“Taryn,” he said, his voice trembling despite himself. “Are they…?”
She shook her head faintly. “Not here. Not on the street.”
Mason removed his coat and wrapped it around the children without thinking. He stood up. “Come with me. All of you.”
Taryn’s eyes shone with uncertainty. “We cannot just walk into your world. I do not want to be a burden.”
He extended his hand. “You are not a burden.”
She hesitated, then gently nudged the children to their feet. Mason led them to his car, helped them sit inside, and blasted the heat until the windows fogged.
He took them to a nearby diner where the scent of freshly brewed coffee drifted through the air. As soon as plates arrived, the children attacked the food hungrily. Taryn kept her gaze fixed on her water glass, as if ashamed of her circumstances.
Mason waited until the children were distracted by a stack of coloring sheets before asking softly, “How long have you been out here?”
“A few months,” she replied. “I tried everything I could. After you left for the West Coast, I learned I was pregnant. I wrote to your old email but it bounced back. I kept searching for your contact information but nothing worked. I didn’t know how to reach you.”