The kid didn’t mean to say shit that sliced a fucking hole in my stomach, but goddamn, that was hard to swallow. Trisha liked the damn cafeteria food because she was hungry. Shit, that made me furious. What girl doesn’t have a favorite food?

  Preston getting excited about Mrs. T’s cookies made a helluva lot more sense now. He always took some home to the boys and Daisy May now that she had teeth. He had this life too. But he had us. Trisha didn’t have anyone.

  She hadn’t had anyone. She did now.

  “We both like cereal. She won’t admit it, but sugar flakes are her favorite. They’re mine, too, but I lie and eat the cinnamon squares and leave the flakes for her. I know she likes them best.”

  I was wrong. She had Krit.

  Trisha

  Present day . . .

  Leaning against the door frame, I watched as Rock read a chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone with Daisy May. It was their nightly ritual. Daisy May had come a long way since she became ours, but her reading level was still lower than most of the kids in her class. Each night Rock read a chapter with her from the book that she had checked out from the library. It was helping her tremendously.

  Tonight watching them together reminded me of the moment I’d realized Rock Taylor was my hero. I had fought him every step of the way, not wanting to trust anyone but my brother. I was afraid of being hurt or rejected.

  Rock hadn’t given up on me, just like he wasn’t giving up on Daisy May. He believed in her, and I knew that was going to be enough to help her conquer this. When Rock Taylor believed in you, then you believed in yourself.

  “Night, Daddy,” Daisy May said sleepily.

  “Night, baby girl,” he replied as he put the book on the table beside her bed and stood up over her.

  “Night, Mommy,” she said as she shifted her gaze over to me.

  I walked into the room and stood beside Rock. “Good night, sweetheart. You read that whole last page all by yourself and didn’t miss a word. You’re going to be the top reader in your class one day,” I told her.

  Daisy May grinned and looked from me to Rock. He nodded in agreement, and she beamed. All it took from Rock was a nod of encouragement to make her smile like she owned the world. He did that to girls.

  I bent down over her and kissed her sweet little cheek. “I love you,” I whispered against her soft skin. Those were words she hadn’t heard enough in her short life. Rock and I had agreed to tell all three of our kids we loved them every morning and every night and every chance we got during the day.

  “Love you too,” she said with a happiness in her voice that I cherished.

  Rock dropped to his haunches so he was at eye level with her. “You’re my princess. Love you no matter what. Always.” It was something he had started saying to Daisy May a little over a year ago when she had broken a lamp by accident and burst into tears, afraid we wouldn’t love her anymore.

  “Love you no matter what,” she repeated.

  I walked out of the room and headed into the hallway to wait on Rock. It was time we went to check on our boys. They were getting their showers and finishing up their homework while Rock and Daisy May read.

  Rock closed her door after making sure she had her night-light on.

  His arm slid around my waist, and he pulled me against him. “You smell really good,” he said in a deep, husky voice as he ran his nose up the side of my exposed neck.

  “Don’t start yet.” I winked at him as I pulled away. “We have to get the boys in bed first.”

  Rock chuckled as his hand cupped my ass. “Then don’t look so damn sexy.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. My hair was in a bun on the top of my head. I was wearing a pair of cutoff sweats and one of his old T-shirts, which I had also cut off so it didn’t hang to my knees. Nothing about my appearance was sexy. I even had the spaghetti sauce from dinner splashed on me from letting it overheat on the stove.

  The bathroom door opened, and Jimmy walked out in his pajama pants and T-shirt. He was letting his hair grow. He wanted it like Preston’s. Right now it was damp and tucked behind his ears. Life with a teenager was supposed to be more difficult than this. Jimmy was thirteen now, but he never once gave us a moment’s trouble. It worried Rock. He was afraid Jimmy was being too good because he feared losing us.

  “Ready for bed?” I asked him.

  His smile, so much like his brother’s, tugged at his lips. “Yeah. I’m ready. But y’all didn’t have to wait on me. You could have put Brent to bed without me.”

  “I tuck all my kids even. I’ll be doing it as long as you live under this roof,” Rock replied with a teasing tone. “Even when you’re eighteen.”

  Jimmy knew Rock was teasing him and rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Yeah. Sure you will.”

  Jimmy walked into the room he shared with Brent, who was now ten. Brent was already in bed, looking at the newest sports magazine he had gotten in the mail. The kid was obsessed with football. Which Rock loved. It was their connection. They talked football for hours.

  His eyes lifted and he looked up at us. Of the three kids, he was the most serious and cautious. He trusted Preston, but it had taken months before he trusted us. This past year had been so much easier. He had started to believe that we wanted him and that we were a family. One he could feel safe in.

  “You should read this. The draft predictions are ridiculous,” Brent said, tossing the magazine at Rock, who caught it.

  “I’ll do that. We’ll discuss it tomorrow,” Rock replied, walking over to him. “You ready for the math test tomorrow?”

  Brent nodded. “Yep. I’m gonna kill it.”

  Rock bent down and kissed the top of his head. “That’s what I like to hear.”

  Once Jimmy was in bed, I went to his side and ruffled his hair. Sometimes I felt like I was raising a good version of Preston. I remembered the wild child Preston was in high school, and Jimmy was nothing like that. But his facial expressions and mannerisms were so much like Preston’s. “Sleep tight,” I told him, and kissed his forehead. “Love you.”

  “Love you, too,” he said in a whisper. That was new too. He’d just been replying with his own “I love you” the past few months.

  Once we had both boys tucked in, we cut the lights and closed the door.

  Rock stood there with his hand on the doorknob once we were in the hallway. “That never gets old,” he said in a whisper.

  He didn’t have to explain. I understood. Two years ago we were told that we could never have children. Having a family was something we both wanted. We wanted to create a world we ourselves had been cheated out of. We wanted to have a house full of love and safety to give to our kids—what we had always dreamed of having ourselves.

  We had that now. We were not only able to have a family filled with all those things we had longed for, but we were able to give it to kids who had been living a life of hell much like the ones we had been raised in. They were here now, though, and they were ours. And never again would they suffer or fear or go hungry. We would love them always.

  “We’re very blessed,” I agreed quietly.

  Rock smiled at me. “Yeah, we are.”

  Trisha

  Eight years ago . . .

  It was three days before Fandora came home. I had a doctor’s note for missing school, while Rock made Krit go every day while he stayed home with me. No matter how much I begged him to go to school, he just ignored me and acted like I hadn’t spoken. He was missing football practice, and he didn’t have an excuse for all the classes he was missing.

  I was selfish to enjoy sleeping without fear and feeling safe. But Rock being there gave me both those things. Relying on that scared me. I didn’t know why he was doing this or when he was going to grow tired of it.

  When Fandora had come into the house to find me on the sofa tucked in with a blanket watching television, and Rock sitting in the recliner, she had been furious. The shades of purple her face turned were impressive. I didn’t move. I just lay there in horror, waiting for her to lose it.

  “You need to go buy groceries,” Rock informed her as he stayed relaxed in the chair beside me.

  I stopped breathing. What was he doing? Did he not know this woman was crazy?

  “Get out of my house or I’m calling the cops,” Fandora screamed at him.

  Rock didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch. He couldn’t stay there forever, and at some point I would be left alone with this woman again. She would take this out on me.

  “Rock, don’t—”

  “I’m not going anywhere. You call the cops and I’ll be sure that they know you haven’t been home to check on your kids for three days. They’re running out of food. Trisha can’t take care of herself right now. So please, Fandora, call the motherfucking cops. I’d love to talk to them.”

  Fandora was frozen. She was furious, but she was also unsure how to handle this. No one had ever been here to correct her or demand anything of her before. As for threats, she wasn’t used to those, either. Except for Krit threatening to run away if she kicked me out.

  “You will not stay in this house,” she hissed.

  Rock shrugged. “Don’t see how I can leave. I leave and you will end up killing Trisha, and I won’t let that happen. ’Cause I swear to God if something happens to her, I’m going to the cops. And let me warn you, they love me. This town loves me. I think you got a taste of that at the hospital.”

  Fandora looked at me and pointed at the door. “Out. Get out. I’m done letting you mooch off me. I’ve let you stay too long. Krit won’t leave me—he can’t, he’s a minor. But you get your ass out of my house. I’m done with you.”

  Rock moved then. He was up so fast Fandora flinched. “You kick her out and Krit will leave too. Don’t fucking kid yourself, woman. That boy adores her and you know it. He hates you, though. He’ll leave too, and when they’re both gone you won’t get that monthly check from the state.”

  Fandora threw her purse on the floor and screamed. “I hate her! She’s a slut and I want her out of my house!”

  Rock scowled at her, then just looked disgusted. His gaze turned to me and softened. There was reassurance in his eyes. “I’ll go pack your clothes. You rest.”

  Where was I going to go? What about Krit? Rock was right that he would leave. He’d demand to be where I was, and I didn’t know where I was going to be.

  “Don’t speak to her. Don’t touch her. I’ll have you behind bars so damn fast you won’t know what hit you. When Krit leaves too, I won’t have anything keeping me from having your sorry ass locked up. I can get both your kids to go to the police and incriminate you enough to get you put away for a while.”

  “You can’t do anything!” Fandora yelled at him. “I’ve given them food and a roof over their heads. They are both lazy and won’t work! I should be given a fucking award for keeping her trashy ass as long as I have.”

  Rock stalked toward her, and I watched as she backed up. Her eyes were finally showing fear.

  “You call her one more name and I’ll deal with this shit myself. She’s the sweetest, kindest, most amazing girl I’ve ever met. So shut your filthy fucking mouth.”

  The door opened behind her, and I moved to sit up. Krit was standing there, taking in Rock in his mother’s face looking ready to murder her.

  “What’s going on? What did you do?” he asked, glaring at Fandora. “Did you touch Trisha?” His voice raised in a panicked tone.

  “No. She’s just kicking your sister out. I’m going to pack her things,” Rock replied calmly.

  Krit looked at me, and I tried to plead silently with him not to say or do anything stupid. I didn’t think she’d really hurt him, but she might start if I wasn’t here.

  “I’ll go pack my things too,” Krit said, not even looking at his mother.

  “You can’t leave. You’re my son,” Fandora screeched.

  “The hell I can’t. I go where Trisha goes,” Krit informed her.

  “NO! You can’t leave. I won’t allow it,” she continued.

  Krit let out a hard laugh. “I don’t give a FUCK what you allow.”

  Then he walked to his bedroom. Crap. He was packing to leave too. Where were we going to go? I had seen Rock’s dad. We sure wouldn’t be welcome there.

  Rock shifted his attention to me. “Don’t get up. I’ll get everything you need.”

  But where was I going?

  Rock

  I was almost to Trisha’s bedroom when Fandora’s words stopped me.

  “FINE! She can stay.” She wasn’t happy about it, but she was giving in.

  I turned back to look at her. “You going to touch her? Because I’ll be checking in all the damn time. One finger on her and I swear I’ll call the cops.”

  Krit slammed his door open and walked out looking reading to kill someone. “You ever touch her again and I will go to jail for life because I’m going to kill whoever puts their hands on her. Including you,” he warned in a tone that most kids his age couldn’t pull off.

  The kid was growing up fast. He had to.

  Fandora’s eyes went large. “Are you threatening to kill me?” she asked in disbelief.

  “I will kill anyone who touches Trisha. I am done letting shit happen to her. She doesn’t deserve it. No one deserves it. I won’t let you anymore.”

  “I won’t be attacked in my own house. If she hadn’t been flirting with my boyfriend, this wouldn’t have happened. He got angry and made her shut up and stop touching him. That’s why she’s laid up right now. I didn’t touch her.”

  Krit let out a hard, furious laugh. “What the fuck ever! He had his hands all over Trisha, and she was fighting him off. She doesn’t want your sick, disgusting men. She’s got him.” Krit pointed at me. “What would she want with greasy, fat old men?”

  Fandora stared at her son like she’d never seen him before. I expected this side of him was a first for her. He was a man now. She’d forced her little boy to become a man because of her actions. He was going to protect his sister no matter what.

  “Krit, don’t. Just . . . go to your room and work on your homework. Okay?” Trisha’s soft voice broke through the tension in the room.

  Krit looked at her, and a tenderness in his eyes replaced the hatred that had been there. “I love you. And because I love you I am done doing what you tell me to do. I won’t let you protect me anymore. I’m bigger than you, Sis. It’s time I kept you safe.”

  I really liked that kid.

  Trisha’s eyes filled with unshed tears as she looked at her little brother. “I’m okay. Just don’t do this to yourself. Go calm down and focus on your homework.”

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake. I’m done with this bullshit. I’m going to bed. Don’t bother me,” Fandora snarled as she walked to the hallway and toward her bedroom door. As she passed Krit and me, she stopped and shoved something at Krit. “Here’s a fifty go get whatever food you need.” Then she slammed her door.

  Krit held the fifty in his hand and looked at me, then Trisha. “We leaving or staying?”

  “We don’t have anywhere to go. We need to stay. I’m just going to focus on figuring out where we can go sooner rather than later. I need to get a job as soon as I can.”

  Krit frowned. “You don’t have a license or a car.”

  Trisha shrugged. “I will figure it out. You just worry about your homework. I’ll also get the groceries.”

  Like hell. She wasn’t going to go do anything. She needed to heal.

  I took the money from Krit. “I’ll go get the groceries. You watch over her until I get back.”

  He nodded and headed back into the living room. “I’ll do homework in here,” he told both of us.

  “Rock, you have to go home. You need to get caught up with school and get to football practice,” Trisha said, sounding worried.

  She was right. I did need to do those things if I wanted to survive going back to my house. My dad was going to be furious. But she was more important than any of that. “I have it under control,” I reassured her, which was sort of the truth. Dewayne had been getting my work every day, and his dad had written me an excuse for missing school. I had the flu as far as anyone else knew.

  Trisha sighed and leaned back on her pillows. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because you need me,” I replied, then headed for the door. I wasn’t telling her anything more than that.

  “Get milk,” Krit called out to me.

  Trisha

  After missing a week of school, I was ready to go back. Fandora ignored me completely, treating me as if I didn’t exist, and this was a wonderful thing. She hadn’t been at the trailer much. She stayed gone most of the time. Rock left school and came home to check on me at lunch every day and after practice. He was pleased Fandora was staying away. He’d also bought so many groceries I knew it wasn’t just fifty dollars’ worth. He’d added money to that. When I had tried to argue with him about it, he just blew me off like I wasn’t talking.

  When Krit had been so excited over corn dogs and grapes, I decided to forgive Rock for spending his money on us.

  This morning Rock was coming to get me for school. Krit wanted to ride the bus with Green, but he was insistent I ride with Rock to school. I was also not to carry my book bag or my books. Rock was planning on doing that until my ribs healed. The idea of walking through Sea Breeze High with Rock Taylor at my side all the time was exciting and intimidating. I knew girls wouldn’t see me as a reason to stay away from him.

  “Bus is here. See you after school!” Krit called as he ran out the front door. Fandora hadn’t come home last night. So luckily she wasn’t here for us to worry about. Krit had carried my book bag to the living room and made me swear not to pick it up, to wait on Rock till he arrived.

  I felt helpless and I hated that.

  When the gravel crunched beneath tires outside, my heart fluttered. Silly heart.

  I walked over to the window to see Rock open his truck door and step out. He was dressed in jeans and his practice football jersey. They wore them on Mondays after winning Friday night’s game.