Nothing Short of a Miracle (3 page)

“Wait!” she called to him again. “I think we should call the police.”

He rolled down the window. “Look Lady, no one was hurt. Next time, try to be a little more careful driving when you have your kid in the car.”

“What?” she squawked.

He had the nerve to stick his head out the window and ask “Don’t you have one of those ‘Baby on Board’ signs, or something? You need to look into getting one.”

He backed up, drove the car around her, and took off.

Gabriella sat behind the steering wheel of her own car, open-mouthed, while he vanished like magic in a swirling mist. Then it hit her.
Crap.
She’d just missed the opportunity to take down his license number. She tossed the money on the passenger seat and started the car. Thank heaven it turned over the first time. But the traffic light had turned red again.

The nerve of the man!
To think I don’t carry collision.
Gabriella drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. Well, she
didn’t
carry insurance for collision, but it was none of his business. She glanced over at the cash scattered on the well-worn passenger seat, sighed, and did a quick calculation.

“What? Two-hundred dollars!” She turned to Nina, who was once again sleeping, innocent of their good fortune.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she chanted heavenward. “I’ll never doubt again.”

Maybe this fender bender was the miracle I needed after all.

Chapter Two

“
OMG
. Gabby, I can’t believe he asked you to choose?” Gabriella’s college roommate, and best friend for the last six years, jumped from the sofa and ran to her side. “The man is a total jerk.” Mindy Crandall lowered her voice and looked at the closed door leading to Gabby’s bedroom.

“Nina’s asleep. I’m sure she didn’t hear you,” Gabby smiled. She’d only had Nina a few weeks, and they still hadn’t gotten used to having an infant in the apartment.

“I know it’s strange, but I keep forgetting she’s tucked away in your room sleeping most of the time.”

“You’ve been wonderful. So has Trish. I don’t know what I’d do without either of you.”

“We’re happy to help. I wish I could do more, but I’m in debt in student loans up to my eyebrows as it is.”

“Working out our schedules to help babysit Nina so I can go to classes has been a tremendous help.” Gabby hugged her friend. “Thanks. I mean it from the bottom of my heart.”

Mindy’s tight squeeze had tears running down Gabby’s cheeks. She brushed at them wondering if she was turning into a permanent crying machine.

“You go ahead and cry, girlfriend. It’s about time. Losing your sister and brother-in-law in a car crash just before Thanksgiving is shock enough. How you’ve managed to hold it all together so far is beyond me. And now to have Charles dump you…here, have a tissue.” Mindy swiped a couple tissues from the square box hidden in a red and white homemade crocheted Christmas Santa.

Gabby took the offered tissue and dabbed at her swollen eyes and damp cheeks. But the tears kept falling.

“I’m not sure I’m cut out for this. Maybe I should take a leave of absence next semester and get things sorted out.”

“You’re tired. You’ve been on an emotional roller coaster for the past few weeks—round the clock feedings, diaper changes, shopping for baby supplies, studying for semester finals. Why, you haven’t had time to adjust to all the changes going on in your life. Neither has Charles. I’m sure once he’s had time to think about it, he’ll change his mind.”

“I don’t think so. I just broke it off with him.”

“
You. You
broke it off?”

Gabby smiled at the surprised disbelief on her friend’s too comical face.

The tears stopped. Gabby sniffed, blew her nose, dried her tear-stained face, then took a deep breath. After today’s events, she wasn’t sure she could hold up under the stress much longer.

A super soccer mom she’d never be.

And she hadn’t even gotten started.

Gabriella had worked hard on her degree—she had one more semester to go before completing her master’s. Too bad her history major wasn’t conducive to the care of one small infant. Maybe she should enroll in a Human Development class to get some much needed pointers on child rearing.

Her career had been her priority for so long it was hard to think about switching gears now. Caring for a baby fulltime was making her life more chaotic. Her once orderly life had been thrown off-kilter.

“You can do this. I know you can,” Mindy assured her. “You’re doing a great job already, and you’re going to be a wonderful mom. Heck, you already are. You don’t need Charles, or any other man, to prove that.”

“You’re right, as usual. You amaze me how level-headed you can be sometimes.”

“Right. So listen up. The semester is almost over. Another week. It’s the holidays. Stores are always looking for extra help this time of year.”

“Are you kidding me? The way the economy is right now? And I’ll have to pay a babysitter.”

“Don’t kid yourself. There are tons of shoppers out there. I don’t care what the economists say. I’ve seen them. Let’s check the want ads and see if there’s a part-time position available. Trish and I can pitch in and work around your schedule to help with Nina until you can get back on your feet and afford a real babysitter.”

Gabby hated to admit it, but for a fraction of a second she’d balked at becoming responsible for the care of Nina after the accident. She’d been in shock. But it only took seconds to admit there was no way she’d turn her niece away. How could she? She was the only family Nina had left. But she hadn’t anticipated having to deal with all the legalities. Formalities, really. Tom and Karen’s life insurance was barely enough to cover their bills, including medical bills for Nina’s birth, and the bank quickly stepped in and assumed the home due to the steep mortgage lien against it. Tom’s father was deceased and his mother in a nursing home—he had no siblings. Her own mother and father had died in a plane crash while on vacation five years ago, so she was Nina’s only surviving family.

“I didn’t think it would be this difficult.” She’d already planned to continue her studies and work on getting her career back on track once the adoption was legal and her financial situation became stable. But she had counted on Charles to help get her through. Once they married and settled in to married life, each of them getting their career off the ground, she had assumed they would be able to afford a live-in nanny to care for Nina.

So much for planning ahead.

So much for counting on Charles.

“It seems like all I’ve done today is cry.”

“You’re still grieving. It takes time to heal. Add the responsibility of taking care of an infant at a crucial time in your career, of course you’re going to think things aren’t going to get better.”

Gabriella gulped as sadness welled up inside again. Mindy was right. She hadn’t had time to deal with the grief of losing her sister.

“A job might bring in enough money to cover a retainer on the legal fees. Once my stipend kicks in next semester, I’ll be in a much better position to deal with everything.”

“There you go—you have things under control already. Come on.” Mindy lifted Gabby up from the sofa by the hand and dragged her into the small kitchenette. “Let’s have some hot cocoa and see what the newspaper has to offer in the line of jobs.”

Together, she and Mindy spent the afternoon sipping cocoa, scanning the want ads, and making phone calls while Nina slept.

Nothing. All of the holiday clerk positions were filled
. A day late and a dollar short.
An apt expression her father used to say all the time. It fit her current situation. About to start wallowing in despair again, Mindy cried out.

“Hey. Look. I found something.” Mindy swirled the newspaper around so Gabby could read it. “There’s a couple home-health aide positions listed.”

“Home health aides? How am I qualified to be a home health aide? My major is history in case you’ve forgotten.” Gabby looked up in dismay. “What do I know about taking care of the elderly?”

“If you can take care of a three-month old, you can take care of a bed-ridden seventy-year old lady. Just say ‘honey’ and ‘dear’ a lot, and accommodate their every need. How hard can it be?”

“I don’t know, Mindy, you make it sound too easy. I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about this.”

“Posh. There’s nothing to it. I once took care of my Aunt Tulane for several months while my mother sailed away on a cruise to ‘get away’ as she put it. Other than being hard of hearing and having to yell a lot so she could hear me, she basically took care of herself. She was riddled with arthritis and didn’t get around much. I made sure she was comfortable, cleaned the house, and did the cooking while she sat in front of the TV in a recliner and dozed most of the time.”

“I don’t know, Mindy. I hate it when I get those queasy butterflies fluttering around inside me. Like when I visited Charles today. I had this awful premonition before I even knocked on his door, and look what happened.”

“You’re feeling a bit down. Losing Charles can’t be the big loss you’re making it out to be, especially knowing how he feels about Nina. Come on, I’ll call the agency and set something up for you.”

Before Gabriella had a chance to stop her, Mindy had three appointments scheduled for the following Tuesday.

“I’ll watch Nina in the morning, but I’m afraid you’ll have to take her with you in the afternoon—Trish and I both have labs we can’t skip.”

Gabby’s stomach fluttered.

****

Gabriella checked her watch.
Great.
She was already late. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and waited for the heavy traffic to clear. Checking to make sure it was safe, she inched her vehicle out into the left lane and headed toward the Lake District.

The first two interviews had not gone well. What an understatement. The woman at the first interview was bedridden, needed round the clock care, and a medical professional. Gabriella knew without a doubt the woman belonged in a nursing home. The thin, white haired lady hadn’t been responsive during the entire interview.

The person at the second interview was so cantankerous, and in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. His children’s loud, demanding, angry attitude toward him, and what they demanded of a home-health aide, had her shaking her head at the sadness of it all. She definitely wasn’t the person for this position either. She hoped the third time was the charm. Literally. She needed a job. However, she wasn’t sure it was worth going to the last interview. She had no businesses applying for a position as a health aide. What was Mindy thinking? Why had she let Mindy make all these arrangements? One of them needed their head examined. Trouble was, she had a feeling it was her.

Gabby had hurried home after the second interview, fed and changed Nina, gulped down a cup of coffee, and bundled them both into her Saturn. She headed out to the afternoon appointment with a Mr. and Mrs. Hempstead. She inched her way through the streets of downtown Ithaca during lunchtime traffic on snow-covered streets, turned up Route 89 on the opposite side of Cayuga Lake. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and cursed each red light. She wanted to get this interview over with and chalk the day up to another miserable letdown. She checked her watch while she waited for yet another light to turn green.

She finally found the address listed on the sheet the employment agency provided, and made a right turn onto a long, curving driveway lined with mature, snow covered blue spruce. The grounds surrounding the house reminded her of a Christmas card dotted with red cardinals perched on coated branches and Cinderella-type animals snuggled underneath. In the distance, a gigantic yard lay covered in snow, dotted with bare maple trees, and sloped down toward the water’s edge. It was a great yard for children to romp around in, to build snowmen in, or even build an igloo or two. Gabriella remembered the good times growing up in Pennsylvania and the snowball fights she and her sister used to enjoy with their parents—skating on the pond, searching for the right Christmas tree on their grandparent’s family farm.

Despite her melancholy misgivings, her spirits lifted.

Gabriella rounded another clump of trees and stopped in front of an impressive and enchanting three-story Victorian home overlooking Cayuga Lake.

“Just look at this home, Sweetheart.” She half turned to Nina. “I bet they’ve enjoyed some wonderful family holiday gatherings here, too.” Gabriella sighed. Tears threatened.

She shook her head and recalled the disappointing exchange with Charles, and the little fender-bender of a few days ago. Had she been too hasty in breaking it off with Charles? The last two interviews were a bust, and already the money the man from the crash had stuffed in her hand had dwindled. What if this interview goes nowhere? Maybe Staffing Solutions could find her something other than a home care position in another week or two.

Right. Who was she kidding? There weren’t any other openings at the moment. Other than dog-walking. She had no intention of trudging through the snow-covered winter streets with several dogs yanking and tangling the strings, tripping her and landing in the slush and snow.

Nope. This was her last chance.

Gabriella took a deep, steadying breath, sighed, and got out of the car. She walked around the vehicle and lifted Nina from the back seat. Gabriella smiled at her niece. She had made the right decision—picking Nina over Charles.

“Well, Nina honey, here goes.”

Gabriella kissed the infant on the forehead and tucked the warm blanket over the infant’s head. “I’d ask you to cross your fingers and toes, but I know I’d be asking a lot. Just be the cute cuddly baby you are and we’ll see what happens.” She lifted the sleeping baby from her car seat, and settled her over her shoulder. “Let’s get this over with, sweetie,” she whispered—her voice wobbled.

Gabriella walked to the front porch, up several steps leading to a set of large double oak doors with enormous fresh scented pine wreaths attached to each panel. She raised the old-fashioned brass doorknocker and let it fall in place. The scent of pine tickled her nose. She took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly. She was reminded of the hillsides of Pennsylvania at the family farm and warm memories of the many holidays shared with her sister. She closed her eyes wishing she could experience them again with Nina.