Page 33 of Worth of Waste

That.

Karen couldn’t find a clean place on her son to kiss, except for the very top of his head. “Happy birthday, J.”

His sticky hand smacked her cheek gently, probably leaving a chocolate and frosting J-sized print behind. Karen didn’t even mind. The happiness in her son’s eyes was the highlight of her day, and seeing how much fun he’d had doing a simple cake smash to celebrate his birthday helped to ease some of the sadness she had been feeling that hadn’t quite let up. She’d wanted to share this day with someone else, but it was impossible, and that left her a little blue.

Junior’s smile made it all okay.

At least for a little while.

After all, reality was never too far behind.

“No, you have to keep that on, J,” Karen told her son, fixing his hat for the tenth time since they’d arrived at the park.

The baby scowled up at his mother as she tied the strings down around his chin in an effort to force him to keep the hat on. The mid-November air was chilly, and while there wasn’t snow on the ground just yet, she could feel it all around her. It wouldn’t be long before the white flakes started falling, covering Chicago in ice and cold for months.

Karen wasn’t looking forward to that very much. It would mess up her schedules, and probably take Junior’s outside time down to practically nothing at all. Sometimes, the baby caught a cold at the slightest winds, so she wasn’t too keen on taking him out very much in the coming winter.

Junior liked the park, though, so she was trying to get him there as much as she possibly could before the snow started coming. He didn’t do much except crawl around and try to climb on the play equipment, but he still enjoyed it. Sometimes, he would let his mother push him in the swings if he was in the mood for it, but mostly, he crawled off to find whatever sticks or stones looked appealing enough for him to stick into the pockets of his coat.

Karen leaned against the metal fence, tucking her own coat closer to her body to combat the chill. She watched J as he pushed himself up to a standing position, and tried to take a step forward. In his heavy boots, he struggled and fell, catching himself easily.

He didn’t try to walk again, though, instead crawling to where the sandbox was.

Another one of his favorite spots in the park.

Knowing her son would be fine to play, and seeing as how the park was mostly empty of children, given it was a school day and not even noon, she found one of the park benches to sit on and try to relax.

While her attention was on her son and making sure he didn’t wander off or stick something in his mouth, her mind was somewhere else entirely.

He should be out.

His sentence is served.

Is he out?

Those questions plagued her as she watched J throw a handful of sand up into the air.

Karen had asked one thing of Dino’s lawyer, and that was to let her know the official date of his release. She had never gotten that phone call, and for good reason. When she called the office where Mike Hardy had worked, she learned exactly why she hadn’t been contacted by the lawyer.

He was dead.

Murdered, apparently.

It made her sick all over.

“Careful!” Karen shouted to her son as Junior balanced on the edge of the sandbox and leaned forward, trying to grab something from the ground. “Sit down, J!”

The baby plopped down on his butt with a laugh, but didn’t turn to look at his mother. So was their routine when they came to the park—he was always trying to get into some kind of trouble, and Karen damn near had a heart attack every time. She was sure the older he got, the worse it would be for her.

She still loved him for it.

He was far more adventurous than she had remembered being as a child.

Karen wasn’t quite sure what it was that made her feel like someone was watching her, but the hair on the back of her neck prickled. Strangely, it wasn’t a bad thing. She didn’t feel … unsafe like maybe she should have.

She didn’t even get the chance to turn and see if someone else had parked in the park’s lot before she felt his presence. And she knew in an instant exactly who it was.

Maybe it was the way his shadow fell over hers, the sizeable shape swallowing her whole. He had always been larger than her, making her feel so small but so important in his world.