She was broken. But not finished.

 

Naomi Randall pressed her rolling pin into the dough, pushing it across the counter. Flour speckled her striped apron with little white flecks that stood out like stars in the dim night sky of the kitchen.

​

Naomi liked it that way. Evening brought a way to let out the stress of the day by making food for tomorrow. It gave her time to think—and remember.

​

~~~

​

“Good job!”

​

“Sweet shot, how’d you do that?”

​

Twelve-year-old Naomi felt the grin spreading across her face. Her foster brothers James and Mills (Jamie and Milton, but whoever remembered to call them that?) stood at the end of the driveway, nodding at the basketball hoop. Both were nearly six feet tall, James seventeen and Mills sixteen, but they’d still worked so hard to coach her in this.

​

The front door slammed, and fourteen-year-old Freckles (Frechen was his real name, but by the time she’d learned that, it’d been too hard to switch) ran across the lawn toward them. He high-fived her. “I just saw out the window!” Then high-fives to James and Mills, as he ran around in a huge circle and dashed back toward the door. “Gotta get the laundry.”

​

Naomi waved after Freckles. Two more faces appeared in the window—thirteen-year-old twins Eds and Dans (she didn’t even know their real names)—making faces at her, blowing on the window and fogging up the glass. 

​

She stuck out her tongue back at them and laughed, then watched the laughter spread over their faces. The sun came out from behind a wall of clouds and pressed down warmth all over her.

​

~~~

​

“Mommy, my pack-pack’s stuck!” Three-year-old Jensen sat on his bed, tugging at a blue strap that had managed to get tucked underneath the mattress.

​

Naomi pushed open the dinosaur-patterned curtains and let the morning light filter into the room, creating light and dark patches on the carpet. 

​

Another squeal came from the doorway. “Shadow monster!”

 

“It’s a… dinosaur!” Naomi rushed toward five-year-old Amy Martin standing in the doorway, giving the deepest roar she could muster and tackling her gently. “It’s going to get you!”

 

They rolled on the hall carpet breathlessly for a few seconds before Naomi pulled Amy to her feet. Amy laughed, but when she touched her hair, her smile faded. “They’re all messed up.”

 

Naomi tugged on the rubber bands, then felt in her pockets. “A ribbon here, and one there… done! Go look in the mirror.” She nudged Amy down the hall, then turned back to the bed.

 

“Okay, J-boy, I’ve got it.” She pulled out the strap of his backpack and guided his arms through it, then lifted him down from the bed. “Go eat your oatmeal and I’ll be right there after I get Megs.”

 

Jensen’s footsteps padded down the stairs. The baby gate rattled, and Amy’s voice drifted up as she helped open it for her brother. 

 

A smile lit Naomi’s face and heart. Glad she could make new memories of these ages, filled with love and laughter instead of hiding and hurt.

 

She strode over to a crib in the corner of the room and looked over the railing. A bundle in a pink crocheted blanket let out a long sigh and stretched her arms and legs.

 

“Good morning, Megs.” Naomi reached in and lifted one-year-old Margaret out of the crib, then brushed the wrinkles out of her daughter’s nightgown. “You ready for a fun day?”

 

“Mama!” Megs clasped her arms around Naomi’s neck, and for a moment Naomi thought her heart might overflow right out of her chest. She kissed her baby’s cheek and set her down on the carpet. “Let’s get you dressed.”

 

After everyone was dressed and fed and she’d run a hairbrush through her own tangled hair, Naomi buckled kids into the van. Megs grabbed her fingers and made a laughing-cooing sound, and Naomi smiled back and gently freed her hand. 

 

But her heart would never let go.

 

~~~

 

“We’re not going to make it.”

 

Naomi sat at the round conference table, looking from one face to the other. Mark, the co-founder in his late forties who wore a Seattle Seahawks jersey, had just spoken. The two stocking and organizing employees, a man and woman, twin siblings in their thirties, stared at Mark blankly. It’d been her idea to offer jobs for those with Down’s, and the twins had brought a lot to the company.

 

Naomi met Mark’s gaze. “I’m your co-founder. I say we’ll make it.”

 

“You work the register, Naomi. When was the last time you looked at the figures?”

 

She couldn’t help but notice the way his hair was graying quickly in the front. “We have regular customers. The students from the high school bring their friends in here all the time.”

 

At a touch on her arm, Naomi glanced over at the twin sister next to her. The woman smiled, and Naomi patted her arm. When she faced Mark again, her voice was steady. “We aren’t quitting.”

 

“The lease is signed in my name.”

 

“I’ll transfer it over.”

 

“You don’t have the financial stability to do that.”

 

Her hand tightened into a fist. “When was the last time you checked?”

 

“Your husband makes minimum wage in the army and only gets two weeks of vacation a year.

 

This is your third small-business startup you’ve co-founded in the last three years. How does that look to a rental company?”

 

“So you’re just quitting on me?” Naomi clasped her hands on the table, leaning forward. He wouldn’t dare.

 

“I think your business has quit on you.” Mark pushed back from the table, and a sharp crack sounded. His chair tumbled to the floor at a strange angle.

 

“See?” Mark motioned to the broken wooden chair leg. “If that’s not telling you something, nothing will get across.” He strode to the doorway that led back to the main part of the sports store. 

 

“Mark.” She walked after him. “What about…?” She motioned back to the twins.

 

“That was never my idea.”

​

She shoved her hands in the pockets of her black jeans and pulled herself up to her full height. “Your advertisement said you would support all small businesses in the highs and lows of their first year until they became stable.”

 

“And?”

 

“It’s been ten months.” She jabbed a finger at him.

 

“You should have read the fine print. It is up to my own personal discretion.”

 

Her pulse thumped. “You can’t take it all.”

 

“Of course not. I’ve filed all the necessary paperwork for you to remain in this facility as cashier with whoever rents this space next. You’ll have a steady income to provide for your children, don’t worry.” He gave her a pitying smile that turned her stomach, then walked through the doorway into the main store area.

 

Naomi hurried after him in long strides. Mark flipped the main light switch, and only the faint light from outside lit the room as she made her way through aisles of tennis rackets, running shoes, balls and wheelchair ramps for special needs kids who played sports—a soft jingle made her look up. 

 

Mark opened the drawer of the cash register and thumbed through bills. She strode up to the counter and let out a long breath. “What are you doing?”

 

“I will only take what I put into this in the first place.” He folded a stack of bills and shut the drawer. “Better luck in the future.”

 

The scream was stuck in her chest. She only nodded and watched him walk out the door, the bell on the handle jingling behind him.

 

After a few moments, she walked behind the counter and found the key to the cash register. She opened it, took a deep breath, and looked down. Two ten-dollar bills underneath a latch, nearly swallowed up in the darkness of the rest of the space.

 

God help me. 

 

Two sets of footsteps stopped at the back entrance, and Naomi looked up. The twins stood there, hand in hand, eyes wide and questioning.

 

She pressed her lips together, then lifted the latch and took out the two tens. She walked over and handed one to each of them. “I’m sorry…” she cleared her throat. “You’ll have some vacation time for a while, okay? But I’ll keep in touch.”

 

The twins looked at one another, then the woman looked at Naomi. “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine.” Naomi led them through the aisles to the door, feeling the darkness of the room pressing down on her shoulders and the echo of the footsteps ringing in her heart. “Do you have a ride?”

 

The man nodded and pointed at a city bus stop several yards down the sidewalk. Naomi nodded and opened the door for them.

 

A few feet away from the building, the woman stopped. She turned back and smiled at Naomi.

​

A lump rose in Naomi’s throat. She raised her hand and waved, watching her dreams fly out of her hand into the sky far above.

 

~~~

 

Sitting on the edge of the sidewalk a few feet away from the school bus stop, Naomi heard the shouts again. And again and again, pulling at her mind. The dark corners from the last house that she’d discovered soon enough so she had a place to hide. It only took one time of trying to stand up to them to teach her a lesson. Not that it was impossible to stand up—only that it hurt too much.

 

And now it was happening here. She’d heard Mom and Dad—she stopped, but no, she did think of them that way—and they’d yelled at Freckles this morning, and when she’d finally worked up her courage, set down her backpack and walked into the kitchen to stand up for him, drawing herself up to her full five-foot height—

 

The pain swirled in her chest again, and Naomi hugged her knees closer. The sun was setting behind the houses across the street. She almost—almost wanted someone to come. But she couldn’t bring herself to go back.

 

Dusk fell and darkness settled over the sidewalk. Several cars rolled past, but the street on the edge of the neighborhood was out-of-the-way enough that no one bothered her. Though she could handle it if someone did. Naomi’s hands clenched into fists, and she shoved them into the pockets of her sweatshirt.

 

As the first stars appeared in the clear sky, footsteps echoed from a long ways down the sidewalk. Someone she couldn’t make out jogged down the sidewalk, following the fence that bordered the neighborhood. 

 

She squinted. Was that a baseball cap he had on? But there were plenty of boys at school with those… but this one was tall… a nickname drifted to mind, how the boys on his basketball team always called him“ladder Freckles.”

 

Naomi stood. She raised one hand, then stopped, her hand halfway up.

 

What if it wasn’t? What if things were the same as last time?

 

She sat slowly again on the sidewalk, the cold concrete biting into her legs. She rested her chin on her knees.

 

But then she heard a sound that nearly stopped her heart. A voice from down the street. Her name.

 

“Naomi?”

 

It was him. Her heart pounded, and she wanted to jump to her feet and run to him—but what if he was angry? What if they were all angry with her?

 

But she still raised her head and looked toward him. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could feel something in his eyes.

 

Then he started running. His long legs closed the distance in only several seconds. Freckles skidded to a halt beside her and dropped down to the concrete, catching her shoulder with one hand.

 

She instinctively winced and pulled away.

 

“Naomi.” He caught his breath and loosened his grip on her shoulder. She could see his eyes now, smell his breath… was his face wet?

 

“Naomi.” Freckles said her name again. He reached for her arm and took it gently. “We were… so afraid. When you didn’t come home on the bus…”

 

Naomi stared at the concrete. She knew the scolding was next. But the warmth flooding her chest—having him here—she couldn’t find the right words for it.

 

Her brother’s strong arms closed around her, and he pulled her close to him. She pulled back at first, but Freckles kept holding on. She felt his shoulders shaking.

 

Finally he let her go and helped her to her feet, but still kept one hand on her shoulder—she could feel his fingers holding on. He towered above her like usual, and at last she found the courage to look up into his face. “I’m sorry.”

 

Freckles faced her, and for a moment she thought his eyes were watering again. He knelt on the sidewalk until he was on level with her and placed his other hand on her other shoulder.

 

“Naomi, listen. You don’t have to be afraid. We’re always going to be here for you.”

 

Always. She didn’t know if it was that word or the way he held her so tightly, but tears slipped down her own cheeks. They didn’t stop as Freckles led her down the sidewalk to a car waiting at the corner, as Mom tucked her into bed that night, as she lay staring up at the ceiling and hearing her brothers’ soft breathing filling the room.

 

~~~

 

Naomi stepped out the door of the small room, waving to Jensen and Megs. An older woman with light gray hair sat in a rocking chair near the wall, watching her kids and two other toddlers playing on the carpet. She smiled at Naomi. “The service will be over around 12. They’ll be ready for you to pick up.”

 

“Okay.” Naomi glanced at her watch. That was time enough to get to two or three stores. “Thank you,” she added after a moment.

 

The woman nodded, and Naomi hurried down the hallway toward the main doors of the church. She tightened the strap of her purse on her shoulder.

 

“Ma’am?” A woman’s voice, soft and hesitant, called out from behind her. Naomi glanced back.

 

A middle-aged woman, with gray eyes that matched her denim skirt, walked toward her. “Did you just drop off your children for our Sunday School program?”

 

“Yes, I did.” Naomi met the woman’s gaze.

 

She hesitated for a moment. “Well, I’m sorry, then, but our policy says you must stay on site with your children at all times during the program. For their safety.”

 

Ten different responses went through Naomi’s mind, but instead, she managed a smile. “I trust that they’ll be safe here. You’re a church, right?”

 

The woman ran a hand over her skirt. “Yes. But I’m afraid that it’s our policy.”

 

“I…” Naomi cleared her throat once. Might as well tell the truth. “I have two job interviews arranged. I can’t be late for them.”

 

“I understand, but…” the woman glanced toward a set of wooden doors, with a sign on them that read sanctuary. Like she’d called, one of the doors swung open, and another woman, who looked a little younger than the first and who wore a green blouse and denim skirt, stepped out into the lobby.

 

“Shannon.” The middle-aged woman moved toward her, then motioned at Naomi. “We have a slight situation here.”

 

Naomi stiffened, but met the gaze of the new woman—Shannon—steadily. 

 

“What’s going on?” Shannon faced the woman.

 

“She… I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name?” A glance back from the first woman.

 

“Naomi. Naomi Randall.”

 

The woman nodded. “I was trying to explain our policy about staying on campus while your children are in our Sunday School program. But Naomi said—”

 

“I have two job interviews that I can’t be late for,” Naomi interrupted. That’s what they got for talking about her like she wasn’t there.

 

The other woman, Shannon, pursed her lips. Finally she said, “I’ll take care of this, Marilyn. Thank you.”

 

“Of course.” Marilyn stepped back—was she bowing, or tripping over her skirt?—and disappeared behind a desk around the corner.

 

“So.” Shannon brushed her blouse, with several sequins around the neckline that glinted. She gestured at a few chairs arranged against the wall of the lobby. “Do you want to come sit and talk?”

 

“I’m all right.” 

 

Shannon studied her face a moment, then nodded. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

 

“Sure.” Naomi planted her feet firmly on the ground out of habit and looked up at the woman.

 

A smile tugged at the corners of Shannon’s mouth, and she glanced away a moment, then back at Naomi. “What brought you here this morning?”

 

“I needed a place for my kids to be safe. I can’t bring them to the interview,” Naomi said.

 

“So, this feels like a safe place?” 

 

Naomi let out her breath. “I’m sorry, I don’t have time for all the logical ins-and-outs. Do I need to go get my kids?”

 

“I’m afraid—” Shannon paused. She brushed a loosely-curled strand of auburn hair behind her shoulders and looked across the room, toward the door she’d first come out of. Naomi followed the woman’s gaze up the wall, to three posters with colorful script.

 

Before she could read them, Shannon spoke. “Maybe we could come to an arrangement. Is it possible for you to reschedule your interviews?”

 

“Not without a reason.” Naomi paused. “I mean, without proof that an emergency kept me from being there.”

 

“Hmm. Where are you interviewing?”

 

“Walmart and the bookstore on Main Street. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, it’s called Fireside?” On second thought, maybe Fireside would reschedule, based on the experience she had with small business.

 

“I don’t have any personal connections there…” Shannon adjusted a silver necklace that hung over her blouse. “I’d be willing to call for you, though.”

 

Personal connections? What kind of place had she walked in to? Naomi shook her head. “Thanks, but I think I’ll just take my kids along.”

 

“I can watch them for you, if you’d like.”

 

Naomi stopped a few steps down the hallway. “I thought your policy said I had to be here with them?”

 

“Well…” Shannon studied her again. “I might be able to make an exception. More of an adjustment, really. They couldn’t really be in the Sunday School program, but if my daughter Madison watched them in my office during the service…”

 

“Is she good with kids?” Shoot, that didn’t sound grateful.

 

“She’s eleven, but she enjoys helping out in the nursery here.”

 

Naomi glanced at Shannon. What was it in the woman’s face? Maybe genuineness, but she hadn’t seen that in a long time. In any case, as long as she was back in an hour and a half to check on the kids… “Would your daughter want to do that?”

 

Shannon smiled. “I’m sure she would, if you’re all right with the arrangement. Can you be back here by noon?”

 

Naomi checked her watch—shoot, could she get to Walmart in ten minutes?—then managed a smile. “Sure.” 

 

Near the doorway, she glanced back. Shannon had opened one of the doors across the room and leaned inside, and a few moments later, a young girl in a blue dress, nearly her mom’s shoulder height, stepped out into the lobby.

 

Shannon glanced over at her, and Naomi cleared her throat. “You sure you can make an exception?” she asked. 

 

“I can.” Shannon patted the girl’s shoulder. “Madison will take good care of your children.”

 

The girl faced Naomi and smiled at her—straight brown hair, blue dress that reached to her ankles, soft blue eyes, but deep too.

 

A lump rose in Naomi’s throat, and she cleared it again. “Thanks.”

 

“No problem.” Shannon’s voice drifted behind her as she hurried out into the parking lot, pulling her jacket tighter around herself.

 

~~~

 

The Walmart interview only took fifteen minutes before she was hired part-time. Fireside was a little longer, and they said they’d reach out to her later in the week with a decision, but the manager had seemed hopeful. So by the time Naomi pulled into the church parking lot again, her shoulders had relaxed, and she whistled along to the song on the radio.

 

She walked around the church—they had a nice path with some kind of flowering trees on each side, and the grass on the lawn was finally starting to turn green again. Muffled laughter echoed through the walls, and Naomi caught flashes of color from behind the trees—windows.

 

She hurried around the church, squinting past the flowers and into the tinted glass. Children played on the carpet with toys, while across the room, a teacher sat in a chair with a book open on his lap while an older teenage girl poured paper cups of water for the kids.

 

Finally, at the back of the church, Naomi found a small window a few feet up on the wall. She stood on her tiptoes and looked in.

 

The girl in the blue dress, Madison, sat on the floor of a dim office with Megs in her lap and Jensen next to her, picking up the pieces of a puzzle. Amy sprawled out on the carpet with a marker in her hand.

 

Naomi smiled, and warmth flickered in her chest. 

 

“You’re back early.” Naomi turned at the voice from behind, and warmth filled her cheeks as Shannon strode up, her skirt swinging against her ankles.

 

“Just… checking on them,” Naomi said.

 

“That’s fine.” Shannon walked over and stopped near a rosebush against the wall. “How did your interviews go?”

 

“Good, I think. I got part-time at Walmart and hopefully part-time at the bookstore.”

 

“I’m glad it worked out. Where does your husband work?” 

 

This question. “He’s a technician in the Navy.”

 

Shannon picked a rose and walked over to the window, peering in. “Is he gone pretty frequently?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Naomi watched Amy push herself to her feet and show Madison her drawing. Jensen picked up a toy truck from the floor and waved it in front of him, and Megs sat up in Madison’s lap.

 

“Your daughter’s doing a good job. Thank you.”

 

Shannon nodded. “I’m glad you found us.”

 

The sentence seemed a little odd, but seeing her kids smile made Naomi brush past it.

 

Shannon walked off down the path, bending over the shrubs and greeting people that emerged from the main building. Naomi waited by the window until she returned.

 

“You can go pick them up whenever you’re ready,” Shannon said. 

 

“Thanks again for letting your daughter watch them.”

 

“No problem.” Shannon smiled. “If it works out with your work, maybe you could come again.”

 

Naomi nodded. A few steps down the path, she stopped and glanced back. “Do you work here?”

 

The woman shook her head, her now-wavy hair tossing around her shoulders. A smile pulled at her face. “Not really. Not like that. Did I sound like I was recruiting you?”

 

Naomi paused, then shrugged. “Maybe I’ll come. My kids enjoyed it.”

 

As Naomi buckled Megs and Jensen into their carseats and checked Amy’s seatbelt, all for the second time that morning, she glanced back at the concrete building rising behind them. The words Renewal Pentecostal Church in silver letters were shaped in an arch over the entrance, and sunlight glinted off the metal.

 

Naomi smiled and climbed into the driver’s seat. She started the car, and with the engine whirring, glanced to the backseat. “Did you guys have fun today?”

 

Their grins were enough to give her an answer.

 

So maybe they would be back.

 

~~~

 

It was a year later when Naomi got the message. An email from the rental company saying that a Mr. Alex Meyers, with the assistance of Mr. James Meyers, was interested in renting the space she’d used as the sports store. James Meyers contacted her and asked for the key, and she put it out on her porch, then set up a time for a tour the next day.

 

Now, she parked her car outside the shopping center and pulled her denim jacket tighter around herself. She reached for the door handle and stopped with her hand on it. Memories pulled at her mind.

 

Naomi took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The soft jingle sounded behind her, and a young man standing by one of the empty racks turned. “Hello?”

 

The look in his brown eyes stopped her. The depth. Where had she… Madison. But could they be related somehow?

 

She felt in her pocket for the second key, the master one to the building. Hard to give it away. But she’d had a fresh start plenty of times this past year. Maybe it was time to give one. She smiled and stepped forward, holding out her hand.“Hello. I’m Naomi Randall.”