A Fair of the Heart, Welcome To Redemption, Book1 by Donna Marie Rogers

later, his expression grim. He held up a smoldering
cigarette butt, which didn’t make a lick of sense since Lauren
didn’t smoke. Neither did Carrie, or the Glockmans, who lived on
the other side of her.
    Caleb doused it in the sink and pitched it in
the trash. “It’d be my guess she picked it up by the lit end, which
would explain the charred bits stuck to her fingers.”
    Max finally showed up with his mother’s purse
and asked, “Is she all right?”
    “Her fingers are burnt. Care to tell me how
that happened?”
    Max cast a quick, almost pleading glance at
Caleb, who responded, “Come on, we’d better get Emma to the
ER.”

Chapter Six
     
    Once Lauren and Emma were admitted into the
ER, Caleb clasped Max’s shoulder. “Time to tell me how Emma’s
fingers got burned.” He fed a dollar bill into the coffee machine
and pressed the button for hot chocolate. Christ, if he’d told
Lauren right away about the pack of smokes he’d found in Max’s
“stuck” bottom drawer, this never would’ve happened. And at Rowdy’s
he’d been caught trying to buy a pack of cigarettes, but again
Caleb had given him the benefit of the doubt. They’d made such
progress that night—Max had actually opened up to him—Caleb had
been sure the kid’s self-destructive phase was over, and there was
no reason to upset Lauren.
    Guilt and frustration ate at him. That sweet
little girl was in pain because of his poor choices. The urge to
put his fist through the wall nearly overpowered him. He flexed his
fingers and took a deep, calming breath before turning to face
Max.
    “It wasn’t mine, I swear!”
    “Sit down.” Caleb held out the piping hot
paper cup. “And be careful. Your mother couldn’t handle another
accident right now.” Caleb sat down beside him. “Now tell me what
happened, and don’t even think about trying to con me.”
    “This dude named Bucky showed up and wanted
me to go with him to the park to meet up with Eddie and Jimbo. When
he lit up, I told him to put it out, but he wouldn’t listen. Then
he flicked it in the yard, and Emma ran over and picked it up
before I could stop her.” Max’s face screwed up with anger.
“Bucky’s gonna be sorry when I catch up with him!”
    Caleb sat down next to him. “Calm down. Let’s
just pray Emma’s fingers aren’t as bad as they looked.”
    “You believe me, don’t you? I wasn’t
smoking.” Looking into Max’s eyes, Caleb had no doubt the boy was
telling the truth. But it didn’t lessen Caleb’s own guilt. “I
believe you. But we have to tell your mother what happened.”
    “No way! She’ll totally freak out, say I
can’t hang out with any of my friends anymore, give me some stupid
curfew.”
    “You’re ten, Max. You should have a
curfew.”
    “Yeah, but she wants me in by eight o’clock.
During the summer .”
    Caleb would’ve laughed if the situation
hadn’t been so dire.
    Thirty minutes later, Lauren appeared through
the double doors carrying a very sleepy Emma. Caleb watched with
interest as one of the paramedics strode up to Lauren, his
familiarity and concern unmistakable. After a short exchange, he
gave Emma a kiss on the forehead, Lauren’s shoulder a squeeze, and
walked out of the hospital with his fellow EMTs.
    Caught off guard by an overwhelming rush of
jealousy, Caleb shot to his feet. His face grew hot and an
unreasonable urge to race out after the guy and beat the hell out
of him took hold. So this is what the green-eyed monster feels
like. The unfamiliar emotion was not a welcome one.
    Once they were in the car on the way home,
Lauren touched his leg and said, “I want to thank you for jumping
in and taking care of us. I don’t know what I would’ve done if not
for you.”
    “You would’ve handled the situation just
fine. Luckily, Emma’s burns weren’t as bad as they looked.”
    “I know.” She peeked over her shoulder at her
sleeping daughter.
    He was already attached to the lot of them,
and it struck him with