Chapter 3 - The Truth in the Rain
I ran out into the alleyway,
the freezing rain soaking through my hoodie in seconds.
"Anna!"
I shouted,
my voice lost in the roar of the wind.
I saw them at the end of the block,
two small figures huddled under a bus stop shelter.
I didn't think about the paparazzi,
the headlines,
or the board of directors.
I ran until I reached them,
my breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Anna, wait,"
I said,
blocking her path as she tried to board a bus.
"I have a car around the corner."
"Please, just let me take you somewhere warm."
"No,"
she said,
her teeth chattering.
"We’re going back to the shelter on 4th Street."
"They have a bed for us tonight."
"There are no beds on 4th Street, Anna,"
I said,
knowing the statistics of every shelter in the city.
"They closed their intake an hour ago."
"You’ll be sleeping on the floor of a police station."
She looked at me,
her defiance finally crumbling under the weight of exhaustion.
Milo was shivering,
his small face tucked into the crook of her neck.
"Why are you doing this?"
she asked,
her voice a broken whisper.
"Is it the guilt?"
"Or do you just want to see how far we’ve fallen?"
"It’s neither,"
I said,
taking off my jacket and wrapping it around Milo.
"It’s because I’m his father."
"And because I still love you."
The silence between us was longer than the three years we had spent apart.
Finally,
she nodded,
a tiny movement that felt like a mountain moving.
I led them to my SUV,
the one I kept parked three blocks away to maintain my disguise.
When I opened the door,
the warmth of the interior spilled out like a promise.
Milo climbed into the leather seat,
his eyes wide with wonder.
"Is this your spaceship, Max?"
he asked,
running his hand over the polished wood trim.
"Something like that, buddy,"
I said,
buckling him in.
Anna sat in the front,
staring straight ahead as I pulled away from the curb.
I didn't take them to the estate.
I knew it would be too much,
too fast.
Instead,
I drove to a quiet hotel I owned downtown,
the kind of place where the staff knew how to keep a secret.
We checked in under a false name,
and I ordered enough food to feed a small army.
As Milo fell asleep on the plush bed,
exhausted by the excitement and the meal,
Anna and I stood by the window,
watching the city lights flicker in the rain.
"How did it happen, Anna?"
I asked.
"How did you end up at Harbor House?"
"The design school closed down,"
she said,
her voice flat.
"My mother got sick,
and the bills took everything."
"I lost the apartment six months ago."
"I’ve been working three jobs, Max."
"But childcare takes half of what I make,
and the rest goes to food."
"I didn't want to go to the shelter,"
she added,
turning to face me.
"But it was too cold for him to be in the car anymore."
I reached out and touched her hand,
and this time,
she didn't pull away.
"I’m going to fix this,"
I said.
"Not with a check,
and not with a phone call."
"With my life."
She looked at me,
her gray eyes searching for the man she used to know.
"You can't just buy a family, Max."
"I know,"
May you like
I said.
"But I can earn one."
