Whatever force out there keeping people accountable – if in fact there was one – would have to forgive her. Sunshine had truly acted as though she owned the place, raiding the fridge and making sandwiches with the kid. It made her uncomfortable, though she did her best not to show it. These were special circumstances, so she supposed a few allowances could be made. But she made a note of the address. Once she’d found some kind of income, she’d mail them recompense anonymously. It might make them curious, but it would make her feel better. It was what she told herself to settle her conscience anyway.
Ganner was right; the kid really didn’t seem to have anyone to go to. His mom was his whole world. Every time she broached the subject too closely, it would trigger little warning signs. She could see it in his eyes, the pout of his lips. It didn’t take long for Sunshine to stop asking and bring up other topics of conversation instead. She distracted him for a short time by asking him about the games he liked to play and telling him about the ones her brothers had. She even told him a story. Back home, she was the resident story-teller. She was good with boys. They tended to like the tales she preferred. Something about Cinderella had always irked her. The moral was basically to stay quiet and submissive and some man would come along and take care of your problems for you. Yeah, no. Personally, she would have cheered Cinderella on if the woman had decided to go into the fashion industry with her latest style of designer ballroom slippers. Sometimes she even told it that way. It made the story better and skipped the kissing parts her brothers hated so much.
She was almost feeling normal by the time Ganner got to the door. But his announcement sent her nerves sparking with alarm again. Sunshine was quick to open the door for him, promising the boy that she’d be right back and telling him that he should finish his sandwich. She figured he had a 50-50 chance of doing as told. She certainly wouldn’t have under the circumstances. Opening the door, she took in Ganner’s appearance. She didn’t know him well, but he looked rather... grim. Something had gone wrong then. The million possibly ways things could have “gone wrong” all tried to burst through her mind at once, but she stuffed them back into the dark recesses that birthed them. Right now, she really didn’t need to panic. It wouldn’t help anyone. “Alright, um….” Her head turned back in the direction of the boy. There probably wasn’t any way around it. If it was that serious, they’d probably have to do that mind-thing to him again as much as she hated it.