Notes from the Heart Healer Page #3

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It's the right thing to do, hon.

Look. Hey! Even Charlie here agrees.

Yup, in fact, he is so happy to be invited,

he brought you a special hostess gift.

You shouldn't be out here, girl.

It's dangerous!

I know.

My daughter would never forgive me

if I left you out here alone.

Where you trying to get to?

As far away as you're willing to take me.

All right, then. Climb on up here.

Okay, he was dropped off in a car seat,

which means that

whoever left him must

have a vehicle, right?

It would also mean whoever left him

could be a million miles away by now.

- Yeah.

- Here, take that.

Should've packed a Hazmat suit.

Wow, is that, like, normal?

I think so.

Okay, here we go.

Yeah, okay, I'm gonna let you

take care of business here,

and I'll go see if I can find

something to fill the bottle.

Don't worry, champ, she'll get used to it.

- Here you go.

- You want to give it to him?

No.

You sure?

Yup, I'm sure.

You okay?

Want to talk about it?

I can't stop thinking about

the baby's mother,

about what she might be feeling right now.

You know, it didn't matter

that I was full of anti-depressants

when I gave my baby away.

I still carry that pain in my heart.

I think when most people see a baby,

they feel joy.

All I feel is shame.

I thought enough time had passed.

I'm so sorry.

I'm such an idiot

to insist that we take the baby.

- I'm gonna call the Sheriff.

- No. Don't.

Maybe if I could find the mother...

Finding the mother is the Sheriff's job.

It's his job to arrest her, King.

But if I make it my job to help her,

then maybe, somehow,

at the same time, I can help myself.

Come here.

Miss?

Where are we?

About 60 miles up the coast from

where you started.

It's as far as I'm going.

They got a woman's shelter here.

Maybe fix you up with a shower

and some dry clothes.

I won't forget your kindness.

Take care, miss.

Hey, there!

I heard there was a shelter?

No...

King.

Come on, King.

She couldn't drop off

a kid with a volume control? Geez.

Okay. Nothing personal, pal.

And that's just how I'm gonna keep it,

right, cowboy?

Woman on the floor!

Pretty good stuff, huh?

I thought you might like that.

Well, aren't we the picture of domesticity?

What's all this?

My neighbor had seven children

before she got her tubes tied.

Last one is finally out of diapers.

So long as we don't return it,

she is more than happy to give us

all the baby junk we could use.

Although you seem to be doing all right

without it.

Who knew you'd be such a natural anyway?

Me.

- Nothing. Coffee?

- Sure.

You started to say something?

It's the reason I was so reluctant

to take Charlie in last night.

You want to decipher that?

You remember when Gil died,

how messed up I was?

Yeah. Married only a couple of years.

Pregnant.

Future wiped out by a stupid car crash.

I might've considered suicide, too.

I did more than consider it, Dot.

I know.

And when Christine was born,

I was in no condition to care for her.

No, you weren't.

But it turned out all right, though.

Her adoptive parents did one heck of a job.

Yeah, they did.

And, thanks to a miracle,

she's back in my life now.

But?

But

I didn't get to be her mother.

I mean, not like this.

Not when she needed me the most.

I can't tell you how deeply I regret that.

And that's why I have

to find this child's mom,

so she doesn't end up like me.

And before you fall in love with that baby.

No, no, no.

Not gonna let that one happen,

no matter how adorable you are!

Charlie's just on a banana high right now.

Trust me, when he comes down,

he's gonna want his real mom.

Hey, how much confidence

do you have in your Sheriff?

I don't expect the folks at CSI

to set their next spin-off

here in Constant Harbor.

Do you think that he would have

looked around for local girls

who might be in trouble?

I doubt it.

He's got his plate pretty full with

this weekend's Crab Festival.

I can lend you my car,

if you want to go and talk to

Pastor Newton at the Baptist church.

He's who Carl would have asked.

Maybe I'll do that.

How desolate would you have to be,

dear reader,

to leave a child you bore

with a total stranger?

And if you were that stranger,

having found an infant on your doorstep,

what are your obligations

to care for the child?

To find the baby's parents?

To understand what motivated

such desperation?

To help mitigate the problems that led to

an act as misguided as child abandonment?

These and many more questions

are on my mind of late,

and they are not entirely hypothetical,

as last night, I discovered a baby,

left, like Moses,

on the steps of my cottage.

Yeah, bub, I'm talking about you.

Looks good on you.

Drool?

Motherhood.

Yeah, Charlie here is

a guest star in our reality show,

he's not a regular,

and don't you let me forget that, okay?

Doesn't mean we can't enjoy the little guy

while he's here, though, right?

I heard Dot earlier.

Did she have any news

on who Charlie belongs to?

I think that finding the baby's mother is

on the Sheriff's back burner.

I still can't help wondering, "Why us?"

Yeah. Me, too.

You know, maybe it was a fan thing.

Come on.

No, really.

I mean, maybe somebody read your book

and thought you were

the kind of person that would,

you know...

Peyton?

Can you watch our boy for a while?

I have a couple errands I want to run.

Sure.

Well, sleeping beauty awakens.

Where am I?

At our humble clinic.

You passed out.

Seems you've got pneumonia.

I don't have insurance. I can't pay.

Don't worry about it.

We'll figure something out.

I'm Tilly Minor. And you are?

Ramona.

Ramona Eastmore.

Okay, Ramona.

Rest up.

I'll be back in a while,

and if you feel up to it, you can tell me

what brought you to our shelter.

This fell out of your jacket.

I thought he might be important to you,

so I cleaned him up a bit.

Five foot two, maybe.

Dark hair.

Pretty, but sallow. Tired eyes.

And she told me her name was Violet.

No bells are ringing. Sorry.

And you're sure that no local girls...

Constant Harbor's a small community,

Ms. MacGruder.

I know all the babies in the area.

I baptized half of them.

None are at risk, at

least not at the moment.

Our sister church over in Ruckston

runs a woman's shelter.

It's a long shot,

but you might give them a call.

Thank you.

Ruckston Women's Shelter. Hello?

Hello?

Well, what do you think?

I think he's gonna love it.

What?

I'm surprised, is all,

at how into the whole fatherhood thing

you seem to be.

Yeah. I wasn't around that much

when David was Charlie's age,

or any age, for that matter.

As you know, I mean, that's the main reason

his mom and I got divorced,

and the reason that he and I have had

such a rough time communicating.

I guess having Charlie around has

made me regret some decisions

I've made along the way as well.

After what I did,

do you think I deserve another chance?

It's well known

that God is very generous with chances.

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