A Home for Her Family. Virginia Carmichael
to show up and smile. “The paperwork would take months. Easter is in two days. Marisol is losing her mind this very minute.”
The mention of his day job made a sour taste rise up in Jack’s throat. He’d always known he wasn’t cut out for the business world, with its emphasis on the corporate ladder, endless meetings and miles of red tape. And he’d known for even longer that his father planned to turn over the business to his only son. Some called it being groomed from birth, but that was only a miniscule portion of the whole picture. Family expectations, being force-fed his college education and his own years of nodding weakly at every suggestion had helped Jack climb the corporate ladder. Right into the vice president position. The only way out looked like a long fall back to earth and a lot of hurt feelings.
A soccer ball soared alarmingly close to Gavin’s head and he ducked, laughing. “I think Grant already called in the mechanic. Let’s hope he gets it fixed, or the workers will be pulling an all-nighter.”
Jack shook himself out of his depressing thoughts. He waved an arm and jogged toward the lines of kids partnering up near the edge of the gym. Spring was coming, Easter was in a few days and his life was changing. No. Correction: he was making life-changing decisions, taking power back into his own hands, learning to be true to his individual purpose in life.
He drew in a long, deep breath and let it out slowly. God was good, all the time. He knew what he had to do and prayed that his father would forgive him for it.
The gym doors swung open and Lana, the secretary, entered, arms propelling her wheelchair with swift movements. Her purple-tipped crew cut gave the impression of someone with an ingrained toughness who didn’t take any guff. That was all true, but Lana’s tender patience was the perfect counterpoint to her no-nonsense attitude. In short, she was the best person to act as gatekeeper to such a large homeless center.
Jack raised a hand in greeting and she smiled back, motioning to the people behind her. A young woman strode through the door, black hair coming loose from its braid. She had dark smudges under her large eyes, as if she hadn’t slept well for more nights than she could count. Even though exhaustion was written on her face, her shoulders were straight and her lips set in a firm smile. She held a small dark-haired girl by one hand and in the other she carried a green metal box by the handle. An older child trailed behind, eyes wide as she watched the soccer team. As soon as they were through, Lana went back to the reception area with a wave.
“Uh-oh. Stragglers. I’ll go let them know that dinner was over an hour ago.” Jack loped away from the group, leaving Gavin to supervise. Maybe Marisol had something left over for these three. He sure hoped so. The mom looked as if she needed a place to sit down and rest for a minute. Or a day or two.
As he got closer, the woman met his gaze, a direct question in her dark eyes. But they ended up speaking at the same moment.
“Can I help you?”
“Can I help y—?” Jack broke off at the last word, laughing. Not sure why he’d need help at his own soccer practice, but he liked her answering smile.
She was at least half a foot shorter than he was and titled her head up as she stepped closer. “I’m sorry to interrupt your practice. Go ahead. We’ll keep out of your way.” She had a soft accent, her vowels ringing pure and clear.
“Dinner was over a while ago. I think the head cook, Marisol, might have something left. I can go see, if you and your girls want to wait here.” He glanced at the little kids, noting both had the same heart-shaped face and thickly lashed dark eyes as their mom. They peered back shyly, as if he was the strangest part of their day by far. The younger one met his gaze and dropped her head, staring down at her scuffed sneakers. Her little chin tucked into her chest, as if she was trying to disappear. The hem of her pink T-shirt was unraveling and her pants were threadbare at the knees.
The woman’s brows arched up. “Thank you, we’ve had dinner. Grant called me to fix the kitchen equipment.” She lowered the green case to the ground. The faint sound of metal tools echoed back. “But I don’t want the girls in the kitchen while I work. It’s not safe.”
She glanced at the group of kids practicing long passes. “Is it possible they could stay out here and watch?”
Jack struggled to catch up, feeling as though he’d assumed too much, although he was certain female mechanics were few and far between. “Sure. I can let them have some balls to kick around here at the end.” He paused. “I’d let them join the group for tonight, but all the parents have to sign waivers before their kids can play.”
She held out her hand, corners of her mouth tilted up. “Thank you. I’m Sabrina Martinez. This is Kassandra and Gabriella.”
Jack took her hand and nodded, thinking he had never heard such beautiful names said in quite that way. Soft, musical, like a few notes of a song.
“And you are?” she prompted him, dark eyes crinkling at the corners. Her hand was warm and soft, not the sort of hand he’d imagine for a mechanic.
He cleared his throat. All that time sitting in a boardroom with sixty-year-old men and he was losing his touch. “Jack Thorne.”
“Can we, Tía? Please?” The older girl tugged on her aunt’s hand. “We’ll be really good.”
In response, the woman flashed a smile that made Jack blink. “Best behavior, remember.”
The two nodded, dark ponytails jumping in unison, and exchanged gleeful looks.
“I’ll head on in, and thanks again.” She adjusted her backpack and picked up the green box. He couldn’t imagine how much it weighed, but she lifted it easily.
“No problem.” His voice sounded odd to his own ears. The slightest whiff of cinnamon followed her as she brushed past.
Gavin’s voice reminded Jack he had a team to coach. “Looks like we’ve got visitors.” It wasn’t a question, but a friendly statement, and the girls responded with identical grins.
“This is Kassandra and Gabriella.” He tried to say it just like Sabrina had, but it came out sounding as if he was a stuffy Italian duke in need of a kingdom. “Their mom is working on the food chopper so they’ll just hang out near the end zone for a while.”
“She’s our aunt,” Gabriella volunteered. “And you can call me Gabby.”
“I’m Kassey,” whispered the younger one.
Gavin went down on one knee and shook each small hand. “Well, princesas, find a ball and enjoy yourselves. We’ll be over there.”
The two girls giggled simultaneously and trotted off to retrieve a soccer ball.
“Impressive.” Jack shot Gavin a look. “Princesas? Please tell me that’s not the only word you know in Spanish.”
As they turned back to the kids practicing drills, Gavin said, “I’ve been taking classes for a few weeks. And every girl wants to be a princess, right? It doesn’t hurt to throw that in during the conversation.”
“I’ll make a note. As always, I’m running to catch up with the wonderful Gavin Sawyer. If you weren’t my favorite brother-in-law, you would really be getting on my nerves.”
“I’m your only brother-in-law.” Gavin scooped up a stack of orange cones and handed them to Jack. “And I’m only trying to catch up to that pretty twin sister of yours. She’s always cooking up some new plan to save the world.” Gavin paused, thinking. “No, that’s not right. She’s never trying to save the whole world. Just her little corner, one person at a time.” His smile said more than his words could, about how Evie inspired him, how she had taught him to hope.
Jack wanted to roll his eyes at the expression on Gavin’s face, but part of him wished he knew how it felt to be so deeply in love. He’d always thought he’d find the right girl, settle down, have a few kids, nothing complicated about it. Now all those steps would have to wait awhile. He was on the verge of leaving a high-paying position with a guaranteed