The Restoration by Wanda E Brunstetter

deal with losing his sister and had also given him something besides his grief to think about. At first, he hadn’t known what to say or do to help the girls deal with the loss of their parents, but Leah had made up for what he couldn’t do. Neither of them could take the place of the girls’ parents, but they had formed a bond with them. He was sure his nieces were aware of how much they were loved.
    “Can I talk to you a minute?” Scott Ramsey asked, stepping into Adam’s office and interrupting his musings.
    “Of course. What’s on your mind?”
    Scott shifted his weight, leaning on Adam’s desk. The freckles normally present on the teenager’s nose had nearly faded with the cold of winter setting in. “Well, my friend Jared needs money to buy his mom a Christmas present. So I was wonderin’ if you might have something he could do to help out around here.”
    Adam rubbed his hand across the growth of his new beard. “To tell you the truth, Scott, I don’t have enough work right now for you and your friend. I know you need your part-time job, and I can’t hire you both to work in the store.”
    “You’re right, I do need the job, but I was hopin’ there might be something Jared could do. Business might pick up around here, since it’s only two weeks till Christmas.”
    Adam’s heart had softened since Leah and the girls had come to live with him. Scott was a good kid, and he hated to disappoint him. “Guess I could let Jared do some cleaning for the next two weeks, but I can’t promise anything after that.”
    Scott smiled widely. “Thanks, Adam!”
    “A word of caution for you, though. You and your friend will need to work individually. There’s to be no fooling around.”
    Scott shook his head. “No need to worry. We’ll both work hard and do whatever we’re told.”
    Adam smiled. “Tell your friend to drop by the store so we can talk. Oh, and he’ll need a written note from one of his parents so I know it’s okay for him to work for me. Better yet, they can come to the store so I can talk with them personally.”
    Scott frowned. “If his mom comes in, it won’t be a surprise he’s working for you so he can buy her a Christmas present.”
    “I won’t tell her about the present, and Jared doesn’t have to, either,” Adam replied. “But if he’s worried about it, he can ask his dad to talk with me. I need to be sure one or both of his parents approves before he does any work for me.”
    “It won’t be his dad.” Scott shook his head. “Jared’s folks are divorced. He lives with his mom.”
    Adam grunted. “I know it can be tough. Divorce is hard on a family.”
    “Yeah. Guess I should consider myself lucky my folks are still together. When my dad was out of work, he and Mom argued a lot.” Scott frowned. “A couple of times I thought they might split up, but they hung in there, and now that Dad’s workin’ again, things are better all the way around.”
    Adam wished his parents had been able to work things out, rather than Mom running off and getting a divorce. It had been hard on him and Mary, growing up without a mother. What his mom did was hard on his dad, as well. In fact, it had changed his father’s whole life, shattering all his dreams.
    “Jared’s waiting outside,” Scott said, breaking into Adam’s thoughts. “I’ll go tell him what you said. Then I’ll get right back to work.”
    Adam nodded. “As soon as he gets his mother’s permission, Jared can get started.”
    Scott grinned. “Thanks again, Adam. You’re a nice man.”
    Some folks might say otherwise
, Adam thought as Scott left his office.
My own mother probably thinks I’m not so nice. But then, she’s never walked in my shoes—not even a few steps.

    “How did you talk Adam into letting me come to your house for a foot treatment?” Cora asked, seating herself in Leah’s recliner.
    “He said as long as he and the girls weren’t home, he was okay with it,” Leah replied, honestly.
    “So