Rory sat at her desk, staring at the computer screen. Her brain wasn't functioning, making it impossible to comprehend the words she was attempting to read.
For some reason, she couldn't stop thinking back to a night she and Logan had talked about his relationship with Odette. And whether Logan would have really walked away before the wedding.
Logan had said he knew he needed to come clean with her...but would he have? If she never told him about her pregnancy, would he have honestly put a stop to the planning and hubbub to disappoint a woman he asked to marry him, all in the name of true love?
On one hand, Rory desperately wanted to believe Logan would have. She had never felt a connection with anyone else like she shared with him.
But on the other, hadn't Logan's past proven that he avoided anything that was unpleasant?
Shaking her head to hopefully clear up the befuddled mess inside, Rory turned her attention back to the computer and opened an internet browser. She began wading through articles about Logan and Odette, straining to study the pictures that were included.
Rory was so engrossed in her little project that she didn't hear Logan's footfalls approaching her office.
"Hey Ace, getting a lot of work done?"
Startled, she tried to discretely close the internet windows without showing any signs of her nervousness. "Some, not a lot. I'm having a hard time concentrating."
Logan frowned. "Why?"
Waving her hand dismissively, Rory smiled. "Just can't focus for some reason. No big deal. It happens sometimes." She stood from her chair and moved toward Logan, lacing her arm through his to lead him out of the room.
Rory was at an angle from Logan as they passed through the door, thus making her unable to see him cast an uncertain glance back toward her computer.
*****
Luke paced back and forth behind the counter, a dish towel draped haphazardly over his shoulder. As he filled orders and drinks, his mind was always one step ahead, working to anticipate the needs of his customers. That was something Buddy had taught him many years ago that seemed to stick with him.
"Luke, a refill over here."
Pulling himself from auto pilot, Luke grabbed the coffee pot and moved toward the customer who beckoned him.
"Here ya go, Tom. Need anything else?"
"Na, coffee is enough."
Luke nodded before spotting a couple standing up from their seats. He shifted his focus to busing the table.
The door opened and Miss Patty walked in.
"Lucas, Lucas, Lucas! Why are you here and not at home with your adorable twins?"
Luke smiled at the reference of his babies. "As much as I want to be with them 24/7, I do have a diner to run."
"Yes, I suppose that's true. But if those babies— and you!— were mine, I wouldn't be leaving the house!"
"If I was yours, Miss Patty—"
"Yes, Lucas?" Patty wiggled her eyebrows.
Luke grinned. "I better keep that comment to myself."
A mock frown played at the dance instructor's lips. "Oh darn."
Miss Patty placed an order and Luke turned back to give it to Caesar. He didn't have to look behind him to know that her eyes were watching him go.
Luke shook his head as he thought, some things never change.
*****
Jess and Natalie sat, waiting, while Makenna saw the therapist they'd been told was phenomenal with foster children. It had taken over a month to get in but here they were.
Makenna has been back with Ms. Sarah for more than thirty minutes.
Natalie was getting restless. "What could they be doing back there? She is four years old. I doubt they're having some deep, meaningful conversation."
Jess reached for and squeezed her hand gently. "Well, she is probably playing with toys while the therapist observes. That's what we were told play therapy is. The way Makenna plays can give a lot of insight to things going on in her brain."
"I'm afraid that 'play therapy' is nothing more than billing for the time a therapist catches up on work while a kid plays."
Jess shook his head. "You know that isn't true, Nat. Give it a chance. If we don't see any progress, we can see what other options are available."
At that moment, the therapist came through a door. She called Jess and Natalie back to talk in her office.
Once seated, Sarah discussed a few observations she saw while watching Makenna play.
"Let's start at the beginning. We sent you paperwork prior to today's appointment that included medical releases. I had my staff forward one to Makenna's foster care caseworker. We got a lot of information back, which is very beneficial. I have seen many times over that foster parents are essentially provided with the bare minimum as far as information goes. Less is more, so to speak. I don't agree with this tactic. I feel that foster parents should be privy to everything so that they can better attend to the child's needs."
Jess and Natalie remained silent but nodded their heads in agreement.
"Now, I know that you have been told that Makenna's mother and grandmother treated her very poorly. Do you know exactly how though?"
Natalie spoke. "Not really. All Shelia said was that Makenna was forced to do without a lot of things that her older brother got."
Sarah shook her head. "That's putting the best possible spin on it. Makenna's mother called the Office of Children and Family Services to request she removed from the home. She alleged that Makenna had tried to kill the family dog by feeding it chocolate and that she had also tried to kill the mother with a knife."
Natalie audibly gasped.
Sarah held up her hand. "At the time of the initial call, Makenna was two and a half years old. The OCFS never substantiated the claims because they never saw anything in Makenna that justified the fears, especially after investigations proved that the mother was grasping at straws for the removal to happen."
"Do you know what actually happened in terms of those claims?"
"Notes made by the caseworker state that Makenna was eating chocolate donuts and tried to feed one to the dog. She was too young to know that chocolate could prove to be fatal to dogs."
"And with the knife?" Natalie asked in a near whisper.
Sarah smiled sympathetically. "Makenna was only allowed in tiled rooms. She was blocked inside the kitchen and had climbed onto the counter. She reached for the butcher block that contained steak knives and was pulling one out when the mother came into the room, who then claimed Makenna was trying to kill her."
"So there was no actual threat?"
Sarah shook her head. "Not at all." She sorted through some papers before continuing. "Makenna was forced to sleep on the floor without a blanket or pillow. She didn't get new things when her brother did, like shoes or clothes. She never got love or affection from her mother or grandmother. That is why a lot of the skills and abilities that most kids her age have, like empathy or remorse, are completely lost on Makenna. She was never taught these emotions or connections during the fundamental time in her childhood."
Natalie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "A couple weeks ago, I curled Makenna's hair at her request. I grabbed a bottle of hairspray to try to hold the curls but she freaked out. She covered her mouth and told me she didn't do anything wrong and wouldn't open her mouth for me. It took several minutes for me to calm her down to explain what hairspray was. Later that evening, Jess and I talked to Makenna about the hairspray and she told us that her 'mean mommy' would spray hairspray in her mouth when she was mad at her."
"Oh wow, that is terrible." Sarah made some notes on a pad. "So, having said all of that, what I observed today while she played is pretty much to be expected. Makenna seems to be a girly girl. She opted to play with dolls and Barbie's. When she was playing with Barbie's, I noticed she chose the Ken more than Barbie. Anytime Barbie was in the scene, she came across as harsh, whereas Ken was calm and loving. Have you noticed a difference in her treatment of the two of you at home?"
Natalie's eyes filled with tears as she nodded. "Makenna seems to be very attached to Jess but she keeps me at arm's length. There are moments when I sense a chink in her armor but she quickly mends it and distances herself."
Sarah was again making notes. "That's accurate. On one hand, she'll want to connect but that fear that you'll hurt her is there. It will always be in the back of her mind. Truthfully, it may never go away. You will have to change your expectations to align with what she can give. And, as hard as this will be to hear, you may have to resign yourself with the possibility that you two may never be close, that you are simply the caretaker of a child in your home who has no personal connection to you."
Hearing those words broke Natalie's heart more than it already was.