“Mr. Law,” Melanie interrupted again, this time her voice firmer.
“Ah, yes?”
She smiled softly. “Take a deep breath. Everything’s okay.” She pointed to the papers and her open old-fashioned calendar. “I didn’t just come over here to see how Jeremy is. I have some good news.”
“Yes?”
Her smile got bigger. “Gunnar, we have a tentative court date set. We have a couple more hoops to jump through, but things are looking very positive. I know your lawyer should be telling you this news, but I asked everyone if I could do the honors since Jeremy and I have been through so much . . .”
“I’m sorry, but what?”
“Your application for adoption has been tentatively accepted.” Her smile got bigger. “Though I need to schedule another formal interview with Jeremy and some people at his school, I was able to pull some strings and get you on the judge’s calendar.”
“What date is it?” Jeremy asked.
Melanie looked down at her calendar. “Right now, it’s set for January seventeenth.”
Jeremy couldn’t believe the news. It was really going to happen. “Man.”
Gunnar glanced his way. “January seventeenth is our date? Jeremy, does that sound good to you?”
He had a lump in his throat and he felt like crying, but he was going to hold it together. “Yeah. You?”
Gunnar exhaled and then he leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes.
Worried, Jeremy looked over at Melanie. Smiling, she reached out and gripped his hand.
When Gunnar looked at them both again, tears were in his eyes. “This . . . honestly, I can’t think of another moment in my life that can come close to this. I’m real happy, Jeremy,” he said in a hoarse drawl. “I already think of you as my son. I couldn’t love you more if you’d been mine since birth. I can’t wait for the rest of the world to know that too.”
Gunnar loved him. Loved him like a son. Jeremy couldn’t help it. He started crying.
Gunnar stood up, wrapped his arms around him, and pressed one of his heavy palms in the middle of his back.
And that pressure, that touch? Well, it was all Jeremy needed to believe that his life was finally getting better. He wasn’t going to be “that foster kid” anymore. He wasn’t going to be switching houses, switching schools, just getting by.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “January seventeenth sounds like a real fine day to become Jeremy Law.”
Melanie, who had gotten to her feet too, folded her arms across her chest. “I’ll most likely be back in touch after the New Year. That’s when I’ll be able to officially let you boys know that we’re all set. Sound okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Gunnar said.
“Me too,” Jeremy said with a grin.
* * *
Even though an hour had passed since Melanie left, Gunnar still looked shaken. They’d cleaned up the kitchen together, Mrs. Law had called to say she was going to be late because she was going out with her new dancing friends for dessert and coffee. Jeremy had finished up the last of his homework and texted back Phillip and Bethany.
The whole time, he’d been kind of waiting for Gunnar to say something more, but he’d been quiet.
Figuring Gunnar didn’t want to say anything about it after all, Jeremy started for his room.
“Jeremy, wait.”
He turned. “Yeah?”
“Are you hungry?”
Jeremy shook his head.
“Oh. Okay. Well, um, come sit down in the living room.”
He followed Gunnar into the room, stepping around their monster ugly tree that they’d chopped down a couple of weeks ago. Gunnar had turned on the fireplace and the room was warm and looked good.
Jeremy sat down on the couch and waited.
Gunnar ran a hand down his face in the way he always did when he was feeling a lot of emotion. Then he rested his elbows on his knees and kind of shook his head. “What a night, huh?” Making a face, he said, “Did I really start talking and never stop until Melanie made me?”
“Uh, pretty much.”
His blue eyes darted back to him. “You sure you’re going to be okay with a guy like me?”
“A guy who sometimes lets me cook ramen for supper, doesn’t nag me all the time about the clothes on the floor, and tells the social worker and me that today is one of the best days of his life? Yeah.”
A reluctant smile appeared. “All we needed was my mother to come in and start talking a mile a minute.”
Jeremy grinned. “At least when she did, Melanie knew you came by all that talking naturally.”
Gunnar laughed. “No kidding. So we should celebrate or something. Do you want to go out to eat tomorrow?”
Jeremy thought about it, then shook his head. “Let’s wait until January seventeenth.”
“I can do that. Get ready, though, ’cause I’m going to start telling everyone about the seventeenth. I reckon Martin, Darcy, and Andrew are all going to come here. All our friends here in Bridgeport too. Expect presents.”
“I can do that.”
“Good.” After another second passed, he started laughing again. “Oh, Jeremy, I . . . I was so scared. I was freaking out.”
Jeremy laughed too. “I liked the part how you told Melanie that you didn’t have a drinking problem!”
“Do me a favor and don’t tell my friends I said that, okay?”
“I won’t tell a soul.” After all, they were almost official now. Some things . . . well, they needed to remain in the family.
Their family.
CHAPTER 22
“Love the giver more than the gift.”
—Brigham Young
Staring at the rehearsal schedule that she’d just received from Miss Shannon, Bethany felt sick to her stomach. How could something she’d wanted so badly also be the same thing that could break her heart?
The first full rehearsal of The Nutcracker was the same night as the Christmas dance. And, on the cast members’ schedule was an additional note about that specific rehearsal. Miss Shannon stated that if a cast member couldn’t make the rehearsal, they would be forfeiting their part. No exceptions.
She was either going to have to miss the dance or quit the ballet. To make matters worse, her parents had already bought both her dress for the dance and her Sugar Plum Fairy costume. In addition, they’d also paid for her extra lessons, a new pair of toe shoes, and shoes and a purse to go with her dress for the dance. All of it had cost a ton of money. And even though neither her mom nor her dad had said much, she knew both expenses at Christmas had been a lot for them to take.