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understand why it had taken him so long to make a move. It didn’t matter now because something was definitely happening between them. She just wasn’t sure what Travis’s exact intentions were when it came to her.
    They were buzzed into the ward where Alisa was. Her room was the third one down the long hallway so they didn’t have to go far. The door was half-open and Noel could hear murmured female voices so she knocked as they stepped inside. “Hello?”
    A white curtain was pushed back and Alisa was sitting up in her bed. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and bags circled her eyes, but she looked to be in good spirits. Probably because her daughter was right by her side. An older woman who Noel had seen in pictures at their house, sat in a chair by the window knitting. It was Alisa’s older sister and she was pretty sure there was a big age gap between them. Close to twenty years if she had to guess.
    Juanita jumped up from her spot by the bed, racing around it. She practically tackled Noel, wrapping her thin arms around Noel’s waist. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
    She returned the hug and kissed the top of the young girl’s head. Before she could respond, Juanita had tugged away and embraced Travis in a similar, binding hug. He looked stunned and a little uncomfortable as Juanita started going on about how wonderful he was.
    Smothering a smile, she left him alone and strode toward Alisa’s bed. “I’m glad to see you doing so well.”
    “Thank you, and not just for being here today. I’ve been working too much and I should have been there. I should have known what was going on with my own daughter. I’m so glad Juanita called you, but it never should have happened in the first place.” Alisa’s voice broke on the last word as tears tracked down her makeup-free face.
    Noel knew she’d had Juanita very young, at fifteen, she thought. Right now the woman looked impossibly young herself. She was only a couple of years older than Noel. “What’s done is done and you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re trying hard to provide for your daughter and she knows that. What’s more, you’ve got a good kid with a smart head on her shoulders. Whose idea was it to put her in the Big Sister program?”
    “Mine,” Alisa sniffled.
    “Exactly. No one would question your love for your daughter. What happened was awful, but Juanita never saw anything and by the time you go home, we’ll make sure everything is cleaned up.” She needed to talk to Travis about that to make sure she could actually do it, but she’d try. There was no way Juanita needed to see any traces of what had happened in her home.
    Travis cleared his throat, drawing both their attentions to him. Juanita was standing there, looking up at him adoringly and Noel bit back a smile. Juanita had a crush on a different boy every week at school. It seemed Travis was now her newest crush. Noel couldn’t blame her.
    “I’d like to talk to Alisa about some security options, so maybe…” He nodded subtly toward Juanita.
    Understanding what he meant, Noel jumped up. “Of course. Juanita, why don’t we hit up the cafeteria? I’m starving and I’m sure you must be too.”
    “I’m not hungry. Tia Ivette cooked me breakfast before we left her house this morning.” She stuck out her bottom lip defiantly, making her look much younger than fourteen.
    The aunt finally spoke as she pushed up from her chair. “We can eat again, little one. Come on, let’s give them some privacy.”
    Guiding Juanita toward the door and ignoring her complaining, Noel shot a quick glance at Travis over her shoulder. He gave her a half-smile full of sensual promises that had her toes curling in her boots. Noel was dying to know what Travis planned to talk to Alisa about, but knew he’d tell her later. The truth was, that wasn’t the main thing she was even concerned about. Right now her thoughts were so focused on what kind of piercing he had and when she