Page 86 of Crazy Love

She sighs. “Penn?—”

“No. Don’t start with me. You told me you’d keep an eye on things. Every child should’ve been moved from that house the second Sam got hurt. And now, that little girl is hurt.”

“Where did you hear that?”

“Sam heard it today at school. And it’s really sad that he would be privy to that information before you are.”

“There’s a process?—”

“Fuck the process!” I yell. “Get her out of there. Immediately. Every child in that house better be out. They can come here if there aren’t enough places for them to go. I’ll make calls, pull strings, whatever I have to do, but goddammit, you need to make this right, Mrs. Murphy!”

She exhales. “Yes, yes. I will.”

“You’d better,” I say as I hang up.

When I’m off, I call David and Sutton and then stalk the floor, still raging. Until I realize Sam is still curled up on the couch, his whole body tense. I sit down and pull him into my arms.

“I’m sorry. I need to calm down. I just want to fix this and I will.” I press my chin to the top of his head. “I promise.”

He clings to me, his voice breaking again. “Okay.”

For the first time in days, I don’t feel like I’m winning anymore.

The phone rings an hour later. Mrs. Murphy. I put her on speakerphone.

“Did you mean what you said about taking in Winnie?” she asks.

I glance at Addy and she nods.

“Absolutely,” I say.

“I will be bringing her in about two hours. She’s being evaluated by the doctor now. It looks like she’s bruised up and has a black eye, but there are no broken bones. If you’re agreeable to this, I’d like her to stay with you for a few days until I can find a new placement.”

“She can stay here indefinitely, as long as she needs,” I say.

Sam sniffles and hugs me again.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

Winnie is a five-year-old little girl with wild blonde curls and the biggest green eyes.

When she looks up at me, her fingers nervously clutching a ratty blanket, my heart tumbles over itself. That pang of expansion that I’m only now learning to recognize. Who knew a heart could keep filling up with more people to love?

Addy and these kids are going to sink my heart until all that’s left is goo.

I surrender.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

A WHOLE NEW WAY OF LIFE

ADELINE

I’m on my knees, searching for Sam’s missing sneaker under the couch, when I hear Penn say softly, “Hey there, sweetheart.”

I sit back on my heels and turn toward the door. And there she is.

Winnie.

---