Child Wanted

Candace knelt beside him and offered him a smile. “Jerry, would you like to play baseball sometime with Mr. Green? You can tell us if you don’t want to, or you can tell us if you do.”

Ethan could almost see himself in the scene before him, a tiny little boy listening to his social worker trying to sort out what was going on in his mind. They’d all been so nice, but he’d never had the courage to tell them the truth. What did he want? A real home. To stop moving every year. Or every month. He’d wanted a dad who loved him and cared for him. And a mom who wouldn’t stand by while his father beat him until, at merely six years old, Ethan could no longer stand.

“I don’t want to play baseball.” Jerry’s soft words weren’t delivered to Candace, but to Ethan.

He didn’t want to play baseball. That ruined Ethan’s vision, but still...he’d answered Ethan. Not Candace, but Ethan.

“Okay, then, we’ll do something else,” he said, regrouping his plans for father/son time. No baseball, no problem. He already knew they would be fishing together, since the Fishers of Men program was planned for every child at Willow’s Haven. Ethan had hoped, though, that they might find something in common that he had some sort of experience with. But in any case, he indicated the fishing items on the opposite side of the store. “We can go look at the fishing gear with Rose and Daisy if you want.”

Jerry didn’t answer, but he nodded. Another step in the right direction.

Ethan and Candace led him toward Brodie and the girls, who were checking out kid-sized fishing rods displayed in a bright yellow bucket. Savvy had taken Lindy to the back of the store to talk to her grandparents about the potential job. He watched as Savvy made introductions, and Lindy’s hand moved back to her throat as she gave them a watery smile.

How could someone so stunning have so little confidence?

“We’re excited about the Fishers of Men program,” Brodie said. “We weren’t sure we’d be able to get enough mentors from the community, but one announcement at church and a few flyers placed at the businesses around the square led to plenty.”

Ethan turned his attention from Lindy’s interview to Brodie. “Yeah, it seems like a great way for folks to spend time with the kids.” And Jerry was looking at the fishing gear with interest, which was better than the baseball glove fail.

Brodie examined the white price tag on a fishing rod. “Learning to fish and enjoying God’s creation—a terrific way to bond with the kids. It was Savvy’s idea, of course.” He picked up the rod, weighed it in his hand and grinned. “She’s always coming up with ways to involve the community in the kids’ lives.”

“Sounds like so much fun,” Candace said, tilting her head toward Jerry and pulling a red fishing rod from the yellow bucket.

Ethan didn’t know the first thing about fishing. Nothing. He’d never had anyone take him to a lake or teach him to put one of those reels on the rod or even show him how to bait a hook.

But Jerry, holding the red fishing rod, looked at him now as though waiting for someone to offer to do something with him...the same way Ethan had always prayed for someone to spend time with him.

Seriously, God? Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen. But me? I haven’t got a clue. You know that. Why not baseball?

Yet Ethan found himself asking, “You want to be my fishing buddy for the summer, Jerry?”

Jerry looked at the rod, and then at Ethan. “Yes, sir.”

No, it wasn’t his sport of choice, but Jerry actually wanted to fish...with Ethan. Ethan wanted to pick the kid up, swing him around and cheer, but they weren’t anywhere near that point. Yet. Instead, he took a deep breath and prayed that he wouldn’t stink too badly at fishing. Okay, Lord. Here we go. “Well, all right, then.”

Candace smiled. “A perfect opportunity to bond, don’t you think?”

“I do.” Ethan couldn’t disagree, even if he wondered how many other adults would be watching him. He’d have to pray no one caught the process on video. He could just imagine his students having a field day with Mr. Green’s botched fishing experience.

“Some of my best memories growing up are from fishing with my friends.” Brodie grinned. “I remember one time John Cutter hooked my ear on a cast that went wrong.” He touched his right ear. “Still got the scar from that one.”

Ethan winced and instinctively cupped a hand over one ear. “I hope we don’t make those kind of memories, Jerry, don’t you?”

Jerry squinted up at him, and gave him something that resembled a grin.

Ethan’s pulse tripped, and his heart soared. Fishing. If that was what it took to make Jerry happy and able to trust him, then that’s what Ethan would do. “So I guess I’ll need to start purchasing some of this fishing gear?”

“You can, or you can just rent the equipment for the summer, whatever works best. Savvy’s grandparents do provide a fifty percent discount to folks participating in the program, so if you think you may want to keep fishing after it’s done, that’d be a great deal.”

Ethan didn’t want Jerry seeing anything they did together as short-term, so he quickly answered, “That’s what we’ll want.”

“I thought you might.” Brodie leaned down to help Rose and Daisy, who’d managed to get two fishing rods locked together. “Savvy’s grandparents have a list of recommended supplies. Why don’t you go get a copy and find out when all of the gear we’ve requested for the program will be available in the store? They were supposed to hear from the supplier this morning.”

“Sounds good.” Ethan left the group and worked his way through circular racks of life jackets and hip waders to find Savvy and an older gentleman filling a square purple bin with small tackle boxes.

“These will be great for the kids,” she said, then noticed him approaching. “Hey, Ethan, this is my grandfather, James Bowers. Granddaddy, this is Ethan Green. He’s the man I told y’all about, the one who wants to adopt the little boy who came to Willow’s Haven a few days ago.”

“That’s wonderful, son.” Mr. Bowers extended a hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you.” Ethan could get used to the friendliness of this town. Birmingham was a friendly place, too, but with a population of 200,000 compared to Claremont’s roughly 4,500, it lacked the everyone-knows-everyone feeling of Claremont. And Ethan found that he liked it, a lot.

“Everything going okay up front with the kids?” Savvy asked.

“Yes, but I wanted to see about getting a list of supplies for the Fishers of Men program.” He spotted a small blue lifejacket and thought it’d probably be Jerry’s size. He’d need to add that to the list. They wouldn’t need it for fishing on the bank, but if they ventured out on a boat, he’d need one. He thought about the pedal boat and Jerry’s apparent fear. And the fact that Lindy had picked up on it, too.

Maybe she had that kind of intuition—a mother’s intuition.

But she didn’t have children. She’d said she had no family.

“Ah, right. The list for the Fishers of Men program,” Mr. Bowers said. “The printouts are in the office. Ask Jolaine to give you a copy. She’s in there talking to our newest employee.” He grinned, and Ethan did, too. Lindy had apparently gotten the job she needed.

“The office is back there, far right corner,” Savvy said, gesturing with her thumb over her shoulder.

“Thanks.” Ethan headed for the office, but slowed when he got close and heard Savvy’s grandmother and Lindy talking.

* * *

Lindy already adored the woman sitting across from her. Jolaine Bowers reminded her of her own grandmother, the one who’d raised Lindy and shown her the true meaning of unconditional love.

“So like I was saying, I had just said amen after asking God to get us some help for the summer, and then you came walking in,” Jolaine said.

The way she looked at Lindy now, her blue eyes radiating compassion, proved she wasn’t questioning whether Lindy would be a good employee or judging her or wondering about her background. “Isn’t that something, the way God works?”

Lindy wanted to simply agree and be done with it, take the job and spend her summer with Jerry until she got her son back for good, but that seemed way too easy. “Mrs. Bowers, I appreciate this opportunity. And I really need and want the job, but I have to be honest. You haven’t said anything about me filling out an application, and you should know that I don’t have any experience. In fact—” her voice hitched “—there are no real reasons you should hire me.”

Savvy’s grandmother leaned forward in her weathered brown desk chair, watching Lindy with undeniable kindness, as if she were sitting with her own granddaughter. “Honey, which part of me praying for you, and then you walking in didn’t you understand?” She placed her hand on top of Lindy’s as she spoke, and the warmth of it radiated up Lindy’s arm and straight to her heart.

“Mrs. Bowers, I can’t tell you how much your trust in me means, especially since you just met me.” Truthfully, Lindy couldn’t understand why the couple would have that kind of faith in a woman they didn’t know.

“Sweetie, my trust is in God, and He hasn’t steered me wrong. He sent you here today, I’m certain of it.” She gave Lindy an exaggerated wink.

In spite of what Lindy had learned about God from the prison ministry, she still wasn’t certain how much He could actually do. Or how He could keep her past from crippling her future. And her past would come out, along with the fact that, even though she was innocent of murder, she hadn’t protected her child. But regarding this position, she had no one to vouch that she’d be a good employee. Her grandmother had passed away six months after Lindy had been convicted. “I don’t have any references.”

“God sent you. That’s the only reference I need. And from what Savvy said, you don’t have a place to stay in Claremont yet. Is that right?”

Not only did she not have a place to stay, she didn’t have much of anything else either. She’d need more clothes for sure, but she’d seen a cute little consignment shop on the other side of the square that might have decent clothes at a price she could manage. “I don’t have a place to stay,” she admitted.

“Well, then, I meant to tell you that part of this job includes staying on-site, in case we have any after-hours deliveries and things like that. We have a little apartment upstairs where you can live, so that you’ll be here to help us out for those kinds of things.”