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“This is so sweet, Justin. Thank you.”

He watched me take a bite of my breakfast. “Like it?”

I nodded, looking at the plate. “Why are you so good to me?” I whispered.

“Because you deserve it.”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes,” he said. “You do. You take care of everyone in this house. You do driving hours with Alex and you help Sarah with homework and you give Chelsea baths. You read her stories and you do laundry and you help in my never-ending quest to keep all the dishes out of my brother’s room.”

I laughed a little but his face went serious.

“You deserve to be appreciated, Emma.”

“I think I’m just used to feeling like I’m asking too much when I need something. Unless it’s Maddy. My mom—”

“You’re not asking too much,” he said. “You were just asking the wrong person. Ask me instead.”

I peered at him, my eyes soft.

He kissed me again and I smiled after him as he got up to pour himself some coffee.

I did feel appreciated here. I liked being a part of this family. I liked Sarah’s Snaps and the funny sarcastic texts she’d started to send me during the day. I liked that Chelsea seemed to need me, that she found me comforting for some reason, like maybe I was the kind of adult I’d needed once and I was making a difference for her while she was missing her mom. I liked Alex’s Golden Retriever personality and how he was always happy, no matter what was going on. But most of all I liked that Justin was the leader of this band. A warm, capable patriarch who didn’t realize how strong and incredible he was.

They were all very lucky to have him.

I was lucky to have him.

At noon Maddy showed up to take me to lunch.

“Happy birthday,” she said, coming in the door sideways with an enormous gift bag while Brad yipped and jumped at her feet.

I shut the door behind her as Justin jogged down the stairs. “Hey.”

“Hey,” she said, handing me the empty bag. “For you.”

I laughed. This was our tradition. She never got me anything other than a gift card because it wouldn’t fit in my luggage. She always got me a certificate for a service or a restaurant and put it in the largest possible box or bag she could find. One year she used a refrigerator box she got behind a Best Buy.

We went to sit in the kitchen. Justin poured us iced teas and then took the seat next to me.

“So have you heard the Amber and Neil update?” Maddy asked, taking off her sweater.

I shook my head. “No.”

Justin glanced at me.

“What happened?” I asked.

“They broke up.”

“What?”

She nodded. “Yup.”

“How do you know?” Justin asked.

“Maria told me. I called to check in this morning. She said Neil came home yesterday and Maria told him everything that happened. Saw the video footage of the whole thing, and he still didn’t kick her out. I guess he had this come-to-Jesus with her, told her he’d help her and pay for whatever program she needed, and Amber got all pissed and said no. Then he told her if she wasn’t gonna get treatment, she couldn’t stay.”