweetheart?”
Oh. Right. I was sitting in Bruce’s car, staring down the street like a weirdo. “Sure, I’m fine. It’s just been a strange day.”
“It sure has.”
“Thanks for the ride.”
