Chapter 212

Finally, he understood. She didn’t want to weep in front of him, but trying to hold back made her cry harder. “Yes.”

Trees pulled her into his lap and gripped her chin until she met his gaze. “I’m here for you, little one. I know I’m not your sister. I know you want to see her, and I don’t blame you. But it’s not safe. Once it is, I’ll take you to her myself. But until that day comes, I’m here and I won’t let anything come between us. Do you hear me?”

She still didn’t trust him completely, but he was all she had in the world right now. And he seemed determined to take care of her in a way only her sister had ever tried to. “I do.”

He released her chin and kissed her forehead before he dragged her bowl across the table. “Good. Eat up.”

Then he fed her patiently, one heaping bite at a time. Taking food from his hand was so intimate and oddly comforting. She followed the stew with a bottle of water. Once her bowl was empty and her stomach sated, her lids felt he