Sherry’s gaze followed the most precious thing in her world. If only she could give him the life he deserved. But she was already doing everything she could—the same as Rita Mae. She almost raises him without me. A glance out of the window revealed that her best friend was obviously awake because the lights were still on in her trailer. For the past couple of months, while Sherry was at work, Jake had been sleeping alone in their trailer. At six years old, he had gotten too heavy to carry between their places, so they had agreed that Rita Mae would check on him with the monitor while Sherry was at work.

Rita Mae had probably seen her come home, because her stern features gave way to a smile and she waved through the window.

Sherry stepped closer to the glass and waved back. Time for my shower. She dragged herself down the narrow hallway to the shower stall, where she shed her much-too-short waitress uniform and threw it into the laundry basket. Finally, she switched on the light in the bathroom, stepped into the tiny shower stall, and pulled the folding door closed. When the water eventually warmed, a moan escaped her lips. Slowly, her aching muscles started to relax.

“Mom?”

“I’m coming, baby. Just a second.” Sherry shut off the water, opened the door an inch, grabbed her towel from the hook on the wall, and wrapped herself in its folds. Steam smelling like shampoo engulfed the trailer as she stepped onto the bath rug.

In the cool hallway, she put on her pajamas, switched off the shower stall light, and headed to her bedroom.

Jake was tucked in. Grinning as if he had gotten a candy bar, he held up the blanket for her to get in.

Sherry giggled at his antics. Hard to believe that she still had something to giggle about after the day she’d had. Actually, the week. Scratch that, the year.

She switched off the light and slipped under the warm blanket. Relief washed over her as she snuggled up to Jake. “Why are you still awake?” No matter how tired she was, she wanted to talk to Jake for a few minutes to check in before she allowed herself to fall asleep.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come home. I missed you.”

Sherry pulled him even closer. “Me too. But, honey, it’s almost two.” She yawned. “You should be asleep.”

Jake was silent.

“How was your day?” Sherry suppressed another yawn.

“We visited the zoo today.”

“Really?” She hadn’t given Rita Mae money for that. The few bucks she paid her for watching Jake certainly didn’t cover things like that.

“Mm-hmm.” Jake snuggled closer. “We saw elephants and penguins.”

As much as Sherry tried to keep her eyes open, they seemed to have other plans. A smile played on her lips nevertheless. Jake had had a nice day.

“Mom?”

“Mm-hmm?”