Page 33 of Fighting Chance

Clapping him on the back we walk side by side toward the house, the girls trailing behind, whispering to each other. “I seriously can’t thank you enough.” Swallowing the lump in my throat, I all but choke out, “I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Grayson wraps his arm around my shoulder, careful not to bump Emmy. “You would have been okay, but I’m glad I can be here for you. I mean it, Kieran, if you need anything,anytime, I’m just across the road.”

I nod, the setting sun peeking over the roof of my new home.I can’t believe I bought a house on a random Tuesday.

Grayson rubs the nape of his neck. “Fair warning, I may have told my mom. She and Dad immediately left their vacation and are on their way to help.”

My breath hitches.

Despite knowing Grayson for years, his family practically my own, I can never seem to get used to the generosity and care Allie and Carlton Crawford give me. Allie, especially. She stepped up for me the moment I walked into her house with my too-small shoes, ratty old T-shirt, and skeletal frame.

Since that day, she made sure I was always fed. Had shoes that fit. Clean clothes that wouldn’t make the other kids bully me.

And most importantly, she gave me the motherly love that I had been deprived of for years.

I’ve heard about the deep connection mothers form with their children and even that wasn’t enough to make her love me. Yet someone who has no obligation to me stuck around.

It’s something I still can’t seem to grasp, and I don’t think I ever will.

All I know is that the people who care about you leave. Whether it be my mother dumping me on the side of the road like an unwanted dog, the foster parents who sent me back to the home, or even the teachers that swore to help only to forget about me the moment I stepped out of their classroom.

Everyone left.

But not Grayson and his parents.Yet, a small voice whispers in my head.

Clinging to Emmy a little tighter, I make another promise to her, one of a million to come, though this one might be the most important of all.

I swear on my life that my daughter willneverfeel the way I did growing up.

Blowing out a breath, I confess, “I feel bad, but I would be a fool to turn their help away right now.”

Grayson snorts. “You could try but you know what she’s like.” He grows quiet, no doubt thinking back to the year he didn’t speak to her out of misplaced guilt. He shakes his head and the cloud recedes. “Have you sorted details out with Layla yet?”

“No, I haven’t,” I sigh, my mental to-do list becoming an endless growing thing to conquer. Grabbing a towel on the deck from the few Bella managed to scrounge up before our water fight, I bundle Emmy in it like a burrito, rubbing my hand up and down her back. Her shivers are getting fiercer and her baby teeth are chattering.

“I’ll let you get her dry,” Grayson says. Moving to wrap an arm around Bella, he places a small kiss on her temple. “Come on, let’s get warm before we catch a cold.”

“That’s a myth,” Layla says.

“Seriously?” I ask.

“Apparently.”

“Are you a MythBuster now, sunshine?”

Bella’s brows rise. “Sunshine?”

Layla rolls her eyes, pointing an incredulous finger at her best friend. “Don’t encourage him.”

“No encouragement needed,” I declare, grinning triumphantly.

“Interesting,” Bella murmurs under her breath before stepping forward and tickling Emmy, earning a cute chuckle from her. “Bye, sweet girl, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Figured I’d come over and keep her and Layla company during the game.”

“We have a game tomorrow?” I ask, my head swinging to Grayson.