* *
Tyler grabbed Dani’s arm as she started to chase after the boy. “Is it safe out there? All the animals are in enclosures, I mean?”
She tugged, trying to break his grip. “Yes, of course it’s safe. But he’s upset. I need to go to him, and explain—”
“Fine, but let him have a minute to himself first. He’s upset, yes, but he’s going to be even more embarrassed for crying in front of us. Give him a little time to calm down. Trust me.”
She kept her eyes on the door, but stopped trying to pull away. “One minute, but then I’m going after him.”
“We’ll both go.”
Dani ran her hands through her shoulder-length dark hair, frustration and regret clear as day on her face. “I can’t believe I was such an idiot. I just thought he’d like to see cute baby animals. Everyone likes baby animals, right?”
It seemed like a rhetorical question, but he nodded anyway.
“It never occurred to me that he’d focus in on them being orphans. Of course, it should have.” She began pacing, her walking shoes squeaking on the linoleum floor with every step she took. “How could I be so stupid? So heartless? Bringing him here would be like taking a burn victim to a bonfire, for heaven’s sake.”
“Now, it’s not quite like that...”
“Yes, it is. He’s an orphan. He lost his mother not that long ago, and his father might as well be dead. And what do I do? Take him to see a bunch of orphaned animals. Then, to make it worse, I tell him all about how they’ll be let loose. ‘Abandoned,’ I think is what he called it.”
“Hey, you couldn’t have known he’d take it that way. We’ll talk to him, make sure he knows that no one is going to abandon him.”
“It was still insensitive. I should have known better.”
“News flash, princess. You can’t always have all the answers, or get it all right. Not when it comes to kids. Yeah, you screwed up. You’ll fix it. And then probably do something else to mess up, and then fix that. It’s how the whole thing works.”
She stopped pacing just a foot away from him and stared at him. She was close enough that he could smell the scent of whatever fancy shampoo she used, something girly.
“You know, I’m not sure if I want to thank you or smack you.”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not trying to make you feel better, just telling you the truth.”
“Which is that I screwed up, but it’s not a big deal because I’ll probably do it again?”
“Something like that, yeah.”
She cocked her head, as if trying to judge if he was serious. Which he was. If he’d learned anything since his girls were born, it was that it was impossible to predict what would set them off. And that making mistakes was par for the course. That they were doing okay was more a statement about their resilience than his own parenting skills.
“Fine. But can we go get him now?”
“Sure, but don’t push him, okay? He’s a guy, and he’s going to feel dumb about crying. Don’t make it worse by fussing over him too much.”
“Isn’t he a little young to be worried about all that macho stuff?”
“Nope. Boys his age want to be seen as fearless. I’m not saying you can’t talk to him about it, but just let him take the lead, okay?”
“Fine, let’s just go.” Moving past him she went out the same door Kevin had used.
Tyler followed her onto a mulch path that ran alongside the building and out toward what must be the animal enclosures. To the left was an enclosed space similar to a barn. To the right were open pens ringed with chain-link fencing. At the farthest one, with his back to them, was Kevin.
Dani’s footsteps quickened, but at least she didn’t run up and hug the kid. Instead, she positioned herself next to him, looking into the enclosure. Tyler joined her, flanking Kevin’s other side. For a minute the three of them just stood there, watching what seemed to be a very relaxed, very large panther grooming itself in the sun.
Dani spoke first. “That’s Simba, the panther I was telling you about. You’d never know it now, but he used to be really nervous—in fact, he was terrified of strangers. My sister Mollie’s done a lot of work with him to help him build up his confidence.”
Kevin blinked in surprise. “The panther was scared of people? Doesn’t he know he could just eat them if he wanted?”
“I guess not.” Dani shrugged. “He used to be a pet, sort of. A mean man kept him locked up all the time in a small cage, and it wasn’t very nice. When he was rescued and brought here, he didn’t know if the new people he met were going to be mean to him, like the place he came from. It took time, and lots of people being nice to him, before he was able to relax and enjoy his new home.”
Tyler watched Kevin take that in, no doubt relating it to his own experience moving from foster home to foster home. “That makes sense. I’m glad the people here are nice to him.”
“Me, too.” Relief flooded Dani’s face. “Now, do you want to see the rest of the animals? Some of them have had hard times, like Simba, so if that makes you sad, we could do something else.” She glanced over at Tyler and smiled. “Like go get ice cream or something.”
Kevin looked at Simba for another minute before speaking, his voice so soft Tyler could barely hear it. “Are the other animals happy now?”
She smiled. “Yeah, buddy, they are.”
“Okay, I’d like to see them then. I like happy endings.”
* * *
After seeing all the other animals, which were thankfully deemed happy by Kevin, they ended up at the ice-cream parlor after all. It wasn’t like she could say no, not after how badly she’d messed up earlier. She’d half expected Tyler to veto the idea, but he’d readily agreed and had even insisted on treating them all. Every time she thought she’d started to figure him out, he’d change things up on her.
In court he’d been cold and distant, almost clinical in his description of what had happened. In the park he’d been patient but firm in his convictions. At the rehab center he’d surprised her by letting her take the lead while he mostly observed. And now he was chatting casually with Kevin, each arguing the merits of their preferred ice-cream flavor. Dani hadn’t been able to get a word in edgewise. Which was fine; it was good that they were starting to bond. And Kevin was smiling, which was awesome. She had a feeling she’d feel guilty about the incident with the orphaned possum for a long time, but he seemed none the worse for it.
The real reason she couldn’t seem to relax had nothing to do with Kevin and everything to do with the man sitting across from him, extolling the virtues of mint chocolate-chip ice cream. Not that he was doing anything wrong. He was just...confusing. She couldn’t get a read on him, and that was making her crazy. As a lawyer she had taught herself to be good at reading faces, at knowing what people were thinking even when they weren’t saying it and be able to grasp what was going on inside
