Page 66 of The Beast's Heart

He turns his face into me and sobs. I hold him for a long while, blinking back my own tears.

“No one will ever want to keep me again,” he says. “And if they did I’d just ruin it again. I’m just like my parents. I’m trash.”

“You’re not trash.”

“My mom is a junkie and my dad is a thief. I’m just like him.”

I hold him tighter. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe thieves usually return what they’ve stolen?”

He sniffles.

“Mal…If I could adopt you, I hope you know I would in a heartbeat.”

He pulls away to look at my face. His eyes are all puffy and his cheeks are tear-stained. I regret not carrying a hanky like my father.

“Even now?”

“Yes, Mal. And I’m certain I won’t be the only one. Now, should we put this matter aside for the night? I think I promised you a mug of cocoa?”

27

ADAM

“Having fun, playing dad?” Geoff stands in the shadows, a bottle of something amber dangling from his hand.

As soon as the children were settled, I escaped out to the garden to be alone. But Geoff must have seen me from the parlor. God knows how. Half a moon hangs in the sky above the trees, its dismal light reflecting off silver clouds. The ground beneath my feet is damp and the air is charged, like there’s another storm on the way.

“I’m not in the mood,” I say.

“You never are anymore.” He approaches and leans back against the trunk of a tree a few feet away. Silently, he passes the bottle.

So, even Geoff knows things didn’t go well. Or maybe, unlike me, he thought the idea through and came to the logical conclusion that they wouldn’t.

When I accept the bottle he chuckles. “Let me guess. The little brats were less than appreciative?”

“Don’t call them that.”

“Little beasts then.”

I take a swig. The whisky burns a little less than his words.

“Ah Beast, don’t take it hard. You’re just not cut out for this.”

“And what would you know of it?”

Geoff shrugs. “Nothing, but then I don’t pretend to. Not like you and the Teach. He’s a good little actor though. You’d almost think he knows what he’s doing.”

“He does know what he’s doing.”

“Oh, and what would you know of it?” Geoff throws my words back at me. “From what I heard, it didn’t seem like it.”

So, Geoff heard the commotion when we tried to surprise the kids. The whole house probably did. “Mistakes happen.”

“Mistakes happen more when you’re a fraud. Or have you forgotten?”

A chill breeze cuts across the garden. I hadn’t forgotten.Or had I?Jonathan fit in so well in the household, did so well with the children. It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about the fact that he was never supposed to be here.

“Did you ever find out why he lied about who he is?”

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