Page 95 of Trial By Fire
I lock eyes with Lindsey and force myself to look away. "Mads, you okay? Are you hurt?"
"No. I'm okay. Is it true?"
I swing myself over and eye Bronwyn's sturdy coffee table before lowering myself onto it facing Madi. "Yeah, honey, it's true. I'm now your legal guardian."
The words settle between us, heavy and almost holy.
Not temporary. Not a lie or false promise. She's officially mine to protect, to show up for and to be the parent that her mother's never been.
"I don't want to see her," Mads says. "If you knew what all she said about you before I could get away from her, you wouldn't want to talk to her, either."
I can only imagine. But one of us had to be the bigger person. "Mads, one of the conditions of guardianship is that she can visit and call you."
"She said she'd take Dani if I didn't go with her. How are you okay with that?"
"I'm not. Do I look okay with that?" I toss the crutches toward the couch beside Mads and lean forward, elbows digging into my knees. "But as a parent, I understand why she said it. Believe it or not, she loves you."
"She has a funny way of showing it."
I nod at that. "I know. I agree with you. But in her own way, she does. Look, being a parent isn't easy. We screw up a lot—but all we can do is keep moving forward and hope for grace."
"She left me. Then she threatened Dani, and now she's leaving again like nothing's happened. And I know it's messed up that I'm mad because I want to stay here with you and Dani, but—she just gave me away. My own mom. Who does that? How's that okay?"
I lean forward and tug her into a hug. "She didn't give you away. She gave you to me knowing I won't ever let anything happen to you."
I hear Madi sniffle, and in a small voice, she asks, "How do I know you won't get tired of me, too?"
"Because we love you, Madi," Dani says in her little-girl voice. "Don't we, Daddy?"
I kiss the top of Mads's head and nod, releasing her so I can stare into her eyes as I say, "That's right, Dani-girl, we do. Mads, you will always have a home with us. And maybe one day you and your mom can come to terms and sort things out. But until then, you've got a safe place with us. You hear me? No more running away. You got a problem with me or Dani? We talk about it. No excuses. Are we straight?"
Tears brighten her eyes but don't fall as she nods.
I wink at her. "Good. Because if you ever pull a stunt like this again ,you're going to be grounded until you're thirty."
A laugh bursts out of her, and I shake my head. "Not kidding, Mads. You've taken ten years off my life."
"I'm sorry. I had to go with her, or Dani— And then I had to take off when she stopped, and I knew I couldn't go back to your house because she'd go there looking for me."
"Do I want to know how you got back to the island to Bronwyn's?"
"I…got a ride."
"You hitchhiked?" I ask. "Do you know how dangerous that is?"
"I didn't. I…I saw Violet and Jasmine. They were gassing up the van and picking up ice, and I…kind of snuck on board because I knew they were heading back to the island."
"What did they do when they realized you were inside the van?"
"They didn't? At least I don't think they did. I waited until they parked and went into a house before I got out and then walked the rest of the way to Bronwyn's. What? It's better than hitchhiking with strangers."
"Yeah, it is," Sully says from Bronwyn's kitchen.
I look over, and Sully's elbow deep in a bag of chips. "Seriously? Help yourself there, Sully."
Lindsey laughs when she gets a look, and Dani giggles when Sully makes a goofy face at her. I shake my head at all of them.
"Don't encourage him."
