Page 41 of The Moments You Were Mine

I hugged him tight until his tears calmed. Then, I pulled back enough to see his face. “What happened, bud?”

“He said I had to share Dog. He said all the toys had to be shared,” Theo cried as he showed me his stuffed animal. “Now Dog is hurt.” The seam on one of the arms was torn, stuffing coming out. My chest felt like a thousand-pound weight had been placed on it. Fury rolled through me.

“We can fix it. I promise. Dog will be okay.” I set him down in the tiny chair he’d been in when I’d entered the office. “Give me two minutes, Theo, and then we’ll go home and get him all fixed up.”

Theo nodded, his red, splotchy face making me want to punch something.

I crossed to the lady at the desk, and maybe the dark look on my face or the way I leaned toward her set off her alarms, because she pushed away and took a step back.

I dropped my voice so Theo couldn’t hear, but it made my tone all the more deadly. “I told the lady who enrolled Theo that he’d lost both his parents in less than a month. That toy is the only thing holding him together some days. No wonder he reacted when some damn kid tried to take it away from him.”

Her eyes widened. “I’m… Sheila didn’t say…”

“I guess it’s good we’re leaving and not coming back, seeing as your staff fails to share the critical needs of their students with each other. Did you even bother to ask him what happened?”

“Yes.”

“Did you see his toy was ripped?”

“You may not understand this, Mr. Steele, but violence is never the answer. And certainly not one kid slamming a toy into another child’s face.”

“That’s the second time you’ve disparaged my career—the people who keep you and this country safe. I’d like my money back.”

She swallowed. “We don’t give refunds when kids are expelled.”

I snorted. “False advertising. Inability to keep a traumatized child safe. I’m sure I can find some other things to lob at you. Give me my money back, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

“Our policies are clear.” I took a step forward, and she swallowed hard. “Do I need to call security, Mr. Steele?”

My nails bit into my palms as I tried to rein in my anger, tried to tuck it behind the shield I was supposed to be excellent at keeping. I didn’t really give a damn about the money. It was the principle of it. They hadn’t kept Theo safe.

Ihadn’t kept Theo safe.

I whirled around, picked Theo up along with the little dog backpack I’d bought him, and strode out of the building.

So much for knowing what the hell I was doing. Any pride I’d felt at our routine, at the structure and home I was trying togive Theo, flew out the window. I’d left him at the first damn place I’d researched. I’d left him, and he’d been traumatized even more.

I’d failed.

I could rationalize it by saying I was still learning, but that was bullshit. This was a kid’s life I had in my hands, not some stupid-ass gun I had to learn to take apart in my sleep.

But goddamnit, I hadn’t signed up for this. Hadn’t signed up to be a dad.

Guilt swarmed in over the frustration and regret.

I had to get those kinds of thoughts out of my head, or I’d never be able to give him what he really deserved—the simple knowledge he was loved and wanted.

An image of Fallon flashed before me, picking at her nails as she shrugged off something I’d said about her dad.None of them wanted me, Parker, and now I’m just a duty they can’t shake.

It had torn my insides to shreds. She’d truly believed she wasn’t wanted or cherished. She’d admitted to being loved when I’d pushed and had eventually admitted she’d been wrong about some of it. But I knew those old wounds still ached, knew she still looked at the way her siblings were loved and saw all the ways she hadn’t been.

I didn’t want Theo to ever believe he was only an obligation.

After buckling himself into the car seat that barely fit into the back seat of my pickup, Theo looked up at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Are you m-mad at me? Mommy used to get mad…” He rubbed his cheek, and his little shoulders shuddered before he buried his face in his stuffed animal again. My stomach fell to my knees. What had Althea done when she’d been angry? Had she hurt him?

Damn it. Damn all of it.