FOUR

      Lindy picked up her car, parted from Thad and drove directly to the school where she waited on the sidewalk outside Danny’s classroom. The bell rang and a hoard of laughing, chattering children dashed past. The moment her son spotted her, he grinned from ear to ear.

      “Hi. Guess what? I got an A on my spelling test!”

      “That’s wonderful, honey.” She relieved him of his heavy backpack and escorted him toward the parking lot. Her aim was to keep him safe without scaring him. Too bad she had no idea how to accomplish that goal.

      “Whoa!” Danny skidded to a stop and pointed. “What happened to the car, Mom?”

      “I had a little fender bender.”

      “Looks like a fender smasher.”

      Lindy ruffled his reddish hair and grinned. “It’s not as bad as it looks. And I have some good news. I found a job.”

      The child’s eyes widened and he stared up at her. “Will I have to ride the school bus?”

      “No. Nothing will change for you. My boss says I can leave work to pick you up just like I did today. As a matter of fact, I’m going to take you back to the office with me so you can meet him.”

      Danny stood very still and stared at the toes of his sneakers as if they were suddenly the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. “I don’t wanna.”

      “Well, you have to. You’ll be staying with me every afternoon and there’s no way you can avoid meeting Mr. Pearson. Besides, he’s a nice man. You’ll like him.”

      “Uh-uh.”

      Rather than continue to argue, Lindy shepherded her son the rest of the way to the car, made sure he was belted in safely and got behind the wheel. There were times when she saw the boy as an adult in a child’s body and other times, like now, when he looked and acted even younger than his seven-plus years. She supposed that was to be expected. Eldest and single children tended to be ultra-responsible while kids who had been traumatized sometimes regressed. With her son, elements of both influences seesawed back and forth. Right now, he was behaving like a toddler.

      Danny never said a word during their drive, not even when Lindy pulled into the Pearson Products gravel lot and stopped the car.

      “I made sure there was a healthy snack waiting for you inside,” she said as she helped him out and hefted his pack. “I stopped at the market this morning and bought some of your favorites.”

      Still, he didn’t answer. Lindy was thankful he at least let her take his hand and lead him into the building without throwing a tantrum. There had been times in the not-too-distant past when he’d balked at merely leaving his bedroom at home, let alone the house. Starting back to school had been a big step. Going to church again would be, too. And if Danny already knew his teacher, that would hopefully be an even easier transition.

      Work momentarily ceased as they made their entrance. Lindy merely waved at the women packing merchandise and hurried Danny through the warehouse to the office.

      The child had always acted withdrawn around his father but with other people he knew, he had been fairly outgoing. Until the shooting. After that he had seemed unable to relax unless they were totally alone. Maybe, once he got used to keeping her company in the office, he’d be able to loosen up and be more like his old self again.

      Thad started to rise when she and Danny entered, then eased back down into his chair when Lindy silently signaled him to keep his distance.

      What amazed her the most was how quickly he understood what she wanted. Not only did he tip back the chair, he laced his fingers behind his head and struck a nonchalant pose that would have fooled her if she hadn’t noticed the clear concern in his eyes.

      “This is Danny,” Lindy said. “Danny, I want you to meet Mr. Pearson.”

      Instead of offering to shake hands with the boy, Thad just smiled. “Hi.”

      Although Danny didn’t reply, Lindy did see him dart a glance toward the man. So far, so good. At least he hadn’t broken away and raced out the door.

      Gazing around for a place to make Danny comfortable, Lindy belatedly realized there were no empty surfaces on which he could do homework, nor was there a suitable chair for him.

      She sighed and addressed her son. “Hmm. I wonder where we should put you?”

      “Home,” he said softly.

      At that, Thad chuckled and slowly got to his feet. “Tell you what, kid,” he drawled. “How would you like a room all your own, like a fort? I used to build those all the time when I was your age.”

      Although the child edged closer to his mother and kept her between himself and the man, he seemed interested.

      Thad crossed the small room and began assembling and taping empty cardboard boxes into the square shapes used for shipping. Lindy could tell he was choosing the largest ones and quickly saw that he was making the adult equivalent of children’s building blocks.

      When he’d completed about fifteen he motioned to Danny. “Think this is enough? I figured we’d stack them over here, like this.”

      The timid boy released his mother’s hand, much to her surprise, and took several steps forward. He pointed.

      “Where?” Thad asked. “Here? Maybe over there? I don’t quite understand.”

      Danny took three more steps, paused, then pointed again.

      “Sorry, kid. Guess I’m dense. Where did you want these?”

      “Over there, like this,” Danny replied, making the final journey and grabbing the closest cardboard cube. The box was large but lightweight because it was empty. He swung it into place against the wall, then added another on top of it.

      “Oh, I get it,” Thad said, maintaining a serious yet friendly demeanor. “That’s smart. If we stack them in the corner we won’t need as many.”

      “Yeah,” Danny replied, loud enough for his mother to hear.

      Lindy was flabbergasted. Here was a child who exhibited unnatural fear of strangers, particularly big, strong men, yet he was pitching in to build a cardboard fort with Thad as if they were old friends. Amazing!

      While she watched, Lindy