Last Chance Family by Hope Ramsay

Author:Hope Ramsay [Ramsay, Hope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4555-5644-1
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2014-11-25T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

16

Tim’s cell phone rang just as he walked through the front door of the parish house after Sunday services. It was Andrea. His heart lifted. “Hey, Andrea.”

“Tim. I’m sorry to call you on a Sunday like this. I know this is your busy day, but there’s an emergency.”

“What?”

“Your brother has been arrested. And the officer in charge took emergency custody of Rainbow, which is allowed under South Carolina law. Unless we get Mike to specify in writing that you should take charge of Rainbow, she’s going to go into foster care. So you need to get down to the municipal building right away.”

Tim’s heart started hammering in his chest. Mike was arrested? He couldn’t believe it. And hearing this news made him wonder if he’d been too gullible. “How do you know this?”

“I get called in on these cases to make an assessment as to whether the child has been abused. Rainbow is with me right at the moment. I have to tell you that the policeman started out insisting that Rainbow be sent to juvenile detention. Which is ridiculous for a child her age. But she apparently bit the officer.”

“She bit him?”

“Yes, she bit him on the backside.” Andrea sounded as if she were trying not to be amused.

“You know,” Tim said, “violence like that is not amusing.”

“No, it’s not. But in this case, if you ask me, the officer had it coming. In my judgment, he could have handled things a little differently. In any case, Mike has been arrested, so you need to get down here.”

“Arrested? For what?”

“I gather he broke into a house down at the country club. I don’t know all the details, only that he’s being held at the county municipal building.”

“Why would he break into a house down at the country club? He just needed to ask for keys to Martha’s house.”

“He didn’t break into Martha’s house, Tim. He broke into Frances Polk’s house, and Frances is pressing charges.”

“Frances Polk?”

“Tim, I know you’re new in town, but Frances is married to Ryan Polk, who runs the First National Bank. When Frances has a hissy fit, everyone in the government pays attention, right down to the Last Chance police department. So Mike’s in big trouble. You need to get down here before someone does something stupid and throws Rainbow into a foster home. I’m trying to get the sheriff’s department to let me talk to Mike. He needs to specify in writing that you are Rainbow’s temporary guardian. But I need you here to take custody of her.”

“But I’m not—”

“I know you don’t think you’re ready. But you are. You’re a good person, Timothy Lake. You may be still trying to process the fact that you have an extended family, but please ask yourself: Would you rather they put Rainbow in a home with complete strangers or let her stay with you? Didn’t you say last week that you regretted the fact that you didn’t offer Mike and Rainbow a place in the parish house?”

Tim’s heart came right up into his throat, and his body flushed.

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