Naughty and Nice: Christmas Falls by Bree Weeks

Author:Bree Weeks [Weeks, Bree]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lone Oak Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-12-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Wren

About a mile before my GPS tells me we’re almost to the Keaton house, I pull over on the side of the road so I can have one last pep talk with Randy. He’s still upset with me, though he says he’s not. I can tell when a kid is lying to me. I figure I need to have one more talk with him.

“It may not be ideal, but you don’t have many choices for the next couple of weeks. The few families that take in teenagers are already full, or they’re closing down their homes so they can travel for Christmas. I don’t want to scare you, but you should know something. If it doesn’t work out for you here, your last option is a group home. At least until January.”

“No more group homes! Stephanie promised!”

“I know, kiddo. And she had every intention of keeping that promise. But sometimes things happen that we don’t expect. I’m going to do my very best—”

“Yeah, you told me.” He turns his head away, then drops his eyes to the floorboard. “You know I have a hard time trusting people, right?”

“Randy, I’ve never met a kid in your position who didn’t. Look, I’m not going to insult your intelligence by telling you everything is going to be just fine. I can’t predict the future. It may be fine, or it may suck. But either way, I have every confidence in you. If there was ever a kid who could handle anything the world threw at him, it’s you.”

He looks at me incredulously. “We’ve only met a couple of times. How could you possibly know that about me? And don’t tell me that you read my file. Everyone at DCS has read my file.”

I glance at him and put the key in the ignition, giving him a half smile. “Well, I did read your file, but that’s not why I know you’ll be fine. I know this because I’ve talked to you. Looked in your eyes as you’ve talked to me. You have a strength that I don’t see often in kids stuck in the system for as long as you’ve been. But when I have seen it from them, they’ve always grown up just fine. Now, what do you say? Should we go meet the Keaton family and see if it’s a good fit?”

He drops his head to hide the grin on his face. And as if he’s suddenly infused with inner strength, he lifts his head and says, “Alright, then. Let’s go. I’m ready for a new adventure.”

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