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a little
investigating.”
    Martha raced into the nurse’s office
just as Jace left. Long ago she tried convincing me she was as
skinny as she wanted to be, (which meant she never dieted and hated
exercising but kept herself trim). She had long, flowing brunette
hair that retreated in length over the years (meaning that she let
Bree come near her with a pair of scissors to practice trimming it)
and claimed she wore magnifying glasses to hide her bland green
eyes. (There are times that I’ve considered my sight to be better
than hers even, even when she wears her thick rimmed
glasses.)
    Kissing my forehead, Martha deemed I
had a fever and needed rest. The nurse suggested I take in extra
fluids. I’d sweated through my uniform in the short time Jace
played his sick game with me. The sixth-period bell chimed just as
Martha escorted me into the hallway. There was nothing like having
my foster mother rescue me to cap off a horrendous day.
    Squeezing my hand in hers, Martha led
me to her ‘91 Ford minivan. In the past twenty years, this vehicle
taxied seventeen kids, but I was the only long-term and current
resident.
    An oversized shadow was leaning
against the outside wall of McKesson High, watching Martha and me
pull out of the parking lot. It wasn’t until his head twitched that
I recognized him as Jace’s friend from the bowling alley. Were they
conducting surveillance on me?
    I might have been slightly
paranoid.
    “ Martha, does the tall guy
leaning against the building have deep red hair?”I asked,
remembering that Bree had mentioned his ginger roots.
    She looked up. “Winnie, there’s nobody
out here.”
    ***
    Martha’s husband showed up after she
watched me sip down two bowls of chicken broth that evening. After
reassuring his wife that we would call her if anything happened to
me, John helped me escape to the sanctuary of my bedroom. Max
eagerly followed us, holding a squeak toy in his mouth.
    He was the father I never
had, or rather the one that had been stolen from me. He wasn’t the
type of man who’d wear a suit at work and forget to take it off at
home. Serving the Missoula area, John was one of the greatest
lawyers that Ashwick employed. Then again, I might have been a
touch biased. From what Bree told me, he looked like any dark
haired, tired, crusty lawyer on Law and
Order but had a smile to die for. Martha
always talked about how she fell in love with him because of the
sparkle in his eyes. Honestly, she was probably tickled pink that
he hadn’t sued her, after she spilled a hot cup of coffee on his
designer suit, years ago. Fate wove their destinies together. They
fell in love. Unable to have children of their own, they became
wonderful role models to countless abandoned children.
    “ You okay?” John asked,
closing my bedroom door.
    “ Pretty sure I just ate
something that disagreed with me, that’s all.”
    I’d slipped into a pair of flannel
shorts and a purple colored t-shirt as soon as I got home, so I was
all ready for bed. I crawled onto the mattress and patted the
pillow top so my canine friend knew he was welcome. The entire bed
swayed as Max wagged his tail, happy he’d been invited to be my
cuddle-bud for the night.
    John loosened his tie and sat down
next to me. “Martha’s getting a little overprotective,
again.”
    “ She’s going through some
kind of kiddo withdrawal.”
    “ A runaway might be bedding
down here for a bit, which might get her off your back,” John said
as he pulled my comforter over me. He knew all too well how
difficult it was for me to not get attached to the other kids in
their care. “But you never know how long kids like that will stick
around, so prepare yourself, okay, munchkin?”
    “ You know I’m not a little
girl anymore,” I said, just as I hoped he’d never drop his personal
nickname for me. In his eyes, I’d always be the lost little
nine-year-old who showed up on his door one snowy
evening.
    “ Of course,” John said as
he finished