A Heart Like Home: A Novel by Christine Nolfi

Author:Christine Nolfi [Nolfi, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2024-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

NOVA

Nova dutifully finished her meal.

Silently she assured herself: nothing she had yet to learn would unravel her. She resolved to hold fast to the composure she’d spent years cultivating.

As a seasoned foster parent, she’d seen a lot. What she hadn’t encountered firsthand, she’d learned about in foster-adopt classes, or heard secondhand from Imani. Families beset with all manner of ills, where abuse was the norm. The photos attached to those case files were difficult to view. Many of the children stared furtively at the camera, as if they’d like to disappear—as if they’d had no experience of human kindness, and certainly not of love. In others, the children’s eyes gleamed with sorrow or hatred, or—most upsetting of all—they looked out with blank, lifeless stares.

Those children seemed cut off from human emotion. Their hearts beat in shadow. They frightened Nova more than the wolf that stalked her dreams.

It was painful to confront the darkest corners of human behavior, but Henry and Bella weren’t foster kids she’d heard about secondhand. Bella’s hair smelled like freshly mown grass and Henry—obstinate, willful, angry—fell asleep each night curled up like a small animal caught in a storm.

Affection for them made Nova’s resolve slip. Listening to Imani speak of abuse they’d suffered would be hard.

Needing to bolster her spirits, Nova thought about her own life after adoption. The joy on their faces when Helen and Finch first met her at Job & Family Services. Her third Christmas as their daughter, when Nova—her belly full of roasted turkey and her arms laden with child-size gardening tools—impulsively climbed onto Finch’s lap. The day she broke Helen’s favorite vase during a tantrum, and her mother, stepping over the shards of glass, scooped her up and brought the tears to a halt by singing “Over the Rainbow” with gusto—and decidedly off-key. The snippets of memory were gilded with love so pure, they gave her the strength to hear whatever Imani might share.

She gave a short nod. She was ready.

Imani wasted no time. “Jean found Paulina.”

“The social worker who interviewed Glory Croy?”

“Turns out, she moved to West Jefferson after she retired. Jean drove out to her home last weekend.”

“Does Paulina remember the interview?”

“Oh yes. It’s hard to forget a woman who’s clearly abused but unwilling to press charges. Especially after the call to social services from Henry’s kindergarten teacher. Paulina felt Glory and her children were one of the families she’d failed.”

She hadn’t, but Nova understood the sentiment. Social workers like Paulina cared about making a difference in people’s lives.

“During their conversation, Paulina remembered something important.” Imani paused for emphasis, then added, “The Croy family lived in Muncie, Indiana, for several years. They lived in Columbus twice—before and after residing in Muncie. They moved back to Columbus when Henry was five and Bella three.”

“Will you reach out to Muncie social services? They might have something.”

“Jean has already taken care of it. She’s also been in contact with Muncie PD.”

Impatient, Nova drummed her fingers on the picnic table. The excitement in Imani’s voice indicated they’d found something.

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