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He didn’t have a clue who was taking care of her right now. If anyone had tucked her in at night for the last week. Noahhad always taken care of her. From the time she was really, really little. After his mom just got too tired to handle a baby she didn’t want.
She never had wanted Nova. She’d told them both that all the time.
His mom had told him that since he’d wanted a brother or sister so badly, he would have to take care of Nova from that moment on. Nova had been like two at the time.
He had. He’d done a good job, too. He’d always made sure Nova had something to eat and took a bath when she got too smelly. He’d washed her clothes when he’d get money for the laundry mat in the basement of their building, and he made her brush her teeth every night. And he’d brush her hair when it needed it. Noah had made sure she went to school every day, too. Because she was supposed to.
Fear for her had him almost puking.
If this lady took him too far away from Cheyenne, Noah would never be able to find Nova again.
“Why?”
“Well, we figured that you might want to be in Masterson, instead. In an actual home, instead of the group home.”
Why? He’d been told kids were just put somewhere and forgotten about. “Why me?”
She glanced at him, a surprised look on her face. She was a really pretty lady. But she had a lot of hair. Curly hair everywhere, like Nova’s. It was the same color of that stupid doll of Nova’s, too. Bright yellow. He’d bought it for her at Goodwill two Christmases ago and put Santa Claus’s name on it—so she’d get something from Santa, too. Nova had believed so hard he wanted to make it real for her somehow.
Nova was always trying to braid that hair so she could do her hair herself so their mom wouldn’t ever have to.
He hoped his little sister still had her doll.
They had to leave everything behind when his mom had died and they’d had to go with strangers.
Nova didn’t like strangers. They scared her.
She was probably really scared right now.
The blond lady pulled the car into a McDonald’s parking lot. She had an almost sad or mad look on her face. “Let’s go inside. We’ll grab something to eat. Jody was supposed to tell you why I came for you today while I was handling the paperwork. What did she tell you?”
Jody. That was his old social worker. The third one. There had been two in between his mom dying and the group home.
“That I was to grab my stuff. That I was being moved again.”
“Did Jody tell you why you were being moved?” She started inside the restaurant. Noah obediently followed her. What else could he do? She was the one in charge.
He had no power at all. He hated being a stupid kid, with everyone else making decisions for him. As soon as he was eighteen, he was going to find his sister and get her away from all these stupid people forever.
“No. She said something before about looking for my uncle. But she said today that she couldn’t find him. Are you going to take me to a different group home?” He’d wanted them to find his uncle so much. His mother’s half brother was a lot older than his mom, he thought. But he’d always been really nice when Noah had seen him before. He thought his uncle Samuel was a doctor or something somewhere.
That was before Nova was born, though. Maybe his uncle didn’t want both of them? His mom had always been complaining that they were a lot trouble and cost a lot of money. Especially Nova.
“No, sweetie. I am not. Let’s get something to eat. And then I’ll answer every question you’ve got. I promise.” She patted him on the shoulder.
Noah fought the urge to jerk away. He didn’t like people touching him. Not anymore. Tony had told him not to let anyone touch him, no matter what. Said kids could get hurt that way. Fear for Nova had him sick to his stomach.
Then again…he was hungry, too. It had been a long time since breakfast.
She ordered him whatever he wanted. He didn’t know what to say; he hadn’t ever gotten to eat off the real menu at McDonald’s. Just a Happy Meal sometimes when his mom’s boyfriends were being nice. He just stuttered out the first number that popped into his head.
They settled at a table in the back. She said it was so they could have privacy.
Noah ate his meal quickly, keeping his eyes on her. He didn’t trust her. Even though she was really, really pretty.
She was too nice.
But… she’d said she’d answer any questions he had. There was only one answer that really mattered. “Where’s my sister?”
