understand why a little space and time with others is so important to a kid who feels totally alone and out of control in his world.”
“I’m sure—”
“Let me finish.” She pinned him with her gaze and this time the anger snapped and crackled throughout her entire body. “If it’s the money you’re worried about, Ty, I’ll pay for the pizza ingredients. If it’s the evening of free time you’ve lost, I’ll stand in for you one night.”
“It’s not the time or the food costs.” He felt like a curmudgeon, but the fear that gripped him would not be silenced.
“Then I don’t understand your complaint. But I’ll tell you one thing. Before you begrudge those kids a few moments of fun, check their expressions. Look. They found a moment of happiness here, Ty. For a little crack in time, they can be kids—can joke, laugh and forget about doing or saying the wrong thing. They don’t have to be afraid.”
She leaned in and the curve of her silky black hair brushed his cheek.
“Look at Irina’s kids.”
Ty looked. While Red scoffed at the unmusical sound Jack’s guitar was making, Irina’s other two children sat, smiling and laughing.
“You want to make a difference in this community? You have to start with its future—its children.”
When she finally faced him, Ty recognized that the emotion she’d hid was pain. Longing. He wanted to ask about it, but she didn’t give him a chance.
“Everybody wants the best for their children, Ty. If they can find a place they’ll trust with their kids, this community will throw open its door to you. But better than that, they’ll get behind you, back you so strongly you won’t need the city or anyone else to police it. They’ll do it themselves, because the Haven will feel like it’s theirs.”
He’d never imagined Cassidy felt so deeply about this place.
“You want the Haven to fulfill Gail’s dream.” Her voice grew so soft he had to lean in to hear it. “And it will. But sometimes you have to stand back and let it grow without trying to prune. Have some faith, Ty. They’re not all bad kids.”
A buzzer sounded. Cassidy hurried away to rescue another pizza.
Ty remained in place, watching. Thinking.
He wished he could be like her, see only the best in people. But he knew better. He’d watched Donnie retreat further and further from their family, saw the friends who’d dragged him into a counterculture where violence and drugs sapped away his little brother until no one could save him.
Ty had lost too much not to fear.
He couldn’t afford to lose any more.
Tomorrow he’d begin formulating a new set of rules for the Haven. It was the only way he knew to combat the worry and fear that filled him.
What about God? a voice inside his heart asked.
God? Where was God when those soldiers—He slammed the door shut.
It wouldn’t be as bad if they had some rules. A few. To keep things safe.
He hoped.
Chapter Six
C assidy almost groaned at the series of neon-orange signs littering the hallway walls Monday morning. Twenty-five new rules.
“Good morning.”
It had been.
“Morning.”
“I see you’ve noticed our rules.”
“Hard not to.” She sidestepped Ty, hustled downstairs to get the coffee on. She needed a large cup—extra strong—before she opened her mouth again.
“I thought perhaps you wouldn’t bother coming in today.”
Cassidy twisted her head to frown at him.
“Why would you think that?”
“Well, with the storm and everything. I’m not sure the delivery trucks will be able to get through the drifts.” The blue cashmere sweater did good things for his eyes.
“Uh-huh.” Cassidy concentrated on measuring the grounds, poured in the water and inhaled deeply as the first fragrant drops filtered through.
Ty lounged in the doorway as if waiting for congratulations. But she refused to utter one word until coffee had percolated through her brain and taken off the edge.
“Did you have a good day off
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