Free Dare to Dance: The Maxwell Series by S.B. Alexander

responsible for my nine-hundred-dollar loss.
    I whipped out an old photo of Raven before she’d gone into foster care. Seeing her always helped to calm me. I smoothed my finger over her picture. Her black hair was pulled up in a ponytail, her blues eyes were framed by the longest lashes, and she had her hands on her hips, posing as if she was modeling a new outfit. A tear spilled down my cheek. I was a terrible mother. I shouldn’t have been stealing with her at my side. Maybe Norma was right. Maybe I should talk to Kross and tell him everything, dump my problems on him so he could take care of Raven and me. Maybe he was my ticket to getting Raven back.
    The jangle of change caused me to look up. A young girl, who looked to be about ten years old, smiled at me. Then she removed her yellow scarf and handed it to me. “This will keep you warm.”
    More tears streamed down my face. “You keep it, sweetie. It’s cold out here.”
    Her mom ran up, bundled in her own winter gear. “Jenny?”
    “She looks cold, Mommy.”
    The lady nodded at me with sad green eyes. “Please, take the scarf. She doesn’t like seeing homeless people.” Then she pulled out her wallet and gave me two ten-dollar bills. “This is for a warm meal.”
    Tears continued to spill as I took the money. The change in my cup added up to maybe three dollars, and Norma and I needed to eat. Since the night of the fight, we’d only found stale bread as our sustenance. “Thank you.”
    Jenny wrapped the scarf around me. Then her mom grabbed her hand. The little girl waved as they merged into pedestrian traffic.
    I tightened the soft fabric around me. It smelled of baby powder, reminding me of Raven. More tears dropped. I stuffed away her photo before I became a blubbering frozen mess on the street.
    Out of nowhere, Norma bounded up. She’d ducked into a diner a block away to apply for a waitressing position. She sat down then felt my scarf. “That was nice of the little girl to give this to you. So, any luck?” She peeked into the cup. “Mmm. Not much. Hey, why are you crying? Have you been staring at Raven’s picture again? Or thinking about her hot daddy?” She buttoned her oversized men’s coat that we’d found while raiding a donation bin.
    I ignored her questions. “Did they let you fill out an application?”
    “Yeah. But they don’t have any openings.” Norma wiped her nose with the back of her gloved hand. “Have you thought anymore about going to see Kross?”
    “No.” It would have been so easy to depend on Kross, and so wonderful to have him in my life again. The thought of being a family with him and Raven was fantastic. But I couldn’t depend on him or anyone else. I had to show my daughter I could be a good mother. Most of all, I was in no physical condition to see Kross. No way. No how. Not ever.
    “Ruby.” Norma’s tone dropped like it normally did when she didn’t agree with me. “He can help you. You didn’t see the despair written all over his face the other night. The man was begging me to tell him something.”
    I didn’t need to see his face. Norma and I had heard Kross swear at the top of his lungs as we’d run from Firefly. While his pain tugged at my heartstrings, two things waged a war inside me. His apology was weak at best. I got the feeling he’d said he was sorry for not returning my calls because he wanted to know about the baby. Second, I couldn’t figure out how he knew about Raven, and I was worried that he might try to get custody of her.
    “Again, I’m not ready. Please tell me you won’t go over to that gym you said he worked at and rat me out.” Or maybe Norma was the one who had found Kross and told him about Raven and where I would be. As quickly as that thought entered my head, I let it go. We were like sisters, and we trusted one another.
    “I’m not a tattler. But I can’t promise you I won’t go over to that gym and check things out.” She giggled then waggled her eyebrows.
    I