Child of Mine. Bonnie Winn K.

The lounge door was propped open to allow the paint to dry, and she could hear footsteps, sure and distinctive, approaching from down the hall.

      Instinctively, Leah knew it was him. She braced herself before facing him.

      He wasn’t smiling. He never did around her. Not that she expected him to.

      For an instant she wondered how it felt to be in his shoes. To have raised Danny, to have had him at his side all this time. To wonder if he would be taken away.

      Something in her softened. “Thanks for coming,” she said as he walked in to the room

      “I was close by. Nan gave me your message.” He glanced around. “The place looks a lot different.”

      “Better, I hope.”

      He cocked his head, examining the center column. “Yeah.”

      More pleased than she would have expected, Leah smiled. “I was hoping we could replace the rectangular tables with some round ones, if that’s possible. Hopefully in varied sizes.”

      “The school doesn’t keep a huge inventory of furniture in stock.”