Once they finished their ice cream, Justin helped Lyla tackle the monkey bars, and then they created some sort of obstacle course race that I couldn’t understand no matter how hard I tried. Justin even let his sister win once or twice.
I checked my watch and then waved them over. “We should head home. Anna should be getting off soon, and we’ll have dinner.” I eyed them both. “You better not say you’re too full for vegetables, or I’m gonna be grounded from picking you up.”
Lyla looked thoughtful. “We should get a dog.”
“Where did that come from?” I asked.
She shrugged. “If we had a dog, I could sneak him my vegetables under the table.”
Justin held out his hand for a high-five. “I like the way you think.”
“Justin, Lyla,” a voice called.
I stiffened as I turned to see Mr. and Mrs. Foley approaching with another younger man. While Anna had custody of Justin and Lyla, there was no restraining order in place that said their grandparents couldn’t approach them in public.
Lyla burrowed into my side, and Justin moved in close, but his shoulders were squared, and he stood straight as if ready for battle. The posture alone was enough to make me want to cause serious harm to Mr. Foley.
Mrs. Foley smiled. “Well, come on, give your gran a hug.”
Neither child moved. I cleared my throat. “We were just leaving. We need to get home for dinner.”
“They should at least be able to say hello to their father. They haven’t seen him in years,” Mr. Foley said. His voice was pleasant but his eyes had a glint that told me he enjoyed inflicting this kind of pain on his grandchildren.
I pulled Lyla in closer, feeling her tremble against me.
The man who looked to be in his forties shuffled his feet. “Hey, Justin. Lyla.”
“Stay away from us,” Justin growled. “All of you. I’m going to tell the judge who I want to go with, just like I told Sadie.”
“You don’t have the first clue what’s best for you and your sister,” Mr. Foley said. He was struggling to keep his anger contained, the façade cracking around the edges.
“Let’s go.” I didn’t wait. I picked up Lyla, who clung to me instantly and kept a hand on Justin’s shoulder, guiding him away.
“Wait!” Mrs. Foley called. “You can’t just take them away.”
I can, and I would. But I hated that there wouldn’t be any more spontaneous trips to the ice cream parlor or park, not when I knew they could potentially end this way.
“Ishe going to try to take us?” Lyla asked in a shaky voice.
Anna pulled her niece in close on the couch. “He can’t, Lyla Bean. He signed a paper that says he isn’t allowed to.”
“Because he’s a jerk and a loser,” Justin muttered, arms crossed.
“I normally don’t like that language, but in this case, I thinkjerkis the perfect word. As is a loser because he lost the most precious gifts he could’ve ever been given—you two.”
I sat back, watching Anna weave her magic with the kids. Repairing wounds and bringing comfort.
Lyla sniffed. “He didn’t want us.”
Anna brushed the hair away from her face. “Which is his loss.”
She looked up at her aunt. “D-do you want us?”
“Oh, sweetie. More than anything in the whole wide world.”
Tears slipped from Lyla’s eyes, tracking down her cheeks. “Good.”
Anna pulled her into a tight hug and met Justin’s gaze. “I will do anything I can to make sure you guys stay with me, okay?”
