But she could only be grateful to Hawk for caring for her boy and making the trips to bring him to see her. He rarely spoke, and she’d thought it was merely because he was quiet or didn’t like people.

Her stomach sank. Could the man, maybe, resent her for saddling him with a child who clung to him like kudzu?

No matter. It was fine if Hawk disliked her as long as he was kind to Aric. She blew out a breath and started the slow process of lying down without hurting her ribs.

For her part, she’d do everything she could to get on her feet, find a job, and resume caring for Aric.

And even if Hawk felt a bit aggrieved at her for disrupting his life, she’d be forever grateful to him.

In clean clothes after a quick shower, Hawk dropped onto his living room couch. Stretching out his legs, he sighed. Felt good to be home.

He could hear the kid upstairs in the bedroom putting on the clothes someone had left on the bed for him. Everything else of Aric’s had been moved to Bull’s place.

The kid might take a while, but dressing was something he’d mastered.

Getting clean was another matter, especially on days like today. At the campsite, while Hawk had loaded the client and his gear into the floatplane, Aric had played in the mud.

Hell, more like he’d rolled in it. He’d even had it in his ears. It’d taken two times with shampoo to get Aric’s hair back to blond rather than brown. But he’d pass a mom-inspection now.

Speaking of moms…

Hawk rose to get his phone from where he’d dropped it on the kitchen island. Yeah, Bull had texted that Kit was there, and they’d already had supper.

That worked out since the kid was already fed. After landing the floatplane at Lake Hood, Hawk—with Aric—took the client and his stuff to the Anchorage airport for a flight back to the Lower 48. The kid had tried his best to be helpful, so Hawk had treated him to a burger and fries at the Arctic Roadrunner.

Aric trotted down the stairs and swung by his bowl on the shelf to deposit a new rock. He wore the bright blue T-shirt with a dinosaur on it JJ had bought him, jeans, and red sneakers—ones with Velcro rather than shoelaces.

“Good job dressing,” Hawk said and was pleased Aric no longer looked surprised at getting approval. “We’re going to Bull’s. He probably has cookies.”

That got an enthusiastic nod.

No words though. Aric still avoided speaking, if possible. Hawk ended up talking more than normal just to counter the kid’s silence.

But, in all reality, quiet was good. Since Aric was so obviously fragile, Hawk was damned careful around him.