you stayed with your gran, so he must have relented.”
Dash was silent.
“Sweetheart, you know you can tell me anything?”
Dash raised his head for the first time and fixed his pain-filled eyes on Jensen. “It’s my fault she died.” Dash’s voice cracked on the last word, and he turned his face into Jensen’s chest and sobbed. “She died. She died and I as good as killed her.”
“What? No, sweetheart. She loved you. How can you possibly say that?”
“Because she bought me.”
Jensen stilled in shock, wondering if he’d even heard properly the agonized words that wrung out of Dash. “What do you mean?” But he had an awful feeling he knew.
“She mortgaged everything. He said he had a job opportunity in Cancún. Friends of his were building a big resort, and he had a chance to go, but he didn’t have the funds. He said if he went to Mexico, then obviously I wouldn’t be able to go with him. It was blackmail. She mortgaged the cottage up to the hilt and emptied her bank account, and he was gone four days later.”
Jensen closed his eyes in pure disgust. He wasn’t stupid and he’d lived long enough to see the type of cruelty humans could inflict upon one another, but it was beyond his understanding how a father could do that to his child. He had resented his parents for long enough, but they were never deliberately cruel, they just wanted to live a different life and didn’t understand why their kids didn’t want the same.
But what did he say? What could he possibly say to make this any better for Dash? He clearly felt the financial strain had contributed to his Gran’s heart attack and felt responsible.
“Dash?”
Dash didn’t respond.
“Dash, let me ask you something?” Jensen prodded, hoping he was doing the right thing.
Dash raised his head a little. He didn’t reply, but Jensen knew he was listening. “I’m not breaking a confidence, and I know Ellie won’t mind me telling you this, but when she was in college her best friend was assaulted by the son of one of the most popular professors there. Apparently he was known for being a little ‘handsy,’ but Ellie wasn’t happy with the general culture of everyone putting up with it because none of them wanted the professor upsetting, and encouraged her friend to go see their advisor.
“The boy concerned was arrested, and the professor lost her job. Victim blaming is still a disgusting practice now, but twenty plus years ago it was even worse. How many times have you heard the girl getting blamed for the assault because of what she was wearing? That she asked for it?”
Jensen felt the small nod against his chest. “Well, this time Ellie was blamed. Her friend dropped out of school, and everyone blamed Ellie because the professor’s replacement was very unpopular, and she lost most of her friends. Now, who do you think should have been blamed for the professor losing her job?”
Dash was silent for so long Jensen didn’t think he was going to answer him.
“I know what you’re doing.”
“Then you know the only person that is responsible for causing your gran stress is your—Steven.” Jensen just managed to stop himself from saying the word father.
Dash seemed to think about that and raised his head after a moment. “Why are you being so good to me?”
Jensen hesitated. He could say a lot of things. An awful lot of things that after two days he had no business saying, but Dash deserved the truth as much as he could give it.
“Because you’re worth it.”
Dash seemed to think about that. “Will you stay?”
Jensen studied Dash’s serious expression, not a hundred percent sure what he meant. “How about I go make us a drink while you get into some jammies and check we don’t need a dry sheet, and then we read some more of the book?” Dash nodded, but he didn’t look overenthusiastic. Will you stay? “Do you mean all night?”
Dash immediately worried his bottom lip with his teeth, and Jensen prized it out gently. “You’re going to make your lip sore.”
“I used to suck my thumb when I was a child.”
Jensen wasn’t sure what to do with that information.
“But Steven soon got me to stop.”
He could imagine. He didn’t want to, but the things this boy had been through were horrific. He didn’t know what to say and just patted Dash gently and told him he would be back soon with some hot chocolate.
Jensen put the milk