LUMENPart  of  being  in  the  foster  system  was  dealing  withcaseworkers, and while I wasn’t technically working in or for the system, I still sometimes met the social workers when I was around the group home. Josalyn Brodie hadn’t been one of those, so when I stepped into the lobby of the Department of Child and Family Services, I wasn’t sure who I was looking for or where I was going. Fortunately, one caseworker I did know spotted me right away.“Lumen Browne.” Donna Bedford beamed as she came toward me. Her hug was both familiar and welcome, and a single inhalation of apple-scented body wash took me right back to being thirteen when my first caseworker had retired, and I’d been passed off to Donna. Henry had been okay. Donna was better.“Hey, Donna.”“I’ve heard you’ve been working with some of the kids at Brie Richards’ place.”I nodded. “I have. Actually, that’s why I’m here. One of her girls, Solei

LUMENJosalyn  had  given  me  plenty  to  think  about, and  I knew  Iwasn’t going to figure it all out at once, so when I got back home, I declined Mai’s offer to watch a movie with her and her boyfriend, saying I’d head to my room after dinner to get ahead on some work. I liked Hob well enough, and Mai was the closest thing to family that I’d ever had, but I wasn’t in the mood for company tonight. I had too much going on in my head.Besides, with Hob’s crazy work schedule, he and Mai didn’t get as much alone time as I knew they both would’ve liked. He was a third-year resident working toward becoming a pediatrician, and just a generally good man. The two of them had been together for a while now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a ring was in the near future.I wished all the best for them. And I wasn’t jealous at all.I allowed myself a small smile as I bid them goodnight and settled in my room. It wasn’t very big,

ALECI’d never disliked spending time with my family, but I hadalways felt as if my time and attention would be better used elsewhere. Namely, at work.I’d always known that I would take over MIRI one day, and quite without me realizing it, that had become my identity, even with my family. Instead of shifting that when Evanne was born, I’d worked even harder, seeing the family’s legacy as passing down to her instead of seeing that I could have a different part in that legacy.Becoming a full-time father without warning had shown me things about my life and myself that I wanted to change, namely how I wanted to be involved in Evanne’s life. I hadn’t realized until this week, however, just how much that change would affect my relationships with my family.I hadn’t completely ignored work this week, but I also hadn’t let it consume me either. I’d spent time with Evanne, but also with everyone else too. While I’d enjoyed myself, I’d also finally realized how little I actually knew

LUMENGoing back to school was easier than I’d thought it would be,and I knew part of that was because I no longer had all those worries and questions about Alec clouding my mind. He hadn’t explained, exactly, why he hadn’t gotten back to me, but we hadn’t exactly spent much time talking either. In fact, in the three hours we’d spent together yesterday afternoon, we’d had enough sex to leave my entire body sore today.I smiled as I made my way back to my classroom after our short teachers’ meeting. It hadn’t taken long for us to confirm that we were okay and Principal McKenna to tell us that we should determine what and how much our students needed to know. After that, it was business as usual.I was still straightening out my rows when I heard someone at the door. My smile faded as I saw a familiar but unwelcome face.“Vice Principal Harvey.”“Lumen.” He smiled that smarmy smile that made my skin crawl. “I t