“Cerise, thank you for coming.” She walked over to her and held out her hand. Cerise took it and gave it a quick shake.
“Of course, I told you that I will do anything for that boy. I take it Poppy has a new boyfriend?”
Daphne sighed. “Yes. I told her she can’t keep doing this and if she comes back wanting him, I’m not going to just hand him over this time.”
Cerise bit her tongue to stop herself from saying the case worker should’ve done it a year ago, but the last thing she wanted to do was get on her bad side. Besides, she was well aware that most social workers had too many cases on their plates to deal with. Plus, Daphne was married to Gene, another HVFD volunteer. Gene was a good guy, and Cerise knew Daphne did the best she could. “Well, you know I love Finn, and he can stay with me as long as he wants.”
“I appreciate this and I know Finn will love to see you again. I’ll just go get him.”
“Great. I’ll be here.”
Daphne headed down the hallway and Cerise tamped down her excitement at seeing Finn again. She wanted to scoop him up and hug him tight, but she also recalled that each time she’d gotten him back from his aunt, the last thing he’d wanted was to be hugged. Finn was too young to be building up his defenses against people. However, given how he was being treated and the fact he’d lost his parents at a young age, it was understandable.
The sound of footsteps had her looking up and she couldn’t stop the smile from breaking out when she spied the little boywalking beside Daphne. As they got closer her heart cracked a little, taking in the rounded shoulders, the tired look in his eyes and his downturned lips. Defeat surrounded him like a dense fog.
Nope, no way was she going to let this keep happening. Poppy couldn’t keep taking him back whenever her latest man walked out on her.
Cerise would find a way to keep Finn this time. No matter what it took.
CHAPTER FOUR
Perhaps goingout to breakfast wasn’t a great idea. Finn hadn’t said anything to her other than “hello,” when she’d greeted him.
Whatever had happened this time with Poppy seemed to have broken his spirit even more than it already had been.
“How are the pancakes, Finn? Do you need more syrup?”
He shook his head and cut another piece off before popping it in his mouth. He avoided her gaze. As a former foster child, she was well versed in all the techniques to building walls around oneself. She was determined to remove Finn’s wall, brick by brick.
“Cerise, hi.”
She looked up and almost choked on the bite of bacon she’d put in her mouth. She chewed quickly and chased it down with a sip of her juice. “Brodie, what are you doing here?”
The fact she’d been able to form a coherent sentence surprised the hell out of her. Brodie in his firefighter uniform was impressive, but dressed for ranch work, well, he was the stuff fantasies were made of.
His blue jeans hugged his legs as if they were painted on. His pale-blue, button-down shirt highlighted his blue eyes. His brown hair showed the line of where his hat had been resting,the black cowboy hat was held in his hand. A slight-red hue highlighted his cheekbones.
Dang it girl, stop staring.
She quickly ducked her head.
Across the table Finn had frozen, his fork halfway to his mouth. His brown eyes wide, he looked like he was about to bolt.
Oh no, did he think Brodie was her boyfriend and she was now going to take him back to the home? She reached across the table and laid her hand over his other one clutched tightly around his knife, resting on the plate.
“Finn, it’s okay. Brodie is a friend. You’re coming home with me after we finish breakfast. I’m not going to take you back to the boys’ home. You can trust I won’t do that to you, ever.”
During her life she’d never hated anyone, but right at this moment, she hated Poppy. She’d put such fear and doubt into this little boy’s mind that he believed, because she spoke to a man, she was going to dump Finn back at the home. Nobody should ever feel that way, especially not a grieving child.
“Look, why don’t I just leave you guys to it? It’s good to see you.” Brodie nodded and started to walk away. But she didn’t want him to leave.
“Wait, don’t go.” He paused and raised a brow in question. Cerise looked over at Finn. The little guy’s features had relaxed a bit, but not totally. What he needed to see was that not all guys were bad and didn’t want to be around kids. Not like the losers his aunt always seemed to hook up with. Plus, Finn liked Mitch, and maybe if the boy knew that Brodie was also a friend of Mitch’s, he wouldn’t be so worried.
“Finn, is it okay if Brodie joins us? He’s a friend of Mitch and Nadia’s. He’s also a volunteer firefighter and, as you can see, a cowboy too.”
She risked a glance up at Brodie and caught the slightly bewildered smile on his face, but he didn’t look like he was about to run for the hills.
“Sure. I don’t care,” Finn mumbled before shoving another bite of pancake in his mouth.
