7. Chloe

R ocky's Rescues was officially full. Chloe had four dogs boarding, two strays that would surely be adopted soon, two new feline guests in the cat room, and a bunny living in a cage she'd found in the garage.

But no orange tabby cats, sadly.

And that made Sadie look like she might cry.

"It's been a week," Sadie moaned, standing up from the kitchen table where she and Chloe had shared coffee and combed the local social media for any announcement of someone finding a lost cat. "And no one has seen him."

"I've put out an APB in the rescue and stray world," Chloe told her, closing the laptop. "I've had those two false alarms and—"

"One looked exactly like him," Sadie said.

"Yeah, except…not." Chloe shook her head. "I can't be party to the cat switch, but I'll keep trying to find him, I promise."

"Oh, I hope we do." Sadie rinsed out her coffee cup, but her attention seemed to be on Chloe. "Any news on the Judah front?"

Chloe leaned against the counter, looking outside at the dog kennels, her mind feeling a million miles away.

"He's turning five today," she said, hearing the sad note in her voice.

"Oh, really?"

"I mentioned it to Travis last night and he just shut down the conversation, which is so disappointing. He won't talk about it, he won't consider it, he won't explore his feelings."

"In other words, he's a guy," Sadie mused.

"Sure, but this has to be talked about, considered, and explored."

"Give him time, Chloe," Sadie said. "I'd bet everything I have that he's thinking about it and he's going to take baby steps to get there."

"But that boy is—" She frowned at the sound of someone pulling into the driveway. "I don't have someone bringing in a boarder today. Who could that be?"

"I don't know, but pray they found an orange tabby and are looking for the owner."

"I certainly will," Chloe said as she breezed through to the front of the house to open the door and see a familiar truck. "Oh, it's Travis. I thought he had a shift today."

She stepped outside, vaguely aware of the dogs in the front yard pen barking at her as she looked up into the driver's seat where Travis sat.

"Hey," she said, reaching the door just as he opened it.

"You busy?" he asked.

"Just the usual. Why?"

He swallowed and stabbed his fingers into his hair. "I want to, um…"

"Go see Judah," she whispered, just knowing from the look on his face that's what this was about.

"For his birthday."

She managed not to do a little jig right there in the driveway. "Yes, I'll go," she said, staying remarkably calm. "On one condition."

"I'm not taking him for good, Chloe, I just—"

"We have to stop at a Walmart on the way."

His brow flicked with curiosity, then he nodded. "Okay, Walmart it is. But you have to come, Chloe. I need you."

"Let me ask Sadie if she'll stay until my assistant gets here, and I want to put the dogs in the kennels so they don't get too hot." She didn't wait for him to change his mind, but flew into the house with the second-best news she could give her sister.

No tabby cat, but hope for Judah.

As she excitedly grabbed her bag, she gave Sadie an impulsive kiss. "Thank you for staying for a few minutes. Ashley will be here soon."

"It's fine. I only want one form of payment—the ability to say, ‘I told you so.'"

"You did tell me," she admitted.

"Give him time, Chloe. He'll come around."

She sure hoped so.

After the trip to Walmart, Chloe called the social worker who seemed very excited to arrange for them to meet Judah. It took everything Chloe had not to warn the woman that she couldn't get her hopes up, but she did her best to make it clear that Travis simply wanted to meet his half-nephew and bring him a birthday gift.

A birthday gift ?

While she talked, she glanced in the backseat and smiled, pretty sure there wasn't a truck or piece of toy construction equipment left in the kids' section of that store. They couldn't find a Spider-Man costume, but Travis got a T-shirt with the image in his size and one in a kids' small.

He also got a Spidey mask, a Lego set of the character, and a Spider-Man floor puzzle for toddlers. They'd lost at least forty-five minutes trying to decide if a puzzle for three-year-olds was appropriate for a five-year-old, but Chloe finally called Rose, who gave them a green light. And a squeal of delight.

"I will be there to meet you," Mae, the social worker, said. "You aren't allowed to be alone with Judah, but once we meet and talk, everything should be fine. Should I bring release paperwork?"

Chloe made a face, happy she'd decided to make the call without putting it on speaker phone. But how to answer that?

"It doesn't mean you can take him permanently," the woman added. "But I can let you leave the premises if you stay within one mile. Assuming that goes well and I can make a quick visit to your home, we can allow him to come for a weekend. Then—"

"Uh, just the most basic paperwork," she said with a glance at Travis, forcing herself to hold back. "And we'll be there in…" She squinted at Travis's GPS. "Thirty-three minutes."

"But who's counting?" Travis murmured with a smile. A genuine smile, Chloe thought as she said goodbye to the social worker and turned to him.

"I'm counting," she said. "I'm not going to try and pretend I'm not excited to meet him."

He sighed and nodded.

"Are you?"

"I'm going, aren't I?"

"But are you excited?" she pressed.

"I'm…curious."

She studied his profile, one of her favorite sights to linger on. He had strong features, the tiniest smattering of freckles when he'd been in the sun a lot, and unfairly long lashes. But once again, she noticed that his jaw wasn't set so tight, and that vein in his neck didn't seem to throb like it had anytime she'd tried to bring up the subject of Judah.

"What changed?" she asked on a soft whisper.

He threw a sideways look. "Wingates," he muttered. "Even if they go by another name, they still…influence."

"Gabe?" she guessed, knowing how close Travis was to Rose's husband, Gabriel D'Angelo. He was another firefighter—the one who'd trained Travis—and, as a father of four, he was a family man down to his last strand of DNA.

"Of course Gabe." He shook his head with a soft laugh. "But really, it was Rose, who came at me via Gabe."

She felt a smile pull, thinking about her sister, who would help anyone, anywhere, any time. No doubt she and Gabe stayed up late discussing Chloe and Travis's situation, and then Gabe had swooped in and…said something.

But what?

"You gonna tell me what he said, or is it covered under the secret firefighters code of silence?"

He smiled at the tease. "Nothing like that. He just got me to talk, and got me to think, and made me realize that…" He huffed out a breath. "It's not the kid's fault that my dad cared about him. And it wasn't Connor's fault that he was motherless and managed to stay close to the old man."

"And it wasn't your fault your father left."

He shuttered his eyes. "If it wasn't my fault, then it was my mother's, and you know that woman is a saint to me."

"How about it was Dale's fault?" she suggested. "How about you let your father take the blame for making the decision to leave, divorce your mom, and start a new life? He's not here to do that, but there's no reason you can't shift some of that responsibility from your shoulders to his."

"That's kind of what Gabe said," he told her. "He suggested I act like a grown man, not the five-year-old in this situation, and at least meet the kid and…and…"

Her heart hitched. "And what?"

"Just meet him."

One step at a time, she thought. One baby step at a time. Well, one five-year-old who loved Spider-Man and tractors step at a time.

A woman was waiting in the driveway when they arrived at a two-story stucco house in a residential area called Mandarin, south of Jacksonville.

Travis glanced at the woman, then the house, which was in need of lawn work, love, and a fresh coat of paint. There were a few bikes on the grass, a dirty soccer ball, and a fenced-in backyard that looked spacious enough.

Travis took a slow, deep breath and turned to her. "Chloe, please promise me—"

"No," she said. "I'm not making any more promises. Let's just meet the child and see what happens."

"Nothing is going to happen," he said. "'Cept, you know…" He tipped his head to the back seat. "Big present time."

She smiled at that as they climbed out of the truck and a woman she assumed was Mae Ling, the social worker, walked over to greet them warmly.

"Does he know who I am?" Travis asked after a quick introduction. "Do I, like, have to explain it to him?"

Mae smiled. "I've told him that you knew his Pops, and that you wanted to stop by and wish him a happy birthday. He's very young, Mr. McCall, and scared and shy. Don't expect sparkling conversation, but he should like that you brought him gifts."

Chloe lifted the Walmart bags, handing two of the four to Travis. "We sure did."

"Just be warned," Mae said. "This isn't his ultimate home. A group home is a temporary holding place for boys—only boys in this house—who haven't yet been placed. They try to keep it ten and under, but recently two teenagers were placed here. Kelly and Ron Headrick run this house and they're both saints. Overworked and underpaid, but saints."

"How long will he be at this house?" Chloe asked.

Mae's brows furrowed. "Hard to say. He was in two other places before this, and I'm new on his case. He'll be in this kind of situation until he's placed into a foster home, or adopted. That could be months or…more."

Chloe's heart dropped at the very thought of that much upheaval in a child's life, but she just nodded and followed Mae to the front door, which opened before they even knocked. A woman who was probably in her mid-forties stood there with a smile that looked hopeful as she greeted them and Mae made the introductions.

Kelly hesitated before opening the screen door, letting out a sigh that deepened creases of exhaustion around her eyes.

"It's kind of a mess," she said. "I do my best to keep up, but all these boys…" She threw a look over her shoulder as if she expected one to come bounding out any second. "Can I just bring him out here to you?"

"Of course," Chloe said. "If that's okay."

"More than okay," the woman answered. "I'd offer you some iced tea, but if I make it, it's gone in five seconds."

"It's fine," Travis told her. "We just want to—"

"See Judah, of course. They should all be as easy as that little angel. Never asks for a thing. Hang on."

She turned and left them standing there in the blazing sun, the Walmart bag with construction toys in it cutting lines in Chloe's hands.

"Come on now, Judah," she heard Kelly call. "Just say hello."

A tiny shadow appeared in the doorway, not three feet tall, wearing a baggy tank top and shorts, a pair of worn sneakers on his feet. He stayed back, a thumb in his mouth, giant brown eyes looking at them from behind his glasses.

"Come on, then." Kelly gave his narrow shoulder a gentle nudge. "Talk to them."

He slinked further back, refusing to come all the way to the door.

"Judah," Chloe said, reaching into the bag she held. "We brought you a front-loader."

His eyes flashed.

"And a…" She rooted around in the bag. "A dump truck. This one's big enough to roll on the ground with real dirt."

He took one step forward.

"We heard it's your birthday," she added. "And I, um…" She closed her fingers around the Spider-Man mask, the only other thing in her bag, and pulled it out, shoving it in Travis's hand. "We brought Spidey himself to sing ‘Happy Birthday.'"

That got the child a little closer, but he still stayed protected by the screen door, looking up at Travis with nothing but wonder in his eyes.

"Didn't we just pass a park?" Travis asked under his breath, stepping away from the door.

"Right down the block, that way," Mae said.

Travis backed away completely. "Take him there." With that, he jogged to the truck and jumped in.

Chloe felt her jaw drop. Was he chickening out ? Really? One glance at the kid and he ran off—and took some of the bags?

The screen door popped open and tiny Judah stepped out into the sunshine, looking up at Chloe like, well, yes, like a lost puppy who craved love and a home and food and a blanket and more love.

"Hello." Chloe crouched down to get to his height, vaguely aware of the truck rumbling off down the road. She'd let Travis have it later, but first…Judah.

"Happy birthday, Judah," she said gently, having to force herself to keep from giving him a hug. "I heard you are five years old today. You're a big boy, aren't you?"

He nodded, his dark gaze stuck on her face, then moving down…to the front-loader.

"Would you like to take this to the park?" she asked, looking up at Mae. "I don't know where… Can we take him?"

"Yes, let's walk him down there."

"Would you carry this?" Chloe placed the front-loader in his tiny hands, getting a hint of a smile in return. Just enough to make her want to see it full and bright.

"Let's go!" Without thinking, she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Um, no touching," Mae said. "Just walk with him."

Of all the things she hated about this, that might be the worst. But Chloe just gave him a smile and tipped her head. "To the park, then, birthday boy!"

She chattered about nothing—the trees, the toys, the weather, being five—as they walked two blocks to a small outdoor park that had two swings—one was broken—a plastic slide and just enough dirt for a front-loader to…do whatever a front-loader did.

Move dirt, Chloe learned, as the little boy sat down and started pushing the toy. She brought out the rest of the construction toys and sat next to him, while Mae found a slice of shade under a palm tree and sat there to observe.

While he played, the only sound some "vroom-vroom" of a pretend engine, Chloe tried to imagine what to talk to him about…and where the heck Travis went.

How could he just bolt like that?

"Oh, look, Judah, this one has a little man inside." She pulled out the simple toy and handed it to him, looking around again for another man in a truck. Her man.

No, not her man. No man of hers would just bail on a kid like that out of, what, fear? Resentment? Jealousy? Ancient hurts and immature reactions? She would never—

She whipped around at the familiar sound of a truck engine.

"Oh, he's back," she murmured, and Judah looked up and followed her gaze to the truck, stopped right next to the entrance of the park. "Uncle Travis has returned."

"Uncah…" Judah blinked and forgot the toys, staring as Travis got out of the truck and walked around to the back, dropping the tailgate.

"And what the heck is he doing?" she asked on a whisper, not really expecting an answer from the child.

Travis disappeared around the passenger side of the truck. Maybe opening a door to reach inside? She couldn't tell. She waited, watching him go back to the tailgate.

Then he put both hands up to his mouth and hollered, "If it's anyone's birthday today, you better get over here now!"

Judah's eyes widened and he looked up at her, a question on his dear little face.

"I think Uncle Travis means you, buddy." She pushed up, her heart kicking with guilt for doubting Travis. "Can we go over there?" she called to Mae.

"Sure, let's go." She wasn't about to let them kidnap the kid.

The three of them crossed the grass, easily able to see Travis pull on the Spider-Man mask and step out, wearing the matching red and blue T-shirt.

Chloe let out a little moan of delight.

As they got closer, he beckoned them to the back of the truck, where a round chocolate cake sat open in a Publix bakery box, a blue number "5" candle unlit on top.

Judah's mouth dropped open.

"You know, Judah, when I was a kid…" Travis said, adjusting the face mask. "And, yes, Spidey was a kid. Well, back then, the birthday was all about the cake."

A slow smile pulled on the little boy's face.

"Can you climb up like a real Spider-Man?" Travis asked him.

Judah tried to scramble up on the tailgate, and with one masked look at Mae, Travis reached down and hoisted the child into the truck, ignoring the woman's soft admonishment.

"Should we sing?" Travis asked.

"We must sing," Chloe said, perching her hip on the tailgate.

"No lighting the candles," Mae added with an apologetic smile, knowing full well she was a killjoy but just doing her job.

"Then we'll pretend they're lit," Chloe announced, clapping her hands. "Ready, set… Happy Birthday to you …"

With each line of the song, Judah's face brightened. Chloe's heart soared. Travis's smile grew, and even Mae looked moved.

"Pretend blow out," Travis said, pointing to the candle. "But a real wish. Go for it."

Judah sucked in a breath, puffed out his cheeks, and blew out a candle that was never lit. They all clapped like it was the best candle-blowing ever, even Judah.

Then he looked up at Travis and grew very serious. "Thank you, Uncah…Man," he whispered, barely audible.

"Yeah," Chloe said, fighting tears. "Thank you, Uncah Man."

Travis just sighed and closed his eyes, and right that moment? Chloe had never loved him more and would marry him this afternoon if he asked.