Page 23 of Guarding Colton’s Witness

She grinned. “He’s our claim to fame…our foster brother the mayor.”

“I wish I had a brother,” Sam said. “A big brother I could go live with.”

Ryan exchanged a glance with Matti, and he knew without asking that, like him, she was sad Sam didn’t have any family who wanted him.

“You ready to go?” Matti asked Sam.

“We didn’t eat all the pizza yet.”

Ryan was full and he was sure Sam had to be. “Can you eat any more?”

“I want to.” Sam gazed longingly at the two slices left. “But my tummy’s really full.”

“We’ll take the leftovers home,” Matti said. “You can have them for lunch tomorrow.”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “I can?”

“Yep. Let’s go home. Doc and I need to talk to you about something.”

So, they were going to tell Sam tonight his parents were dead. This was a conversation Ryan wasn’t looking forward to.

Chapter 11

Matti dreaded the talk she and Ryan needed to have with Sam, and when they arrived home, she found excuses to delay it. Sam should have a bath before they sat down with him. She’d had every intention to take him shopping this afternoon, but her father coming over and then her mother’s surprise visit had thrown that plan off the rails.

He wanted Ryan to help him with his bath, so while they were doing that, she put his clothes in the washing machine. He’d worn one of her T-shirts that she’d cut several inches off the bottom to bed the prior night, so she gave Ryan that to put on him after he was clean. They would definitely go shopping in the morning.

Once he was clean, and there were no more excuses to delay the conversation, she and Ryan sat him between them on the couch. She’d never had to tell a child their parents were dead, and she didn’t know where to start.

As if sensing her uncertainty, Ryan said, “We need to talk to you about something important, Sam.”

“Am I in trouble? I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not in trouble,” she said. “We have to tell you something that’s going to make you sad.”

“I can’t stay here with you?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because that would make me sad.”

Tears burned her eyes. She was doing it again, letting a boy steal his way into her heart. His time with her was limited by how long it took for him to be safe from the people who’d killed his parents. As soon as he was, she’d find him a great foster family. And damn it, she was going to miss him.

“You can stay here for now, sweetie,” she said. “Sam, your mom and dad… Um, well, you understand what it means when someone dies, right?”

“Daddy’s friend Freddie, he died. Someone stuck a knife in his throat. He never came back. Mommy said he was in heaven and Daddy laughed and said Freddie was in hell.”

Dear Lord. She wished his parents were alive so she could tell them what she thought of them.

Ryan put his hand on the boy’s arm. “Yes, when someone dies, they never come back. Sam, I’m sorry, but your parents died.”

“Are they in heaven?”

Doubtful, but she couldn’t say that. “I think so.”

“Okay.”

Matti blinked. That was it? Just okay? She’d been prepared to hold him while he cried. She glanced at Ryan, and he seemed as surprised as her by Sam’s response. “Uh, Sam, do you understand what Doc told you, that your parents are never coming back?”