Page 77 of From This Moment

Dylan had learned early to shut emotion away, but right at this moment he could drop to his knees beside them and weep like a baby.

“I know you are the child’s legal guardian, Miss Trainer, but if you could give me a few minutes please, I have questions before I can let you take her.”

The social worker was midfifties, with short gray hair cut in an efficient bob. No child would be able to tangle their fingers in that, Dylan guessed. Dressed in a blue suit and white shirt, she looked tired, and he knew that the sights this woman saw would be enough to make anyone weary.

“As you can see, Miss Trainer is well known to the child and she is comfortable with her, Gwen,” Lieutenant Heath said.

“I cannot simply hand Grace over to her, Simon, even if she is the legal guardian.”

“Yes, God forbid we did not follow process,” he muttered. “I will leave you now, Miss Trainer, Mr. Howard. Should you need anything, please call.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant Heath.” Dylan helped Piper rise with the child still clasped in her arms.

He shook the man’s hand and then there was just the four of them in the room.

“Hello, Grace.” Dylan bent to look in the little girl’s brown eyes. She had a sweet round face and mop of curls, and her thumb was jammed in her mouth. One hand was in Piper’s hair, and her cheek lay on her shoulder. “My name is Dylan.”

For all he was usually a cold bastard, Dylan was good with children... well, the ones he’d come into contact with anyway. He’d also been around when Ava was a baby, so he remembered how they worked.

“If you could come this way, Miss Trainer, I won’t keep you long.”

“Of course.” Piper lowered Grace to the floor. “You stay here, Grace, while I talk with the lady over there.” She pointed to a table and chairs in the room. “Play with the blocks, sweetie.”

“We got this, don’t we, Gracie.” Dylan dropped down and began playing with the blocks. Ava had been into blocks. The higher he built the tower the more she’d liked it, so she could knock them over. He remembered her laughter, the growly little chuckles she made before urging him to build it again.

Grace sat down slowly in front of him and watched silently with big, solemn eyes. Every few seconds she looked to where Piper now sat, and then back to him. What was she thinking? Did she know her mom wasn’t coming back? How could she know that, and more importantly what the hell did they tell her when she was old enough to understand?

“You want to put that block on the top, Grace?”

She moved forward quietly and took the block he handed her, then placed it gently on the top.

“Now you get to knock it down.”

She studied him like she knew all his secrets, then reached out tentatively and pushed the blocks. They tumbled down and her lips tilted on one side. Not a laugh, but a smile. Dylan rebuilt it five times before Piper came back. By the last he’d managed to coax a rusty chuckle out of her.

His heart nearly broke at the sound.

Chapter 20

“I’m not leaving her with you, Mrs. Little. I am Grace’s guardian, and will be taking her with me when I leave Rummer.”

“I understand that, but I would like to ask a few questions.”

Patience, Piper realized, was vital to enable her to get through this interview and walk away with Grace in her arms. Behind her, Dylan was playing with the little girl, another surprise in a list of them that he’d shown her today. She’d have dissolved into a puddle of grief and fear if he’d not been at her side. She owed him, and no matter what happened between them from this day onward, she would always do so.

“You can see by the way she was when I arrived that she does not fear me, Mrs. Little.”

“Gwen,” the woman said. “And I saw it, but you have to understand that we must follow a process to ensure the best possible care is taken of Grace. Yes, you are her legal guardian, but I still want to ensure the child is safe in your care.”

“I understand that completely, but I am the only person other than her mother that she has, which is why Joanie made me her guardian. Her father is also dead.”

“Yes, I understand that you are all she has left, Miss Trainer. If you will just let me run through a few things, then I will come and visit you in your home environment next week.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll just need some details from you.”

Piper nodded and the woman opened her briefcase and started going through papers, leaving her alone with her thoughts, which went straight to what Joanie had looked like lying cold and emotionless on that gurney. She’d wanted to scream at her. Ask her what the hell she thought she was doing. Anger and grief had consumed her, and the frustration of losing her friend so young. Reading the letter Joanie left her had increased that anger.

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