Audrey sat on the park bench, watching the four-year-old with the short, dark curls whip back and forth from the swings, to the slide, to the elaborate climbing apparatus in the center of the park. He looked like a kid in a candy store and she couldn’t help but smile despite the heavy weight on her conscience.
She hadn’t seen him so excited since Christmas Eve when he’d been convinced Santa was going to bring him the game console he’d been eyeing for months. “Don’t worry,” he’d told her as he hung his stocking before bed, “I’ve been so good I just know Santa’s gonna bring me it.” She’d been trying to let him down easy for weeks, but nothing she said had convinced him that maybe Santa couldn’t afford the latest and greatest in gaming equipment after the rent hike at the beginning of the mo
