JJ looked into John’s sympathetic pale blue eyes. He moved forward and put a small hand on John’s shoulder. It almostbrought the big man to tears when he added, “My daddy’s already gone, isn’t he, mister?” he asked in a soft, tear-laced voice, his little body stiff and straight, his face pained but resolute.
John bit his lip and swallowed hard. He looked away while he searched for words.
Josie knelt on the other side of JJ. “You know, don’t you?” she asked gently.
He looked at her. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Daddy said he knew his heart was bad, but he had to do this rodeo. You see, they raised our rent again and he didn’t have any money...” His voice broke.
Josie gathered him close and hugged him and hugged him, rocking him while she felt the tears on her shoulder, felt the shudders. There were tears in her eyes, too, falling down her freckled cheeks.
John was fighting his own emotions. The father had risked his life to save their home, which would now be lost anyway, like his life. And the boy had no relatives.
No family. He’d go into custody, into some foster home, or several foster homes...
“No,” he ground out. “Hell, no.”
Josie looked up, her face wet. “We can’t let that happen,” she said through a voice that sounded choked.
He knew without asking what she meant. After a minute, he nodded. “Let me talk to the desk.” He moved away.
Josie was still rocking the boy.
“They’ll put me in some foster home, won’t they, Josie?” he asked, resigned. “A boy at school named Diego was living in a foster home. He said there were ten of them, and sometimes he got beaten up...”
“That is not going to happen to you,” she said firmly, holding him by the shoulders. “Not in a million years.”Not if I have to adopt you myself, she added silently, and meant it.
She glanced at John, who’d moved closer to the lady at the desk.
“Just a sec,” she said, standing up. She pulled out her phone and called Raines. “I’ve got something to do,” she said, and hoped he’d think she had an opportunity.
“With him?” Raines asked excitedly.
“Yes.”
“Go ahead. Call me in the morning,” he added on a sick chuckle and hung up. She hung up, too, and then took the boy’s hand. “Let’s sit down for a minute,” she said.
“Okay.”
She turned to him, her arm firmly around him. “And no, you are not going into a foster home,” she added.
His dark brown eyes looked up trustingly into hers. He managed a shaky smile. “Thanks,” he said.
“You poor kid,” she ground out, and hugged him close.
John came back in a few minutes. “Okay, I’ve talked to the relevant people,” he said. “I’m taking you home with me.”
The boy looked uneasy, his eyes going to Josie, who’d already assumed a larger place in his small life.
“She’s coming, too,” John said, his eyes daring Josie to argue.
“Of course I am,” she told the boy, and smiled at him. “Everything is going to be all right.”
“Let’s go,” John said.
“But, my dad,” JJ protested.
“He’s coming to Big Spur, too,” John told him. “We have a...”
“There’s a nice Methodist Church there,” Josie interrupted with a warning glance at John. “Funeral home” was too harsh right now.
