Product Description
Colorado detective Ryan Darnell found the quiet of his small mountain town shattered when a young, hearing-impaired boy witnessed a brutal murder. With the help of the boy's summer guardian, Marian Richards, protecting the child became his first priority. Yet as he closed in on the truth behind the crime, Ryan found that sharing long days and even longer nights with the beautiful, brown-eyed Marian was a temptation he couldn't resist. As both the investigation and the summer drew to a close, Ryan knew it was only a matter of time before Marian returned to the city...and left him wanting a future he'd never imagined possible.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The property belonged to Alva Wentworth, a widow in her late seventies who was in a local nursing home. Located near one of the state's popular tourist areas in southern Colorado the estate was worth a fortune and ripe for development. Countless investors had tried to persuade the wealthy widow to sell the estate but she had stubbornly held on to it. Her only heir had been a grandson, Stanley, whom she'd disinherited when she'd discovered a series of illegal maneuvers of his to get his hands on her money before she died. Everyone was amazed when she agreed to let the Colorado Foundation for Disadvantaged Children use the mansion and grounds for a children's summer program.
Marian was determined that everything would go smoothly under her leadership. She'd been assistant director at a private school for the hearing impaired when she heard about the summer program and quickly applied for the position. She was delighted and slightly surprised when she was offered the job even though she was the youngest applicant, only thirty years old and still working on a doctorate in social services. She was determined that all would go smoothly, because this experience would be a professional stepping stone to the position of director at one of Colorado's larger institutions.
Her first challenge had been to evaluate recommended children for the program. After considerable debate with teachers and social workers, she had chosen six boys and six girls of various ages and problems. She'd met with some negative reaction when she'd chosen Scotty Tanner, an eleven-year-old who had both hearing and emotional problems. Even his foster parents had warned her that the boy didn't do well in groups.
As Marian entered the activity room, she looked around for Scotty but didn't see the slender boy with unruly blond hair and snapping blue eyes. He usually dominated the Ping-Pong table, furiously venting his anger upon the small ball. Already Marian had learned that Scotty was constantly warring against the acceptance of his deafness and striking out at anything and everybody. He seemed intent upon isolating himself beyond what a hearing loss would create.
Uneasiness began to stir as she walked over to Rob Harman, a middle-aged physical-education teacher who had raised a deaf son and spent his summers working with the handicapped. He was easygoing and patient but at the same time firm enough to maintain control.
Marian had a staff of five people, counting herself, and was pleased they'd developed a summer curriculum that was both instructive and recreational.
"I don't see Scotty in the room, Rob. Do you know where he is?"
"He was here right after lunch but complained his stomach hurt. He asked to go back upstairs to his bunk but I sent him to the nurse. I decided Bertha could tell whether he was goldbricking or not." Rob sighed. "He's not the most sociable kid on the block."
Marian nodded in agreement. "A real loner, for sure." The only time the boy seemed visible was when there was trouble of some kind, but she was willing to give Scotty some leeway. He'd been running the streets most of his life. No father in the picture and a mother strung out on drugs most of the time. Scotty might have ended up serving time in a juvenile facility if a homemade bomb hadn't plunged him into deafness and made him a ward of the court.
"Maybe after a few weeks in the program we'll see a change for the better," Marian told Rob. She was encouraged because she'd seen one good sign already in his behavior. For some inexplicable reason, the tough, streetwise Scotty had appointed himself protector of Mindy Simpson, a small, shy eight-year-old girl who had been deaf since birth.
Scotty had met her in class for the hearing impaired which he'd been required to attend when he was turned over to the court. It was because of the dark-haired, curly-headed Mindy that Scotty had mastered any sign language at all. Unfortunately, he seemed only willing to try signing in order to communicate with the shy little girl. Most of the time he got along as best he could with lip-reading, defying all orders to practice communicating with any of the other students.
"I'll check with the nurse," Marian told Rob and then walked across the room to a table where several girls were involved in an activity of following directions. They were making Indian god's eyes out of yarn and sticks. Because a field trip was planned to the nearby Mesa Verde Indian ruins, the teachers had decided to incorporate some of the activities, stories and art around an Indian theme.
Nancy Collins, a chubby, round-faced teacher in her early forties, was busily moving around the table, smiling, nodding and signing her approval. Marian had worked with Nancy before and was delighted when the outgoing, good-natured teacher had applied for the summer program. Together they had developed a program of activities to help hearing-impaired children develop language, speech and listening skills.
Marian stopped at Mindy's chair and lightly touched the little girl on the shoulder to get her attention. As she looked up, her smiling eyes were a sparkling blue and full of life.
"I'm looking for Scotty," Marian signed. "Do you know where he is?"
She shook her head and her fingers flitted like butterflies as she responded, "I haven't seen him since lunch. Is he in trouble again?"
I hope not. Marian sighed silently as she nodded approval of the rather lopsided god's eye that Mindy held up for her approval.
Even though a building uneasiness urged Marian to find Scotty as soon as possible, she took time to look at all the girls' handiwork. Marian knew these children wanted so much to connect with other people that sometimes they were like puppies willing to do anything for a pat on the head.
"We're going to make one to hang in your office," Nancy told her with a grin. "It'll keep all the problems away from your door."
"What a lovely idea. The sooner the better."
"What's happening?"
"I feel as if I'm holding on to a dozen horses going in all directions," Marian admitted. "New-job jitters, I guess."
"Relax, everything's under control," Nancy assured her with her usual optimistic grin.
Marian gave her a grateful smile as she left the room and headed down the hall to a small sitting room that had been changed into a nursing station and dispensary.
Bertha Higgins was a large, motherly-looking woman in her fifties who was not only a registered nurse but also a certified teacher, trained in speech, auditory development, sign language and lip-reading. Marian had hired her because she was qualified to take turns relieving Nancy and Rob with the students so the two teachers might have some free time. When Bertha wasn't tending to medical needs or handling a class, she took it upon herself to instruct individual students about specific health habits they were ignoring.
Marian knew Bertha had playfully threatened to wash Scotty's ears and neck for him. Much to every-one's surprise the boy had given her a big grin as if he wasn't used to anyone paying that much attention to him.
Maybe he was just faking the stomachache so he could get Bertha's attention again, Marian thought as she politely knocked on the door.
"Come in."
The nurse had her back to the door, putting some medical supplies in a cabinet. When she turned around, she gave Marian a cheery smile as she said, "What can I do you for?"
"I'm looking for Scotty."
"I haven't seen him. Was he supposed to check in with me?"
"Well, Rob excused him and told him to see you because Scotty said he had a stomachache."
Bertha chuckled. "The oldest ploy in the world. Better than a headache. I bet he knows every trick in the book, that one. He's probably stretched out on his bunk waiting for dinnertime. I bet the kid's been starved a lot of his life. He'll put on a pound or two while he's here."
"Well, if he's hiding out, I just might find a job or two that will help his appetite." As she turned to leave, she said, "If he shows up, hold on to him."
"Will do."
Heading down the hall, Marian intended to go up to the second floor where the boys had assigned beds, but another youngster, Peter, came bounding down the center staircase just as she reached it.
Putting out her hand, she stopped him. Knowing the ten-year-old was a good lip-reader, she looked straight at him and carefully mouthed her words, slowly and evenly. "Peter, did you see Scotty upstairs?"
He shook his head. "Nobody up there. I went to get this," he told her in a flat but understandable tone as he held out a small electronic game. "You want to play?"
"Not now, Peter. Maybe later," she answered.
He nodded to show he understood and then bounded down the hall toward the activity room.
Marian decided to check the kitchen, since Scotty had already been caught stealing food between meals. The cook, Elsie Mullens, had threatened him with a week's dish-washing detail if he did it again and Marian had approved the promised punishment.
She liked the hefty, gray-haired cook who had been hired to prepare the meals. Once, Marian had heard Elsie on the phone arguing with a Denver dietician about the menus they had sent her to prepare. Elsie had spent most of her life cooking for ranchers and was used to preparing meals for hardworking men with healthy appetites and not finicky youngsters.
"Yeah, he was here," Elsie replied when Marian asked her if she'd seen Scotty. "Hanging around, he was, waiting for me to turn my back. He's got sticky fingers, that one. Lordy, he's snitched more than one pastry right out from under my nose." As she talked she vigorously patted flour on a bread board and wheeled a rolling pin over fresh dough. "I shooed him out of here fast like."
"Do you k...
