Page 50 of No Perfect Love

I never imagined that I’d be granted emergency provisional foster care capabilities. And then, Bria knocked on my door at six in the morning to tell me that Birch Harbor and Maine in general were overburdened with children needing social services, and that they’d fast-tracked my application. All of a sudden, being able to care for Lucas was possible. I just have a huge list of classes that I have to work through, which I’ve already been slogging into when I can.

I know I should talk to someone about it. Really, I do. But Lucas already has mandated therapy, weekly meetings with his social worker, and every single adult in his life watching over him—including me. During school, I have to be his teacher. The only thing I can give him are those peaceful hours of sleep, where no one wants anything from him. Where he can just sleep, knowing I have him. That I’ll keep him safe.

So, I drink my coffee, and I make a fort in the living room for us to lie in while watching movies. Lucas, regardless of who his mother is, has completely and utterly stolen my heart. And I don’t know what I’ll do when or if he is placed with a different family. That’s why I still have all my paperwork being processed. I want to make sure that if there is ever a time when Carter can’t be his foster parent, then I can.

Lucas deserves every single amazing thing the world has to offer, and I will break every single person who tries to take that from him.

“Hey.” He pushes back from the chair. “Do you think this weekend, Carter would let me invite Ciara to a movie? It’s her birthday, and she’s turning twelve, and uh… I think it would be really cool,” he rambles, and when I look at him from over the rim of my coffee cup, he has a little blush going up into his cheeks.

“Of course,” I tell him with a smile.

Ciara showed up at Carter’s the day after Lucas moved in. He hadn’t gone back to school yet, at that time, and she just walked up and started pounding on the door. I close my eyes and lean back against the cabinet, remembering it.

Ciara stomped in, a grim expression on her face and she picked up a pillow from the couch to throw it right at Lucas. When it hit him in the face, he jumped and flew over the side.

“What the… what?” He stuck his head over the side of the couch, his eyes reflecting the momentary terror he felt.

Both Carter and I had stepped forward, before realizing that the moment was exactly what Lucas needed.

“You.” Ciara pointed at him, looking wildly around for something else she could throw. “You didn’t call me. I didn’t know what happened to you.Noneof those idiots at the school would tell meanything. And I had to ride my bike all the way out here after I overheard the principal talking about you being with Officer Matthews.” Ciara inhaled. “I had to promise my mom I’d do enough chores to last the freakingmonth, Lucas. Do you know how many chores that is?” She started waving her hands around wildly. “Just because you wouldn’t call me.”

When she hiccupped and started to sob, I moved to comfort her. Carter grabbed my arm silently, though. As soon as he heard her, Lucas was up from around the couch, and he had Ciara in his arms, awkwardly patting the top of her head.

“Hey,” he whispered, sounding a lot like Carter had the night before while I cried in the kitchen. “It’s alright. I promise. Everything’s going to be alright.”

Those were the exact words Carter used with me too, and I found myself staring up at the man who’d first said them. Only to find him watching Lucas with pride and half a smile.

“Smart boy,” he whispered. Then he guided me out of the room and into the kitchen.

“Let’s give them a few minutes. After all, they’re bonded now. Forever. She saved his life.”

I agreed and went willingly into his arms again, sending a prayer to anyone who was listening that neither of those sweet children ever faced that type of suffering again.

“Miss James?”

Lucas touches my leg, and I jump. Coming back to reality, I almost drop my coffee.

“Are you okay?”

The concern lacing his voice catches me off guard, and I have to fight back my tears again.

“Don’t cry, Miss James.” He pats my leg, still just as awkward with the show of emotion that he had when he first got there, and I can’t help laughing.

“Everything’s okay, Lucas. Let’s go watch a movie. But first, I’ve got to get some dinner made.”

“Oh, pizza!” Lucas exclaims. That is one more thing we share a love of. “Pineapple and jalapeño, please.”

“Sounds great.” I place the order, adding a few extras, and then grab my keys. “Let’s go get it. Their delivery driver is out sick.”

“Cool!” Lucas grabs his bag and runs out of the room. “Let me put my bag away!” he hollers back.

“We’re gonna drop the other pizzas off with Carter, aren’t we?” Lucas gets in the back seat, even though he is technically big enough to sit in the front, without even asking about sitting in the front, and my heart beats a little bit steadier.

He knows, without me ever having to say anything, that I don’t like it. My obsession with vehicle safety never comes up because he never even tries to push it.

“Thank you,” Lucas says before we pull down the drive.

I apply the brakes and look at him in the rearview mirror. “For what, Lucas?”

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