LITMIR.BIZ

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got enough sense to stop.” Pausing for just a moment before he went up the stairs, he turned toward Chance. “And I’ll see you in the morning.”

      “Count on it,” Chance told him. Putting his Stetson on, he tipped it ever so slightly to the right, unaware that he was creating a rakish image as he did so. Chance nodded first at Graham’s wife and then at Chloe. “Ladies, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he promised just before he headed for the door.

      Chloe just stared at his retreating form. A very sexy form, she had to admit.

      “He’s a tall one, don’t you agree?”

      The comment snapped Chloe to attention. She hadn’t even realized she was still staring at the closed door. “What? Oh, you mean Chance. Yes, I guess he is at that,” she murmured.

      When she looked at Sasha, she thought she saw a hint of a grin on her lips. She hoped that Sasha didn’t think that there was anything between her and Chance—or that there would be in the future. She’d come here strictly because she wanted work as a counselor and nothing more, she silently insisted.

      “So tell me about the boys at Peter’s Place,” Chloe urged. She thought it best to change the subject immediately.

      Sasha sat down beside her on the sofa, and then a sudden thought occurred to her. “Oh, where are my manners? Having your daughter break her wrist kind of knocks everything else out of your head,” she apologized, then asked, “Can I get you anything? Something to drink perhaps?”

      Chloe shook her head. She didn’t want anything to distract her. Right now, all she wanted to do was focus on any information that Sasha could give her. She wanted to be as fully prepared as possible when she finally met the boys who had been sent here to atone for their misdeeds and to ultimately become better people.

      “No, I’m fine. Really,” she stressed when Sasha looked at her somewhat skeptically. “Just tell me about the boys I’m going to be working with. I want to learn all I can about them.”

      Sasha seemed to ponder her reply for a moment, no doubt wanting to cite the boys in the proper order.

      Then she began. “The first teen we took in here at Peter’s Place is Jonah Wright. A basically good boy, Jonah kind of hit a rough patch when his father ran off, deserting the family. Consequently, to make ends meet, his mother had to hold down two jobs. Because she wasn’t home very much, she expected Jonah to look after his three younger siblings. I don’t have to tell you that that’s a lot of responsibility to heap on such young shoulders. Jonah loved playing baseball after school and he had to give that up in order to be there for his siblings.

      “After a while, life felt as if it was crashing in on him and Jonah just kept getting angrier and angrier. He started ditching school, vandalizing property and getting into fights almost all the time. He started shoplifting and got away with it the first couple of times.

      “And then he got arrested. They were going to send him to jail, then at the last minute, the authorities decided to send him here instead. It was kind of touch and go with Jonah for a while, but he turned things around and it looks like he’s on the road to getting his life back.” Sasha smiled, clearly pleased to be able to relate this to Chloe. “Things look pretty promising and he’s even going to be playing baseball soon, just like he always wanted to.”

      Sasha stopped for a moment, seeming to gather her thoughts.

      “The second teen who was sent here was Ryan Maxwell. He was a lot less hostile than Jonah was when he came here, but he was also a great deal more depressed and withdrawn.”

      “Do you know why he was depressed?” Chloe wanted to know.

      Sasha nodded. “Both of his parents died and social services sent him to live with his uncle. Family isn’t always the best way to go,” Sasha told her. “In Ryan’s case, his uncle turned out to be a lowlife. He stole and spent all of the money that Ryan’s parents had set aside to pay for his college education. Personally, I suspect that Ryan got into trouble and vandalized private property just to get away from the man.”

      “You’re probably right,” Chloe agree. “He probably felt he had nothing to lose and just maybe something to gain if he got away from his uncle.”

      Sasha smiled. “Since he came here, he’s been doing a lot better. He’s now in both a math club and a science club in school. If he keeps things up this way, he’s on track to get a college scholarship,” Sasha told her proudly. “And if that happens, he can write his own ticket. His future is a great deal more promising than his past.”

      “And the other boys?” Chloe asked, wondering if their stories would wind up ending this well.

      “Well, the last two are newer and I’m afraid they haven’t really adjusted to living here—yet,” Sasha emphasized, obviously holding out a great deal of hope for the fates of both of these newer residents at Peter’s Place. “Brandon Baker lost his older brother in Afghanistan, and I get the distinct feeling that he’s just mad at the whole world right now.”

      Chloe could certainly identify with the way Brandon felt. When Donnie had been killed, there was a point when she’d been convinced that her anger was going to suffocate her. It had been touch and go for a while.

      “And the last boy?” Chloe prompted.

      “That would be Will Sherman. His mother is a single parent, and she has her own share of problems. The woman is an alcoholic,” Sasha confided. “The Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde kind who takes all of her frustrations out on Will. A social worker found him wandering the streets one night, so battered she didn’t know how he was able to even stand up, much less walk.” Tears shone in Sasha’s eyes as she told Chloe, “When the social worker questioned him, he denied that his mother had beaten him. It was heartbreaking how protective he was of that woman. But it was obvious to everyone who came in contact with this boy that he couldn’t be allowed to go back home. It was just as obvious that it would be just a matter of time before Will turned to less than acceptable ways, trying to support himself on the street.

      “He’s been here for a while, and I think he still feels that life has abandoned him, just like his mother has. He needs to learn how to relate to people and how to trust again.”

      Finished with her brief summation, Sasha paused and looked at Chloe. “Well, have I managed to scare you off yet?”

      Chloe didn’t have to hunt for words in order to answer her. As far as she was concerned, what Sasha had just outlined was her mission in life. Helping boys like the ones she spoke of.

      “No, of course not. It’s obvious that all these boys need help, and that’s what I’m here for. What kind of a counselor would I be if I turned tail and ran at the first sign of a problem?”

      “Possibly one who slept better at night?” Sasha suggested, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

      “The exact opposite,” Chloe contradicted with feeling. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep, knowing I didn’t even try to help these boys. That I’d failed to reach out to them. Nobody deserves to have their dreams shattered the way these boys have, or to have their mothers beat them every time they descend into an alcoholic stupor.”

      Chloe knew the sort of first impression she made and the image that she projected when people first met her. She made people think of a sweet Girl Scout selling cookies door-to-door. But she wasn’t interested in selling cookies.

      “Believe me,” she said, “I know life isn’t all milk and cookies, but it shouldn’t be all pain and sorrow, either.”

      As she spoke, Chloe could feel that she was really getting into the spirit of this new job she was about to undertake. She also felt she had a lot to offer.

      “I know what it’s like to grow up without a father and be raised by a single mother. I know what it’s like to have to do without things other kids have, and I definitely know what it’s like to lose someone and how that can cut right into your very soul.” Her eyes met Sasha’s, determination shining

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