Page 65 of Broken Halos

“You’ve lived on the street since then?”

“Why do you sound horrified, Ollie? You did it, and you were only a kid.”

“Kaleb, are you taking your meds? Do you even have access to them?” Archie asked. Kaleb shook his head. “We have to fix this right away.” Archie and I looked at one another and silently agreed about what needed to be done.

“You’re coming home with us, Kaleb,” I told him. “Archie still has an available room.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t. Not after hearing what happened to you.”

“Kaleb, I forgive you.”

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t forgive myself, Ollie.”

“Kaleb, if you ever really cared about me, then you’ll come home with us. I cannot and will not live with your death on my conscience, especially if I could prevent it. Right now, we need to get you off the street, and we can sort everything else out later.”

“Ollie—”

“Listen here,” Millie said, muscling in. “He’s not taking no for an answer, so you might as well give up. We have hundreds of people who need to be fed and no time to be arguing over something when the answer is so obvious. Now, are you going to hang around and come home with us, or are you going to make an old woman walk the streets at night hollering your name until she finds you?” God, how I loved my mother.

“I’ll come peacefully,” Kaleb said, fighting off a smile.

“Smart boy. Get back to work, fellas.”

“Yes, ma’am,” we both said.

I looked over my shoulder on the way back to our stations and saw Millie had switched from her tough love to a tender talk. I knew the expression and body language better than I knew my own. She was laying down the groundwork for Kaleb to find a better life, just as she had for me.

“Mama’s found a new lamb,” I said.

“I’m totally singing that in my head to the tune of ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb,’” Archie said.

When we got back to Ryan’s Place, the first thing Kaleb wanted was a shower. Henry let him borrow some of his clothes since they were about the same size, and the rest of the guys worked hard to make him feel comfortable. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with Esther and Maria while the guys and Mama watched football.

“I’m proud of you, Ollie,” Maria whispered, pulling me into a hug. “My son is so lucky to have you in his life.”

“I’m lucky to have him too.” He was my greatest gift, and I loved him with everything I had.

“Before we can eat,” Maria said once we were seated around the tables in the dining room, “we’re each going to say something we’re thankful for.”

A few of the guys groaned but were silenced when Esther raised a brow. Most of the sentiments were heartfelt, and we expressed gratitude for having each other in our lives, and some were humorous and silly to lighten the mood. Henry nearly brought me to tears when he said he was thankful for his chosen family, and Kaleb, who’d only lived there a few hours, expressed his gratitude for second chances. Archie and I kept our declarations PG, but we both sappily included one another in the list of things we were most grateful for.

Once we were alone, things were different. I straddled Archie’s lap so I could stare into his eyes and whisper how much he meant to me against his lips and tell him how excited I was to celebrate the Christmas holidays and ring in the new year together. “It’s going to be the best year of our lives,” I told him.

“It’ll be pretty hard to top this year,” Archie challenged. “I can’t imagine our lives being any more perfect than they are now.”

I could, and I knew just how to make it happen.

Five months later…

“WHY HAVEINEVER HEARDof French Park before now?” I asked Ollie as we strolled down one of the winding, wooded hiking paths. “It’s so green and lush in the springtime. Jack is dying to play in the creek,” I warned. “Those waterfalls would make perfect spots for taking pictures too.” Jack, our newly adopted German Shepherd, eyed the creek so pitifully.

“We’ll stop soon. There’s a shelter house a little way down this trail,” Ollie said, sounding distracted.

“What’s going on? You seem edgy,” I told him.

“Nope. I’m just hungry. I have fried chicken and all the trimmings inside this basket.”

“Then let’s get moving a little faster,” I said.