“What do you want to play first?” she asked Josh.
“I want to hit the gophers!”
He grimaced and led his son and Molly over to the video game where several gophers popped out of holes and the goal was to bop them on the head to push them back in. The player scored a point for every gopher they hit.
Molly giggled as Josh started smacking the gophers. “Get ‘em, Josh, get ‘em!”
“Are you hungry?” Dan asked, once Josh had finished his game. “There’s an empty table right over there.”
Molly nodded, and quickly crossed over to the table. He was impressed at how well Josh managed to finagle his way through the games room with his wheelchair.
“What will you have?” he asked.
“Well, Josh wants pizza, so that would be fine with me,” she admitted.
“No problem. I’ll put in our order.” He felt a little guilty that the only food he’d provided for her so far had been fast food, but when the pizza arrived, she and Josh both dove into the meal with such relish that he suspected she didn’t mind. Besides, there was no point in wishing he could take her to a nice restaurant, where they could enjoy a quiet meal by candlelight.
This evening was for Josh. Not for him.
He discovered Molly was a kid at heart and she threw herself into the games with gusto. She also had a highly competitive streak, getting frustrated when he beat her score on the gopher game. And when she finally topped his score, she jumped up, whooping as loudly as his son.
“I think you’ve lost your voice,” he said, when they made their way back out to the car some hours later.
“I know,” she said hoarsely, with a tired smile. “But it was worth it.”
He gave her credit for thinking that, since his ears were still ringing from the bells and whistles shrieking from the various games.
Josh yawned widely, trying to keep his eyes open. “That was so fun, Molly. I’m glad you came with us.”
“Me, too,” she whispered.
Dan watched his son in the rearview mirror, smiling to himself at how hard Josh fought to stay awake on the way home. But they’d only been in the car for fifteen minutes when his head dropped off to the side and he fell asleep.
Now that he was essentially alone with Molly, he found he couldn’t come up with a safe topic of conversation.
“You’re doing a good job with Josh,” she said hoarsely, breaking the silence. “How is it that you’re able to come to all his therapy appointments?”
“I took a leave of absence from work,” he admitted. “And it’s well worth it because he’s responding so well to therapy.”
“Yes. He is.”
He was tempted to reach over to take her small hand in his when suddenly Josh cried out. “Ow, Daddy, it hurts. It hurts!”
“What’s wrong, Josh?” Instantly, Molly twisted in her seat, reaching back for Josh. “What hurts? Tell me what hurts?”
“My legs,” he cried. “Make it stop! They hurt so bad!”
“What’s going on, Molly?” Dan asked, keeping his attention on the road. He’d been about to head for Molly’s apartment to drop her off, but they were closer to his place, which was only five minutes away.
“I think he’s having muscle cramps,” Molly said, with a worried expression on her face. She quickly unbuckled her seat belt and managed to climb into the backseat. “I’ll work on massaging his legs, but it would work better if he was lying down.”
“We’ll be home in less than five minutes,” he told her.
Dan could hear Molly trying to talk soothingly to Josh as she worked on his legs, but his son was still crying out in pain.
“Mommy!” Josh cried, sobbing as he arched his back in the booster seat. “I want my mommy!”
Helpless fury banded Dan’s lungs, making it difficult to breathe. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, listening in agony to his son’s suffering, as he pushed the car as fast as he dared to get Josh home.
CHAPTER SIX
MOLLY DID HER BEST TO massage the cramping from Josh’s legs, knowing that it was her fault the child was in pain. She wouldn’t blame Dan for switching therapists after this. She barely registered the fact that they’d arrived back at Dan’s until he opened the door of the backseat and reached for Josh.
She unsnapped the belt holding Josh in. Wordlessly, his features tense, Dan scooped Josh from the booster seat and into his arms before striding toward the elevator, leaving her to scramble along behind them. Thankfully the elevator arrived quickly and she continued to massage the muscles in Josh’s legs as they rode up to the thirty-second floor.
“His room is this way,” Dan said gruffly, as he swung through the condo to Josh’s bedroom. The boy had ceased screaming for his mother, but he was still crying. Each gulping sob broke her heart.
“I need some lotion,” she said to Dan when he’d gently set Josh down. She climbed up onto Josh’s bed in order to have a better angle that would enable her to use more pressure on his leg muscles. Dan returned quickly with a small tube of hand lotion.
She ignored the fatigue in her own fingers as she worked over Josh’s legs. After about twenty minutes he stopped crying, but she still continued to massage his legs until she only felt the smoothness of relaxed muscles beneath the angry red scars.
She nearly jumped when she felt Dan’s hand on her shoulder. “He’s asleep, Molly. I think you can stop now.”
With a brief nod she awkwardly tried to climb off Josh’s bed, wincing as the muscles in her back cramped painfully from being bent over for so long. When she managed to get back on the floor, she stumbled and would have fallen if not for Dan’s strong arms wrapping around her waist, holding her up.
For a moment she could only lean against him, reveling in the strength of his arms surrounding her as she breathed in his unique musky scent.
After a long moment she forced herself to break away, standing up on her own two feet. She avoided Dan’s gaze as she made her way back to the main living area. She dropped onto the sofa and mentally braced herself as she slowly raised her gaze to meet his, fully expecting to feel the scathing edge of his tongue.
“Thank you,” he murmured. He sat down heavily beside her, scrubbing his hand over his jaw. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”
She blinked in surprise at his gratitude. “It’s my fault, Dan,” she said, unable to take credit for helping Josh through the crisis when it had been her fault from the beginning. “I shouldn’t have allowed him to overdo things this afternoon. I should have realized that he’d be moving around a lot with all the games.”
“Josh was enjoying himself,” he pointed out with a tired sigh. “If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”
She shook her head, knowing he was shouldering blame that wasn’t his. She was glad Josh had fallen asleep and prayed that the muscle cramps wouldn’t return.
When Dan didn’t say anything for several long seconds she remembered how Josh had called out for his mother. She had to assume that Dan had joint custody of his son, but surely the boy needed his mother at times like this? “Are you planning to call Josh’s mother?”
Instantly, his expression turned grim. “No.”
She was shocked at his blunt refusal. How could he turn his back on his son like that? “Why not?” she pressed, refusing to listen to the tiny voice in the back of her mind telling her to mind her own business. “Josh was calling