a particular client needed to improve their quality of life.
Anna’s job description changed on a daily basis for each of her fifteen clients. And the amount of time she worked with each client changed as well. Some needed more intense interaction, some just minimal support.
“Liam Franklin, the brother, is self-employed. Something to do with computers and security.” Ceelie shrugged. “You know me and technology.”
Anna did know. Ceelie could manage a word processor or spreadsheet on the computer, but other than that, she did nothing more complex than e-mail.
“Liam works out of his home office most of the time, but he has to travel for business and is looking for a babysitter for Colm when he does. He got a referral from his doctor, and assured me in no uncertain terms that he wanted nothing more than that. Just a babysitter.”
Anna ran her fingers through her wildly springy hair. For years she’d tried products, haircuts, flat irons…. Finally, she’d reached the ripe old age of twenty-eight and admitted that she didn’t have the time. She was going to embrace her outer Medusa and let her hair live the life it was destined to lead. After all, that was her job too: helping people lead the best lives they were capable of. She looked at the Sunrise motto again. Helping Exceptional People Lead Exceptional Lives.
It was such a simple concept, and so succinct. Too bad some families never understood it.
She wondered what kind of person Colm’s brother—who simply wanted a babysitter—was. Maybe this new client was so severely limited that he needed that kind of care, but maybe he could do more…That sense of the possible, the idea of helping someone discover they could accomplish more than they ever imagined—that’s what kept Anna doing what she did.
“Just a babysitter,” she murmured, more to herself than to Ceelie.
“You can handle it,” Ceelie, a Pollyanna in disguise, said.
Anna nodded. “Sure. I’ll do what’s best for…” She glanced at the file. “Colm. Colm Franklin. After I call my mother back.”
“Colm doesn’t know how lucky he is,” Ceelie assured her.
Anna hoped lucky was the word Colm and his brother would someday use to describe their first meeting at Sunrise.
She got up and headed for her private office to call her mother. Although, she was already sure that there was some new crisis—one that probably involved a man in one way or another. She couldn’t remember who her mother’s current boyfriend was. The names changed so frequently, it was hard to keep up.
“Hey, Anna,” Ceelie hollered.
Anna turned around and looked at her friend, who did another little Snoopy Dance. “You got the house.”
Anna’s spirit immediately lifted. “You’re right, we got the house.”
LIAM FRANKLIN pulled up in front of the small brick office front on Main Street. Whedon, Pennsylvania, was a small town south of Erie. There wasn’t much to it, so he knew he must have driven by this building every day for years, yet he’d never noticed the sign in the window that proclaimed The Sunrise Foundation, with a rainbow and sun framing the words.
He checked the business card again.
Colm had lived with Liam since their parents died. Because Liam ran his computer security firm from home, things had gone well until work demanded he travel more. Taking Colm with him wasn’t an option, and his day-help, Aunt Betty, didn’t like staying overnight. So, Liam had contacted Colm’s physician, thinking he might know of a babysitter who’d had experience working with people with special needs. The doctor had referred him to The Sunrise Foundation, and he’d talked to some woman named Ceelie there who had set up this appointment with this life coach, Anna Chapel.
This Anna Chapel had been assigned his brother’s case.
He didn’t like that Colm was in the system. Well, not really in the system. Sunrise was a private foundation that came very highly recommended. The fact that it was a community-based organization meant it was able to provide resources that each individual needed. Well, Colm didn’t need anything except someone to stay with him when Liam was out of town, an occurrence that was happening more frequently.
Balancing his job and his brother’s needs made him really feel for working single parents. It seemed there was never a minute that he wasn’t doing something…and often he was five steps behind.
Liam walked into the office and a bell above the front door rang merrily. He stood in the reception area. There was a loveseat and a desk with a phone and computer. But the walls…the walls were amazing. They were decorated with framed pictures ranging from childish scrawls to a few more practiced ones. He was studying a particularly pretty sunrise—or maybe sunset—over a large body of water, when someone cleared their throat behind him.
Liam turned and found a woman with the biggest hair he’d ever seen standing in a doorway, smiling at him. Her hair wasn’t really styled big on purpose—you didn’t need to be a hairdresser to see that. Rather it was big in a too-many-curls-for-one-small head-to-have sort of way.
“Well, hello,” the woman said. “Welcome to Sunrise. How can I help you?” The words tumbled over one another in a single breath. She exuded a boundless energy that she seemed to try hard to contain.
“I have a meeting with Anna Chapel.”
“Oh, you must be Liam Franklin.” She hurried to him, thrust a hand out and continued, “It’s so nice to meet you. Let’s go to my office and see what we can do for you and your brother, Colm.”
He shook her hand, then followed her through the reception area, trying not to notice how her myriad of curls bounced about her head as she walked. If he were back in second grade, the urge to pull one and watch it spring back in place would have been too much to resist. But he was thirty and here on adult business.
Anna led him to a neat office. The desk and shelves were immaculately organized. So neat in fact that they almost looked sterile. But these walls were completely covered in artwork as well. The overall effect was anything but sterile. It was happy art. He couldn’t help but notice a lot of sunrises and rainbows.
She followed his gaze and smiled. “We ask our clients to make us pictures. It helps the office feel like home, don’t you think?”
Before he could answer, she added, “The picture out front that you were studying was made by Josh Hampton. He’s a talented artist despite the limitations he has with his hands. Most of our clients are far more enthusiastic than gifted, but we treasure all our pictures.”
She gestured toward a chair and then, rather than going behind her desk, she took the chair next to it. “I’ve got the papers you sent over, and everything looks like it’s in order.”
“Great. So you’ve got a babysitter for us, or can get one?” he asked, somewhat anxiously.
Her smile faded and she shook her head. “Yes. But while Sunrise will be able to help you find respite care, we offer so much more. I’d like to schedule a meeting with your brother as soon as possible. His file is very light. We could do a few tests and—”
The urge to spring to his feet and leave was almost overwhelming. Liam resisted. He clutched the arm of the chair and forced himself to speak softly and slowly. “Listen, Ms. Chapel, I didn’t come to you in order to have my brother assessed in any way. He went through all that years ago. Well, Colm is special and he’s not something you can label and chart. He’s not an IQ number or any other sort of definition you want to assign him. He’s a person. A totally unique person. So I don’t want your tests. And I really don’t want him to be some name on a file. All I need is someone able to deal with his particular needs when I have to travel. I was told that your foundation could see to that.”
“We can help you with that,” she assured him. “But we offer so much more. We can help your brother—”
“Colm. His name is