Free Paradise for a Sinner by Lynn Shurr Page B

camp opens.”
    “The path through the grove should be cement so the children in wheelchairs can enjoy it, too,” Winnie added, mindful of her patient.
    “Sure, all that can be done in time, but for now we put in the sand and trees,” Adam urged.
    Corazon, her face planted between her two hands over a steaming mug of coffee, had a faraway look in her round, brown eyes. “I would like a beach where I could sit in my spare time—if I had spare time.”
    “While I am here, I can give you that, Mrs. Polk.” Brinsley took a small sip of coffee as if he committed some dire breach of etiquette. The others built sandwiches, but his plate remained empty.
    Corazon snapped back to reality. “Your offer is good. I get a beach. You can be butler while you are here. Eat! You are too skinny like Miss Winnie,” Corazon rolled on, not noticing the other woman’s small wince. “Call me Corazon and I call you?”
    “I am called Brinsley.”
    “You got no first name. You born being Brinsley?”
    The butler capitulated. “Clive, Clive Leopold Brinsley.”
    “Ha! No wonder you no say. Clive is okay with me.” The phone rang. “Clive, you get that while I eat, no?” Corazon raised a multilayered ham, roast beef, three cheese, and smoked turkey sandwich to her mouth.
    Clive, his plate still empty, went to the cordless phone in the kitchen. “Billodeaux residence. This is Brinsley. To whom am I speaking? Yes, certainly. Thank you.” He disconnected. “Miss Anastasia is finished with her testing and is in need of a ride home. I would be delighted to retrieve her if you will entrust me with a vehicle and directions.”
    Nell, in the midst of eating a sandwich much more modest in size than Corazon’s masterpiece, forked over her keys and paused in her lunch to write directions to the Episcopal day school. Brinsley, seeming very relieved, left to run the errand.
    Winnie’s hand hovered over the dill pickles. She made a snap decision and scooped up two sweet gherkins instead. Adam eyed her empty plate, then considered his own holding a half-eaten slab of French bread brimming over with fillings and a twin sandwich beside it. He considered the nearly empty platter. “Here take one of mine, Winnie.”
    “Oh, I had that salad and some fries earlier.”
    “You’ve been lugging rocks.”
    “Well, you dug a pit.”
    Nell and Joe exchanged glances. Corazon snatched the extra sandwich. “If you not gonna eat that, I take it to my husband.” She stood and patted Adam on the back. “This man knows how to eat, not like Clive Brinsley.” She found Knox Polk’s favorite beverage in the fridge and made up a plate to deliver. No sooner had her broad behind passed out the door than Adam leaned close to Winnie.
    “See, all she needed to be happy was a beach. And so do you.”

Chapter Eleven
    Winnie waited for the arrival of the special school bus hauling the handicapped students as she had all week long. She carried Teddy’s armband crutches. He hated them, but needed to exert himself to learn walking. The minibus with the wheelchair lift swung to a stop as she opened the gate. A round-faced, short-chinned Down’s Syndrome girl waved happily from one of its windows. The head of a boy with severe muscular dystrophy lolled against a headrest, but could not turn her way. Most likely, Teddy did not feel lucky about his condition, but thanks to early intervention, he had a good mind that could take him all the way through college. An aide helped Teddy from the bus and left him in her care.
    Winnie held out the crutches. “Up we go, half way down the drive before you get to ride.”
    “Do I have to?”
    “Absolutely. Someday you’ll want to walk across a stage at graduation, so let’s practice now.”
    “Maybe I won’t finish high school like my mom.”
    “Nell and Joe will make certain you do.”
    “Only if I’m Daddy Joe’s real son.”
    “Up. You’re stalling.”
    Winnie made sure he had a good grip on the stick crutches