I squeezed her hand. “I want to help.”

Anna stared into my eyes, searching. “Why?”

I didn’t look away. “I know what it’s like to have no power. I don’t want that for them.”

9

ANNA

“Smells good down here,” Lyla mumbled as she shuffled down the stairs and through the living room.

My niece was not one to wake up quickly. She needed at least an hour to finally get with the program. And it was adorable.

Justin jumped over the bottom three stairs, the opposite of his sister in the mornings. “She’s right. It smells awesome.”

I chuckled as I bent to pull the egg bake concoction out of the oven. Sleep hadn’t happened for me last night. At four a.m., I’d finally given up and come downstairs to read. Reading had been a failure, so I’d turned to cleaning and organizing again. By six, nothing in the downstairs had even a speck of dust, and I’d turned my attention to creating a breakfast feast.

“We’ve got biscuits, breakfast casserole, and hot chocolate.” The hot chocolate wasn’t nearly as good as what Mason had made me last night, but it would do the trick.

Justin raised an eyebrow. “Hot chocolate? It’s going to be like eighty degrees today.”

“But it’s still a little chilly this morning.” That was the thing about living so close to the mountains, temperatures could swing fifty degrees within any given day.

“Quiet,” Lyla hissed. “I want the chocolate.”

I slid a mug over to her. “No one’s going to steal your cocoa.”

She wrapped her hands around the mug and sighed. Justin and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Lyla didn’t even flinch, she simply inhaled the chocolatey goodness.

I plated slices of the casserole and biscuits, handing them to the kids. Then I made a plate for myself. As we ate, I kept a close eye on them, trying to see beneath the surface for any clue of how they were truly doing. As we finished eating, I straightened. “How are you guys feeling? Do you want to hang out here today? Go to Hope House? Do something else?”

Justin stiffened. “We’re fine.”

“I want to go to Hope House. Can we play soccer with Mason again?” Lyla asked.

Just the sound of his name made my stomach churn. And the hopeful look in Lyla’s eyes told me she’d already grown attached to the man. Maybe this was a horrible idea. I would be bringing someone into the kids’ lives who I knew wouldn’t be permanent. It would likely break their hearts when it didn’t last.

“Mason’s working today. He only comes to the shelter a few days a week.” Yet I found myself wishing he was going to be there today. He’d somehow become a touchstone over the past few days, and that was dangerous.