Chapter 25
That afternoon, after the locksmith replaced the broken lock and left, Matti told Sam he needed to get dressed as they had to run some errands.
“I don’t want to,” Sam said as he crossed his little arms across his chest. “I want to stay here. You and Doc can’t leave either.”
Matti sighed. What happened to the little boy who was afraid to rock the boat lest he got sent away? She was glad he was gaining confidence and learning to speak up for himself. Really, she was, but now was not the time.
“Doc has an appointment he has to go to, and he has to talk to his boss, so he can’t stay here. He wants us to go with him.” She handed him his shoes. “Put these on. We don’t want to make him late.”
“What if the mean man sees us?” His bottom lip trembled.
She kneeled in front of him. “Listen to me, Sam. It’s going to be okay.
Doc and I will be with you, and a policeman is going to follow us.
” After their fear yesterday that someone might be following them, Wyatt had decided a patrol car should follow behind them when they needed to go somewhere.
“Maybe we can get Doc to take us for ice cream after his appointment.”
“I like ice cream.”
“Me, too. Put on your shoes so we can go.”
She left him to finish getting dressed and went to run a brush through her hair.
Not that it would do much good. In five minutes, it would be as messy as ever.
She hadn’t told Ryan how worried she was about his eye and how afraid she was that he’d have permanent damage.
Hopefully, it wasn’t as bad as it looked.
If it was, she’d feel even guiltier than she already did for bringing him into this mess she found herself in.
He didn’t blame her, she knew that, but that didn’t make her feel any better.
“What did he say?” she asked when they were back in the car after Ryan’s eye appointment. Please let it be good news.
“No permanent damage. I told him I held a black belt in jujitsu and got this in a match but that I won.” He grinned. “He was duly impressed.”
Amused, she just chuckled as she shook her head.
That was her outside face, though, the one she let him see.
Inside, her relief that his eye wasn’t permanently damaged was so overwhelming that tears threatened to embarrassingly streak down her cheeks.
She was driving because of his wrist and eye, and she blinked her eyes clear, then turned the key to start the car.
Sam tapped the back of Ryan’s seat with his foot. “Can we get ice cream now?”
“We have to make one more stop, then ice cream,” Ryan said.
“Will it take long?”
“No, buddy. I just have to stop by the hospital and talk to my boss for a few minutes.”
“I don’t like the hospital.”
Matti leaned around the seat so she could see him. “That’s where Doc works, remember?”
“Doc made me feel better.”
“That’s right.” As they drove to the hospital, she noticed that Ryan kept checking the side mirror. “Do you see anything?” she quietly asked.
“Other than the patrol car following us, no, but I don’t really know what to watch for. I should have signed up for spy school instead of medical school.” He grinned and winked at her with his good eye.
He could have lost his eye, and it was beyond her how he could still find amusement in that.
“What did Dr. Schwartz say?” she asked after they returned home and Sam was involved in a Disney movie on TV and not paying attention to them.
“She told me to get out of her emergency room and not come back until I could see out of both eyes.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“No, not at all. Being out for a week will have the other doctors working some extra hours, but that’s no different from when one of us takes a vacation. We deal.”
“I was worried—”
“Hey.” He stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. “No more worrying. Everything’s fine, and I’m glad I can spend another week with you. If I had to go back to work tomorrow, I’d spend my day worrying about you and Sam.”
“I have an idea. As of this minute, let’s both just stop worrying.” Not that it would be easy, but she’d try.
“Great idea. Let’s have some dinner, then maybe crash in front of the TV with Sam. We can let the Disney Channel entertain him while we catnap.”
“I like it. How does ham and cheese sandwiches sound?” After the night they’d had and the lack of sleep, she didn’t have the energy to do much more than slap some meat and cheese between two slices of bread.
“Perfect. You get the fixings from the fridge and I’ll get the bread.” He kissed the top of her head, then stepped to the pantry.
She had her head stuck in the refrigerator when she said, “Mustard or mayo or both?”
“Both. Where’s the bread?”
“On the shelf in front of you.” She leaned back to peer around him and frowned when she didn’t see any bread. “There should be a whole loaf.” She closed the refrigerator door and moved next to him.
“You can stare at the shelves all night long, but there is no bread,” Ryan said.
“I see that.” The peanut butter jar was gone, too. “Our little gremlin’s been busy again. Come with me.” It only took a minute to find his stash under the bed. “Go get Sam.”
While she waited, she set everything out on the bed, along with a package of string cheese, which she hadn’t noticed was missing. There was even a butter knife, which she assumed was for spreading the peanut butter on the bread. Left unchecked, he’d end up relocating the entire pantry.
Because she didn’t want to come across as intimidating by standing over Sam, she sat on the mattress next to his pilfered food.
As her gaze traveled over his stash, she smiled, amused at her little thief.
If she’d spent the first six years of her life hungry, never sure where her next meal was coming from, she’d be stashing food, too.
Sam walked in ahead of Ryan, and when he saw the food spread out on the bed, his eyes widened. He jerked to a stop, then hid behind Ryan’s leg.
“Sam, come here.”
“Go on,” Ryan softly said, putting his hand on Sam’s shoulder.
“I don’t want to. Matti’s going to hit me.”
Ryan dropped to his knees. “Remember I told you that Matti and I would never hit you?” Sam nodded. “We’ll never hit any child. Now, go talk to Matti.”
He came to her with the speed of a turtle. “I’m sorry, Matti. Please don’t give me away.”
“I’m not mad at you, sweetie. I just want to talk to you.
And no one’s giving you away.” Finding him a wonderful foster family wouldn’t be giving him away.
Although, he’d probably see it that way, but he’d adjust to his new family.
And wanting to cry at the thought of turning him over to another family was a warning.
She was letting herself care about him too much.
“You promise?”
She couldn’t because she wouldn’t lie to him. A glance at Ryan, and she could see that, like her, he was growing to care for this child, too. She’d need to tell him later that it wasn’t good to open his heart to a little boy they couldn’t keep.
Instead of answering Sam’s question, she said, “Why are you keeping food in your room?” She knew why, but she wanted him to say it so she could make him understand that he didn’t need to hoard food.
He stared down at his feet. “I’m sorry. I know I was bad, but I got worried. What if you don’t have enough money for food one day?”
“You aren’t bad, Sam. I know that. Doc knows that. We want you to know that. As for worrying that I won’t have money to buy food, that will never happen. There will always be food, but it needs to stay in the kitchen, not under your bed. Okay?”
“I just worry.”
“You’re six years old, and that’s too young to worry about anything. We know it wasn’t easy for you when you lived in motels, but those days are over. You’ll never go hungry again.” That she could promise because she’d make sure of it.
Ryan sat on the other side of Sam’s stash.
“What Matti said is true. You don’t have to worry about not having enough to eat.
And here’s a truth. Food belongs in the kitchen, so how about you return everything where you found it, and then we’ll have some dinner.
After that, we’ll watch your TV shows with you. ”
Sam walked out with the peanut butter and Oreos. As Ryan and Matti gathered up the rest, he said, “He killed me when he asked you to promise not to give him away.”
“Yeah, me, too.” When the time came for him to go to his foster family, how was she going to be able to look him in the eyes and tell him she actually was giving him away?