Once she was gone and it was just the three of us, Grant cleared his throat. “I have some news to share. I was supposed to tell you yesterday, but then all of this happened.”
“What is it?” I asked anxiously. I didn’t know how much more I could take.
“Dani signed the papers to terminate her parental rights yesterday and temporary custody was given to you. The official paperwork is in Copper’s office,” he said.
“Really?” I asked in surprise. I wasn’t expecting him to deliver good news. “He’s mine?”
Grant nodded. “He’s yours.” He opened his mouth to say something else but hesitated.
“What is it?”
“I don’t want it to sound insensitive, but I was going to say that you can proceed with the adoption process since Ben…” he trailed off.
“Oh, right,” I said, understanding his hesitation. Since Ben was dead and Dani terminated her rights, there was no one left to contest the adoption. “Listen, we can’t tiptoe around this. Ben’s dead, and it’s no one’s fault but his own.”
“You’re right,” he agreed. “It’s still a shitty situation.”
It was, and continuing to talk about it wasn’t going to do either one of us any good. So, I changed the subject. Sort of. “Did the lawyer say what the next step is?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll get her contact info from Copper so we can call her and ask,” he said.
* * *
After Kalen went downfor a nap, we moved out to the common room for a change of scenery. I wasn’t used to not having anything to do, and neither was Grant.
We were trying to decide on something to watch on television when Copper opened the front door and poked his head inside. “Game, you have a visitor. Do you want me to send her in?”
“Sure,” Grant said slowly with a look of confusion on his face.
The door pushed open and a girl in her late teens or early twenties who looked vaguely familiar walked in. She took a seat in a chair across from us.
“Can I help you?” Grant asked.
“My name’s Zoe, and I’m Dani’s sister,” she said.
“You mean half sister,” Grant corrected.
She shook her head. “No, I mean sister. We have the same mother and father. When they split up, I went with our dad and Dani went with our mom.”
“So, why are you here?” Grant asked, seemingly unfazed by the sudden appearance of an unknown relative.
“I wanted to tell you that I don’t blame you for what happened to Dani.”
“I didn’t even know you existed until two minutes ago. Why would you think I’d care if you blamed me?” he asked.
“I didn’t know you didn’t know about me,” she explained. “Anyway, Dani was involved with the wrong kind of people, and what happened wasn’t your fault. That’s all I came to say.”
“I see. Well, thanks for stopping by,” Grant said curtly.
My eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them. I felt like I should say something, but I didn’t know what. Before I could come up with anything, she stood from her seat and walked out the door.
“She forgot her bag,” I said and pointed to the large tote bag sitting on the floor beside her chair. I got up to grab it, hoping I could catch her outside, but as soon as I lifted it from the floor, the bag and everything around it exploded.
* * *
I joltedawake and immediately wrapped my arms around my stomach to cradle my ribs as I gasped in a breath. My heart was pounding, and I was covered in a fine sheen of sweat.
“Are you okay?” Grant asked.
