Joshua nodded, but his smile dimmed. He ducked his head back into the hall for a moment before returning to meet Dani’s eyes. “Michael slept on my floor.”

“I know.” Dani gently tousled the boy’s hair. “I got up to check on you in the middle of the night and he was there.” And it had broken her heart. Children needed to feel safe, but it was clear that Michael didn’t trust her. Yet. That was okay, though. “He probably wanted to be there in case you woke up in the night and didn’t know where you were.”

Joshua gave her one of those old-soul looks that said he knew so much more than he should. “He’s scared.”

“Well, he’s allowed to be, but he’ll get used to me and then he’ll know that you’re safe here.”

“I know already.” Joshua punctuated his words with a hard nod. “You gave him a blanket.”

“I didn’t want him to be cold while he was taking care of you.”

“He’s always taking care of me, but I can’t take care of him,” Joshua said sadly. “I’m too little. Everyone says I’m too little to do anything.”

Dani knelt in front of him. “But you did take care of him, Joshua. Yesterday you got him to talk to Coach Diesel, who brought you guys to me.” She poked him playfully. “You did that.”

Joshua sucked in a breath, his belly going round. “I did!”

“Yes, you did. Now, I’m thinking Coach told you to wake me up because he made breakfast. Is that right?”

His eyes widened comically. “I forgot again! He made chocolate chip pancakes.”

Dani frowned. “I don’t have chocolate chips in the pantry.”

Joshua shrugged and turned to the door. “I know. His friends brought some over. They’re downstairs eating. You should come before they’re all gone.” He started to race away, but she called him back in mild alarm.

“Joshua? Which friends?”

“Miss Merry and . . .” He frowned a little. “That policeman from yesterday. Not the one with white hair. The other one. He says he’s your cousin,” Joshua added suspiciously.

Dani chuckled. “Well, he is my cousin. His name is Mr. Adam. Go eat. Tell Coach I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

She closed the door, relieved. Adam and Meredith were here. Maybe Meredith could talk to Michael about therapy. Diesel had probably invited her over for that reason, asking her to bring chocolate chips to make her visit less formal.

Quickly she got ready, changing out of her sweats into a pair of jeans and a sweater the exact color of her blue eye. She added a dash of makeup that she normally would not have worn. Because Diesel was in her kitchen, she could admit.

And he’d kissed her last night. Several times. Then left her wanting more.

Which was smart on his part, she could also admit. He always left her wanting more. Glancing at her door to make sure it was still closed, she opened her sock drawer and pushed the socks aside, revealing a beautiful hand-knitted lace shawl.