"Be a bigger person, would you? Show some compassion. Stop making everything into a problem!"
Now I'd done the exact same thing.
"That's completely different!"
Melanie's fists clenched at her sides. "I'm going to the hospital to pick up Boyd. When I get back, I don't want to see that woman here."
She slammed the door on her way out.
She thought a cold shoulder would make me fold.
Instead, I turned to the girl with a smile. "Sylvia, let me run you a bath and get you some clothes."
"Thank you, Valentine."
Sylvia Henson leaned on her crutch and nodded, quiet and well-mannered.
She'd been filthy before, her face caked with grime. It wasn't until after her bath and a change of clothes that I actually saw what she looked like.
Delicate features, striking bone structure. The kind of face that would turn heads anywhere.
But she was painfully thin, all sharp angles, like a branch about to snap.
So I ordered her a full meal to put some food in her.
That was when Melanie wheeled Boyd back in. The second she saw Sylvia sitting on the couch eating, her expression froze over.
"Valentine Gilbert!"