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Val would be grateful to Phin for the safe room for the rest of her life.
She rested her forehead on Jace’s bed rail as she lightly held his hand.
“I’m so mad at you, Jace. You should have hidden with Elijah. You’re not allowed to risk yourself. You don’t need to earn your place. You don’t need to carry your weight. You don’t need to be useful. You just need to be with us. With me.”
A knock on the doorframe of Jace’s room had Val turning to look. She’d been hoping it was Kaj, but he was probably still at his sister’s. Elijah would stay with Genie and her husband tonight, but Kaj had promised he’d be back as soon as Elijah was asleep.
Val’s eyes widened. “Dianne.” The woman had sustained a minor gunshot wound to her arm while fleeing Bobby. She’d been treated and released, but she looked very pale. And shaky. Almost like she needed a fix, and Val remembered Jace saying how Dianne was always drunk. She wasn’t drunk right now.
Dianne Gates stared at Jace’s still form. “Can I come in?”
“Of course.” She gestured at the other chair. “Please.”
Dianne was Jace’s remaining legal guardian, since Aaron was in jail and Corey was dead.
Because I killed him. And I’d do it again.
But Dianne’s presence had Val’s hackles rising. She hadn’t realized how much she’d built up the dream of fostering Jace until it had been ripped away. She could only hope that Dianne would continue to let them be a part of his life.
Dianne stared at Jace for a long time before she spoke. “I failed them. I knew that Corey disciplined them, but I didn’t know how bad it was. I didn’t let myself know. I was taking care of Liam, but that doesn’t make it right. I shouldn’t have left Rick and Jace with Corey for so long.”
Val couldn’t disagree with that, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud. This woman had lost her son. And she’d shown compassion to Noni Feldman.
Dianne sighed. “Jace has always been so big, so self-sufficient. I sometimes forget how young he is.”
Val wouldn’t forgive her. She couldn’t. But this wasn’t hers to forgive. It was Jace’s and Rick’s. They’d been neglected, pushed aside, beaten, and tormented.
Dianne drew a breath and let it out. “Corey was angry when I told him that the boys wanted Aaron back so that they didn’t have to live with him, but I never thought he could be so cruel. Not until he let Bobby hurt Noni Feldman.”
Val swallowed hard. “I haven’t checked on her in a while. Not since I got here.” The woman had been in surgery at the time. Her source, Allyson Meyer, was still missing.
“She...” Dianne choked on a small sob. “Noni died.”
“Oh.” Val felt like she’d been punched. “Oh no.”
Dianne wiped at her tears with her hands. “You tried. You tried so hard. Thank you for that. You could have left her there. You and I would have gotten away.”
Val shook her head. “I couldn’t have left her there.”
“I figured as much.” She was quiet a little longer before sighing again. “I’m a drunk.”
Val met her eyes. “I know. Jace told me.” And the system’s going to let you have him back. That’s not right.
“I started drinking six months before Liam died. Just at night after he went to sleep. After he died, I started drinking all day long. If I hadn’t been a drunk, I might have been able to help Rick and Jace and none of this would have happened.”
Val couldn’t disagree with that, either. So she said nothing.
Dianne closed her eyes. “I’m going into rehab. And then I’m going to fix my life. I have to figure out how to support myself because Aaron’s never getting out. But I don’t know what to do about Jace. He deserves a lot better than me.”
Yes, he does. He deserves a family who loves him. “Would you sign custody over to someone else?” Val asked, refusing to hope. Not yet.
Startled, Dianne’s eyes flew open. “That would depend on who it was. I don’t want him to go into the system, but a good foster family would be better than what I can give him now.”
Hope unfurled. “Sign custody over to me.”
Dianne stared at her. “You? But you’ve only known him for a week.”
“I’ve grown attached. Plus, I can help him get the reading help he needs. He’s most likely got some form of dyslexia. He’s smart, Dianne. He deserves a chance to learn and to grow in a safe place.”
