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A tall, slender brunette not quite old enough to be his mother nodded. “CAT scan shows no brain bleeds, no swelling, no internal damages. What we have here is a good hard head and a mild concussion.”
“Why was he out so long?” Jared asked.
The doctor shrugged. “No telling, but keep in mind a concussion is no small matter. Under the circumstances, we’ll keep him overnight for observation. If all goes as expected, he can be released tomorrow.”
Jared really wished the doctor’s words brought more comfort, but the man didn’t look any happier about Jake’s condition than he was. He was unsettled about a great deal of things happening today. “We’ll be happy to get him home.”
“Yes, well, about that.” The doctor shifted in place. “We’ve notified social services that the child does not have a legal guardian. Someone should be by before tomorrow morning to make a placement.”
“Placement?” That uneasy prickle on the back of his neck was spreading rapidly to every pore.
“Yes, I’m afraid he’ll have to be placed in a foster home until his grandmother can take custody again.”
“That could be months,” Eve blurted out before he could say a word.
“I’m afraid it’s out of my hands. Hospital policy.” Taking a step in retreat, the doctor offered a shaky smile. “The nurse will be back soon to take him to his room. Y’all can go with him and help him settle in, but you’re going to have to leave when visiting hours are over.”
Jared nodded, not liking the sound of any of this.
As soon as the woman had pulled the door closed behind her, Lila Baron turned to her husband. “James?”
“Yes, dearest. I’m on it.”
Those were the five most welcome words to Jared’s ears.
Despite Jared’s insistence that everyone go home, they all stayed until not only was Jake settled in his new room, but fed as well. Halfway through dinner, Jared came within inches of having to restrain Cook from going to the kitchen and whipping up what she called a ‘decent’ meal.
“I mean, really.” Cook stood with her hands on her hips. “How is anyone supposed to improve eating that slop?”
Apparently, a concussion was grounds for a bland diet, but there was no explaining that to Cook.
Now he worried what was going to happen tomorrow. Not that worrying accomplished anything, but there was no way he was letting social services put Jake in a foster home for one minute, never mind until Mary was up and on her feet.
A tune from a cell phone Jared couldn’t quite put his finger on sounded and everyone’s head turned to the Governor, who mumbled something that sounded very much like about time. “Excuse me.” The man held up a finger and stepped out of the room.
“I wouldn’t worry if I were you.” Lila Baron smiled at him. “There’s no one better to have in your corner.”
He had no idea how she knew that whoever he was talking to had something to do with his current dilemma, but he certainly hoped she was right and the Governor was using his vast range of friends and acquaintances to solve the guardianship issue.
“This may not be the best time to tell you, but since we’re all here…” Lila glanced a moment at the closed door with her husband’s muffled voice on the other side. “As we discussed over the new charity, we really need to do a fundraiser early on to help offset the growing list of expenses.”
Jared nodded. With all his distractions this week, he hadn’t given any thought to the fundraisers they’d discussed.
“Well, I’ve had notice from several people and the first event is going to be next Saturday, which gives us just under two weeks to prepare. I expect we’ll have just enough time to complete the outrider shack.”
He’d completely forgotten that the Governor had ordered an architect to redesign the shack for public use. He knew that bringing the Barons onboard would mean things would happen more quickly than if he squeezed the effort into his already tight schedule, he just hadn’t considered how fast a society matron and a retired Marine Corps officer turned politician could move. Since he’d taken a step back to let the Governor and Ms. Lila get the ball rolling, he hadn’t given another thought to the remodeling that had begun the other day.
“And of course,” Lila continued, “something to show off besides the kids on horseback. Do you think you’ll be up to a road trip to pick up a couple of new horses?”
In the next two weeks he wasn’t sure he’d be up to rolling out of bed, never mind go shopping for just the right horses. “I’ll check with Connor. See what we can do. I gather you want the new horses here before the fundraiser?”
Lila Baron nodded. “That would be helpful, but not a deal breaker. There’ll be a simple carnival, petting zoo, and basic trail rides for the kids—which is why more horses would be good. The adults will be plied with plenty of fresh blueberry lemonade and some of my granddaughter Paige’s wine.” Lila’s smile widened. “Of course, she’s donating the libations for the cause, and we all know how much more free people are with their checkbooks after a few glasses of good wine.”
The first thing to pop into his head was whether or not just under two weeks was enough time to properly pull something like this off, but then he reminded himself who he was dealing with. If there was a human being who could pull off a project of this magnitude this quickly, it was Lila and James Baron. “Sounds good to me.”
“And that settles that.” The Governor walked into the room, nudging the door closed behind him.
Oh, how he hopedthatreferred to the problem with guardianship and not some other family issue he wasn’t privy to.
