Garrett added the finishing touches to Natalie's cheekbones and put the pencil down. The portrait was complete. By far, it was his favorite.
He angled his head to the right and smiled. He never named his pictures. He'd always thought that his work should speak to the individual.
What a sketch meant to him might not correlate with another viewer's impression. But if he did name his pictures, he would call Natalie's sketch, Joy. He looked at the canvases in the corner draped with tarp.
There sat the work he'd created when he was a lonely teenager with a crush. He could remember so clearly Natalie's pony tail bouncing as she twirled and laughed with friends. Everyone wore the same school uniforms, but Natalie never looked the same as everyone else. She always stood apart.
His thoughts were interrupted as he heard car tires crunch across the rocky ground outside the house and the sound of engines turned off.
He rose from the stool, grabbed a rag and wiped his hands, then left the room. He opened the front door just as Natalie had raised her hand to knock. She flashed him a grin that made his heart stop.
He opened the door. Sylvie, Mike and Andie trooped into the living room first, followed by Natalie, Susan and the two-man camera crew. Faces turned to him expectantly.
"Okay. We've wasted a day and half here," Susan barked in a no-nonsense voice that belied the twinkle in her brown eyes. "Let's start some discipline or something." She looked at Garrett. "Unless you'd like to forfeit? Then we could all go home."
He heard the challenge in her voice and he wondered if Natalie had told Susan about what had happened between them. Natalie's expression was bland as she returned his gaze. He crossed his arms. "I'm still game if Natalie is."
"I'm standing here, aren't I?"
"So are we," Sylvie said with the impatience of youth, "Let's get this over with so I can get to a phone by tonight."
"Hey, Dr. Garrett, can I go see Marabelle?"
Andie pushed her way through Mike and Sylvie. She stood before Garrett with her hands on her hips.
"Yes, you can see Marabelle. Rigby is around here somewhere, too. How's the shelf-climbing turtle?"
"Okay," Andie replied in a sheesh-that's-over-now-so-what's-the-big-deal tone. "Can I have a puppy?"
"We'll see," Natalie answered for Garrett, before turning her gaze on him. "First, we have to do something with Garrett."
"What?" Andie demanded.
"I'm going to teach you all a skill," Garrett said. "I've decided to give each of the children a task. If they complete it in the time I give them, they'll receive a reward."
"What if they don't? Do you punish them?" Natalie asked.
"No. They just won't receive the reward."
"Which may be punishment enough if the reward is good," Susan mused. She cocked an eyebrow. "So what's the reward?"
"That's up to each child. But whatever they choose has to be within reason."
"You mean like toys or candy?" Natalie asked. Her eyes narrowed. "That's more like bribery, don't you think?"
"It's only bribery if you're getting paid for doing something illegal," Susan interjected.
Garrett smiled at Susan and then looked at Natalie. "Dogs will work for treats or pats. But the things the children ask for have to be more than just material objects."
"Like what?" Mike asked quietly.
"I don't know," Garrett said. "An afternoon at the park or a trip to one of the shopping malls in Tulsa."
"What about a cook-out?" Mike asked. "Here at the farm."
Sylvie grinned. "Yeah, we could have hot dogs and hamburgers and maybe Robert could come!"
Garrett looked at Sylvie. "Who's Robert?"
"Robert's her boyfriend," Andie said, giggling. "They kiss and everything!"
"Kiss?" asked Garrett. He looked at Sylvie, whose face had turned bright red. "How well do you know this Robert?"
"Robert's a nice boy," said Natalie.
"We'll see how nice he is," Garrett muttered. Teenage boys were seething masses of hormones. He wasn't sure he wanted one near Sylvie ... ever.
"So what's the plan?" Susan asked. "Say it into the camera, Garrett. We need to get some footage."
Garrett looked at the camera and said, "We're going to clean my house."
CHAPTER TEn
"WHAT!" THE KIDS chorused. Garrett saw the dismay in their faces and knew that he had made the right choice—despite its lack of popularity with the children. Judging from the state of chaos at Natalie's house, cleaning was a skill that needed to be taught.
"If anyone's house should be cleaned, it's mine," Natalie protested. "I labored a total of fifty-two hours to have these kids and I should benefit from any work they produce."
"You will," Garrett said, "because I'm teaching them a life skill. One they can use at home."
"Wouldn't it be easier if they learned at their own house?" Natalie asked.
"It's my technique so we'll use my house to demonstrate," Garrett said. "Besides you still have several years to benefit from what they'll learn here."
"If it involves anything that includes ammonia or the numbers four-oh-nine," Sylvie said, "you can forget it." She thrust her hands at Garrett, wiggling her neon pink nails. "These took an hour to perfect and I'm not going to ruin all that work with cleaning."
"Is that a real color?" Garrett asked. "Or did you mix two highly flammable liquids to get it?"
"This color is Pink Flamingo at Sunset," Sylvie said incredulously. "It is the color to wear during the summer."
"As opposed to what?" Garrett asked. He'd never before heard of a fingernail polish named after a bird. The whole idea was mystifying. "Why didn't they just call it Really Awful Pink or Pink-So-Loud or something like that?"
Sylvie glared at him and huffed, "I don't expect you to understand about the importance of the right color nail polish." She flounced behind Natalie and continued glaring at him over her mother's shoulder.
Garrett had only meant to tease Sylvie, but realized he had angered her with his comments. He glanced at Natalie, whose shrug told him he was on his own.
"I'm sorry, Sylvie," he said. "I didn't mean to offend you. That polish is, uh, nice. I like it."
"You don't have to lie," Sylvie sniffed.
"I don't?"
"Give it up, Garrett," Susan said. "You've lost the battle."
"I think I'm just lost."
"No, you're not, Dr. Garrett," Andie said, touching his hand, "You're standing right here."
Everyone laughed, even Sylvie, and Garrett made a mental note to never insult her nail polish color again.
Meanwhile, half the day was gone and he needed to get the kids started on their tasks. He only had two days left to teach them anything.
"Okay, Andie, you'll be picking up trash from the yard. I have—"
"She won't be picking up glass or cans, will she?" Natalie interrupted. "I don't want her to get cut."
"I don't think there's any—"
"She's only five, you know."
"She'll be—"
"And what about snakes? Don't they bite? And chiggers. Her little legs will get eaten up if she stays out in that long grass."
"Natalie—"
"Maybe she can just—"
"Natalie!"
"Yes?"