All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,53

raced into Oliver’s room.

Hannah shook her head. “Let me give you the donation bag, and I’ll round up the boys.”

Once she made sure Oliver had his costume in his backpack, she hustled the boys out the door and into the truck.

Since the festival was in Pompano Beach, the drive took about a half hour. On the ride there, Kal engaged the boys in conversation about sports, comic books and superheroes. Hannah was amazed at Kal’s knowledge base about all kid things. Maybe boys retained all that knowledge from their own childhoods. She had to know stuff so she could talk to Oliver about his interests. It certainly wasn’t necessary for Kal to know any of it, since he didn’t have kids. She was impressed.

They parked in the lot and handed over their donation bags at the gate. Hannah’s eyes widened when she saw the multiple bags that Kal had in the truck.

“It’s not all from me,” he said as he easily hefted her two bags plus three more of his own. “Rafe and Carmen don’t come back from their honeymoon until tonight, so they wanted me to add stuff in on their behalf.”

“What are all the bags for?” Oliver asked.

“They’re donations for homeless shelters around the area.”

Jeff gave him a questioning look. “What’s a homeless shelter?”

“It’s a place for people to stay when they don’t have a home of their own,” Hannah said.

“Like an apartment?” Oliver asked.

“No,” Kal said. “Sometimes people don’t have a place to live at all. They live out on the streets either alone or with their families.”

“That sounds sad,” Oliver said.

Jeff nodded as they handed the bags to the people at the gate and got their wrist bracelets.

“And scary,” Jeff said.

They were given a pamphlet, and Hannah looked it over to decide which direction to go first.

“Do kids live on the streets?” Oliver asked.

Kal looked at Hannah as if to ask if it was okay to answer. She nodded.

“They do,” Kal said. “That’s where I lived when I was a kid.”

“No way,” Oliver said. “Were you scared?”

“Sometimes. But I stayed close with people I knew so I was never alone. In fact, my brothers that I have now became my brothers when I was homeless. We got rescued from a fire together when I was living on the streets, and we all got adopted by my firefighter dad and my amazing mom.”

“Whoa. That is awesome. You have the best life, Kal.”

Kal grinned. “Yeah, I sure do.”

Hannah thought it was incredible how kids could hear the worst circumstances but pull the highlights out and absorb only the best parts. She supposed that was the child in them. But Hannah had seen the shadows in Kal’s eyes and knew he was still haunted by his past. He probably always would be.

And who wouldn’t, having lived in those circumstances? She couldn’t imagine going to sleep night after night hungry, homeless, not knowing where your next meal would come from, or if you would ever be able to eat again. And being tossed away by your parents as if you never mattered. It made her love her mom even more fiercely, and determined to love her son the best she could.

She sighed.

“Okay, where to first?” Kal asked, oblivious to the deep emotions rolling through her. Obviously, the boys’ heavy questions hadn’t bothered him. But she still had to ask.

She put her hand on his arm. “Are you all right?”

He cocked his head to the side. “I’m fine. Why?”

“The boys. Their questions.”

“It’s all good. Thanks for asking, though.” He brushed his lips across hers, then immediately drew back, no doubt realizing what he’d done. They both looked at Oliver, who was staring at them.

“I’m thirsty,” Oliver said. “Can we get something to drink?”

“Sure,” Hannah said. “Drinks first, then we’ll go on a hayride.”

And later, when she had Oliver alone, she’d ask him how he felt about seeing her and Kal together.

He might just be seven years old, but he had feelings, and they were important to her.

The hayride was fun, and they were seated with eight other people, several of them kids, so Oliver and Jeff had a great time laughing and talking with the other kids. After that they had lunch, though the boys could hardly sit still since they knew the costume contest would be next and they could barely contain themselves, so it was like trying to eat a sandwich around a couple of bouncing balls.

“Oliver, Jeff, sit and eat your food or we won’t be able to