Page 94 of Fierce-Dane

Sloane let out a breath. “You will have your own room. We can decorate it any way you want. It’s kind of plain right now because I didn’t know about you. I wish I had.”

“Mom said that you were mad at her,” Sloane said. “How come?”

His heart broke for Sloane to hear that. He had no advice on how she should answer either.

“I wasn’t mad at her like you might think. My life was a lot different than yours. When you’re older maybe I’ll tell you more. But Mom knew she could reach out to me at any point. She knew enough to leave you with me if anything happened. We couldn’t have been too mad at each other for that, right?”

“No,” Shiloh said. “I wish she’d come home.”

“I know,” she said. “I wish I could talk to her again too. Maybe we can help each other though. What do you think of that?”

Shiloh put her head down while she sat on the bed.

Dane pulled his phone out and was looking for a place to get food while there was silence in the room.

“There is a diner not that far from here and it has grilled cheese on the menu,” he said. “Do you want to get some food?”

Shiloh nodded and the three of them left.

He’d kept the car seats in the back knowing they’d need them and Sloane had panicked when that was asked during the interview.

He was happy enough to say they were covered.

He couldn’t believe the things asked of her in that meeting. He’d never wanted to judge, but he was positive Sloane had a more stable life than everyone in that waiting room together and yet they grilled her worse than if she was some criminal on trial.

He was glad that Trent was on the call because he was slowly losing his patience and even had to answer or jump in a few times when Sloane was asked some ridiculous hypothetical parenting question.

It barely took five minutes before they were pulling into the restaurant.

They sat at a booth and menus were put in front of them. A piece of paper and some crayons were set down in front of Shiloh and she immediately started to work on that.

He kept an eye on her to see her motor skills. So far nothing was standing out as a flag to him.

They’d been told Shiloh was in kindergarten. She lived in a small town with a tiny school district. Durham was going to be a shock in more ways than one to the little girl. There were more elementary schools than he could count. More than half a dozen middle and high schools too. She was going to be thrown into more chaos than she was used to.

But since it was kindergarten and most kids were shy and trying to find their way, she’d fit in well enough.

The server came over to get their drink orders. He and Sloane got water. No reason to get a shocked look over his unsweetened iced tea here. “Do you want milk, sweetie?” the server asked Shiloh.

He’d been told she had no allergies and he’d have to go by their word.

Shiloh was sitting next to Sloane and tugged on her shirt and then leaned up and whispered something in Sloane’s ear.

“She’ll have water,” Sloane said.

When the server left, he asked, “Have you been to a restaurant before?”

Shiloh shook her head no.

“It’s fun,” Sloane said. “I didn’t go to a restaurant until I was eighteen for the first time. You’re much younger than me.”

He shouldn’t have been surprised to hear that but was.

His kids had no idea how lucky they were in their life. The things they might take for granted.

“I don’t know what to do,” Shiloh said.

“Eat,” he said. “That’s all you’ve got to do. They will ask what you want to eat, but I know you can’t read yet, right?”

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