It was a woman's voice that answered, one he'd never heard before. "Why would the children run away? Did something happen?"
Jilly's voice was tight. "No. We had a great day yesterday. Played in the snow and then watched a Christmas movie and played games. The kids were happy."
"Then why would they run away?"
"I don't know!" Jilly burst out.
He was frozen in place, trying to figure out who was questioning her. Should he should go in there, or would he be interrupting? The woman didn't sound like a cop, but she was asking hard questions.
"You know everything," Jilly said. "I called you when Casey put graffiti on our neighbor's house. He's been difficult, but I never thought he would convince Lindsey and PJ to run away."
"You knew he had an attachment disorder before he was placed with you."
Placed. Was this the social worker?
No doubt Jilly needed Noah’s support, but something kept him frozen in place. They must not have known he was there. If Jilly had seen him, she would've brought him into the conversation. If he revealed himself now, they would know he'd been eavesdropping.
"I love him," Jilly said.
Noah's heart leapt. And then he realized she was talking about Casey.
"I just didn't know it was going to be this hard."
Would the social worker take the kids and send them elsewhere? It hit Noah hard, thinking about not being able to talk to Lindsey anymore. The girl had opened up like a flower in spring. Jilly had done so much good for her.
"Do you want to cancel the adoption proceedings?" the social worker asked.
Adoption.
Acode graywas paged over the intercom, and there was movement behind him in the triage area. Loud voices distracted him momentarily from the conversation on the other side of the curtain. And then faded.
His thoughts whirled. Jilly was adopting the kids? Why hadn't she told him? He'd bared his soul to her last night, and she'd made it sound as if—she'd made him feel as if—they had a future together.
But adopting three kids wasn't some small thing. These particular kids had trauma in their past. She was making a lifelong commitment to them. And Noah knew that wasn't something she took lightly.
And then there was the fact that the system was rigged against people with disabilities. Being in a relationship with Noah would be a strike against her.
His ears pricked as Jilly spoke again. "Is this going to mess up my chances of being approved for the adoption?"
The social worker hesitated. "I'm going to be honest. It doesn't look great to have an incident like this as part of the kids' file. PJ was seriously injured. All three of them could've died."
He heard Jilly’s jagged breath. She loved those kids. She would've been worried sick about them from the moment she'd found out they were missing.
"If they continue to act out, whether that's running away or causing disruptions in school or vandalizing property, the judge assigned to your case won't look on it favorably."
She was telling Jilly to keep the kids in line. He bristled on Jilly's behalf. This lady hadn't been there, in the trenches, with Jilly. She hadn't seen how Jilly doted on those kids, how she’d fought for them day in and day out.
"If there's anything else you need to disclose, now's the time to do it—anything going on that might impact your petition for adoption."
His chest cinched tight as he waited for Jilly’s answer. A relationship with him might just kill her chances of getting the kids.
They hadn't put labels on their relationship. She'd told him that she wanted to be with him.
But that had been before he'd confessed everything about Chad.
Jilly was silent.
But his thoughts weren't.
