“I know. And that’s okay. But I promise, Ma’am, they’re not here to hurt you. They’re here to help.”

“I’m scared,” she weeps, her hand squeezing mine. “I feel like I’m not real and this isn’t real and you’re the only thing that makes sense and that can’t be right, can it? How…” Her gaze moves to the window, both hands covering her mouth. “Oh no! The window. What did I do?”

“Don’t worry about the window. I’ll fix it.”

“You’re always fixing things. Always taking care of me.”

Martin clears his throat, his arms around Becca keeping her upright. “I read that it might be helpful if you talk about something she openly remembers…”

“Who is he?” Chaz whispers.

I sigh.

She cries harder.

I focus on Martin’s words, and take a steady breath, trying to find the hope I felt earlier. “You remember me, right?” I ask.

She nods, freeing the tears from her cheeks. They land on the blankets bunched around her and for seconds, minutes, I watch them seep into the fabric.

I mumble, trying to find strength in my voice, “And you know my son, Tommy?”

She nods again. “Thomas Joshua. Such a beautiful boy.”

“You met us at the store. Do you remember that?”

“Yes,” she sobs, wiping at her eyes.

“I didn’t know you were there watching—watching me with a baby in my arms, struggling to pay for his formula and his diapers and I was so afraid, ma’am. I was so scared because I felt like I couldn’t take care of him the way I should. I was failing him, and I tried so hard not to let it show but you saw it, didn’t you?”

Her lips tremble, her eyes filling again.

“And you followed me to that skate shop where I tried to sell my board, and then you followed me again into that alley. I was lost and alone, so alone, and I broke down. And you watched it all. You watched me look at my son, you heard me make promises I didn’t think I could keep, and you saved me. You saved me that day, ma’am.” Now I’m crying, too, our tears a mix of memories and heartache. “And then we went back to the store. Do you remember what you said?”

Chaz inhales deeply before blinking back even more tears. “I said my niece was coming to visit and to get everything I needed for a newborn baby like Thomas.”

“Right. And then you brought us here, led us to that garage apartment and we put away all the groceries you’d bought. Do you remember what you said to me? Because I’ll never forget it, ma’am. Never.”

She sniffs once, holding her breath to stop the cries from forming.

“You took my hand in yours and you said, ‘It’s not much of a house, but you and Tommy, you can make it your home.’ You didn’t just give Tommy and me a place to live. You didn’t just save us. You gave us a family when we had none. And you gave us you. You are our home, Ma’am.”

18

—Becca—

Loud hammering wakes me from my sleep, and I get up quickly and run downstairs to check on Grams. She’s fast asleep, exactly the way I left her in the early hours of the morning. Josh is out on the porch with another guy replacing the window that Grams had thrown a vase—aimed at Dad—through the night before.

“Morning, sleepy head!” Tommy calls out, standing in the middle of the driveway with a skateboard in his arms.

I wave to him, just as Josh asks, “You sleep okay?” He’s wearing work pants and work boots, the kind I’d seen him in often, back when we were together.

I nod. It’s all I can do since I left my phone upstairs. Dad’s voice from the other end of the porch grabs my attention. “How did you get a replacement so fast?” he asks Josh.

Josh ignores him, so the other guy—I now recognize as Michael from Josh’s old job—answers. “Josh’s uncle is my boss, and he called in a favor.”

Dad’s eyebrows rise. “A favor?”

“Yeah. Before Josh decided to make us all look bad by becoming a pro-athlete, he worked construction,” he says slowly, like it’s something Dad should know. He pats Josh on the shoulder as Josh hammers at the window frame. “My boss made a call to our supplier this morning and got it cut to size.” Michael shrugs. “Josh can do the install on his own. I’m just here to deliver and get free shirts and shoes.”

“The garage door’s open,” Josh mumbles, and without a second thought, Michael makes his way across the driveway toward the garage, cracking jokes with Tommy as he passes.