“Don’t go too far!”  I called after the older kids.  They were supposed to be staying within the yard but wanted to explore the trees a bit.  That was fine, as long as they stayed within my sight, but I knew with their curiosity they’d probably wander over the ridge if they weren’t careful.  Since I was still watching the younger ones, I couldn’t dash after them, so I hoped they’d listen to me.

“You’re too lenient with them,” Mrs. Jemmings told me, shaking her head as she waited for Susanna to finish writing out the check for the weekly groceries.  “Better keep them in line.”

“They’re just kids,” I murmured.  “They deserve to have some fun.”

A small mountain town was kind of a weird place to have an orphanage, if you didn’t know that there were several large cities within a reasonable distance.  Apparently, some rich couple years ago had decided that orphans shouldn’t be stuck in cities and had donated a large sum of money to start an orphanage in a place where the kids could grow up and run around outside without fear of being hit by cars, and then set up a foundation to pay for it.  Susanna was currently the one in charge of running it, which meant she’d been the one to hire me.  Just the two of us, right now.  In theory there should be more, but apparently convincing people to come live in a tiny mountain town was harder than it looked.  Which was why Susanna had been so grateful when I’d wandered into town and made it clear I liked kids and wanted to help.

Honestly, I’d have worked without pay as long as it meant food and a place to sleep.  I really liked kids so I’d have been happy to even just volunteer, but I did need food and shelter and thankfully my job at the orphanage meant I had a room to sleep in.  Sure, having it in the orphanage itself meant sometimes the kids would come and wake me up when they had bad dreams, but I didn’t mind that.  I was glad they had someone they could go to when they were dealing with their dreams.

Anyway, though, having just the two of us meant sometimes we, uh, struggled a bit to wrangle the children.  Usually they were great, loving Susanna enough – and slowly getting used to me – that they’d do whatever she wanted, but there were some days they just wanted to rebel or simply didn’t want to be as cooped up as our limited resources allowed.

I caught Jojo before she fell over, then collected Vivian’s hat to put back on her head.  I glanced over at the older children and caught sight of Danny, but not Lisa.  “Danny!”  I called.  “Come back over closer, I can’t see you both!”

Danny sort of waved at me, then I had to pay attention to the little ones again when Vivian fell and started crying and London and Annie started fighting over the same toy.  It took me a few minutes to resolve the problem and when I looked back up, I couldn’t see Danny.

I stood, suddenly worried.  It wasn’t like they were going to fall off the mountain or anything, but I didn’t want the getting lost in the woods.  “Danny!  Lisa!”  I called.

No answer.  They must have wandered out of range.

I groaned and looked back at the little ones.  Susanna was inside, probably dealing with supper preparations, and she didn’t need to be interrupted for that, and while I was 99% sure Danny and Lisa weren’t going to get hurt or even lost, I still had to make sure.

I quickly scooped up two of the little ones, ran for the orphanage building, and carefully placed them inside the playroom.  Then I ran back to get two more until they were all inside.  I quickly popped my head into the kitchen.

“Danny and Lisa wandered too far,” I told Susanna.  “I’m going to go find them.  The little ones are in the playroom.”

She sighed heavily.  “Sarah was right, you are too lenient with them sometimes.  Don’t let them past the fence next time, okay?  Now go find them.”

I left, but couldn’t help scowling a bit.  I hated fences myself, it was hard to see them as reasonable barriers.  I could understand the desire to run wild in the woods – I felt that myself.  Sometimes I just want to stretch out on my four paws and see how fast I can go.

It would have been easier to track Danny and Lisa in my shifted form, but I stayed human while I headed in the general direction I’d last seen them, calling every so often and then listening for a response while also trying to follow their scents without shifting.  The sun was starting to go down, which began to make me more worried.  Maybe they really were lost.

Then I heard someone shouting my name.

“Mr. Miiiiles!”

I changed directions to head towards the sound.  “Danny?  Lisa?”

Danny came into sight, running towards me.  “We were climbing trees, and Lisa fell!”  She told me excitedly.  “But the man caught her and says she only has a sprained ankle.”

A man?  My pulse quickened and I hurried my step.  If Danny didn’t know who this man was, that meant he was probably a stranger – and it wasn’t always safe to leave kids with strangers.

Just then, the man in question came in sight.  He was tall, nice-looking, with kind of a quiet, serious aura.  He was carrying Lisa, who was talking animatedly, and he would nod and smile as she talked.

I frowned and then came over.  “Lisa, are you okay?”

I reached for her, but the man hesitated as he looked at me.

“Are you from the orphanage?”  He asked.  “They’re sending kids out to look for each other?”

I crossed my arms and glared back at him.  “Just because I’m short doesn’t mean I’m a kid!  I work at the orphanage.”  I should be used to that, but it was kind of annoying.  For a guy, at least, I was fairly petite.  Barely 5’3,” or at least I argued that was how tall I was, kind of scrawny, and for some reason that made people think I was younger than I actually was.  “Who are you?”  I asked accusingly.

“This is Nathan!”  Lisa volunteered.  “He caught me.  He saved my life!”  She added dramatically.

“Well…thanks for that,” I responded a little awkwardly, “now please give her to me, I can take her the rest of the way.”

He raised one eyebrow and looked a little bemused.  “You’re sure you can carry her?  I don’t mind taking her back.”

I ignored his question, instead taking Lisa and briefly setting her down on her good foot before letting her cling to my back.  Once I was sure she had a good grip, I started back towards the orphanage, Danny at my heels.

At least being a shifter meant I could see better in the dark.  I didn’t have to worry about tripping on anything in the growing darkness.

The man – Nathan – started walking with me, to my surprise.  Maybe I should make small talk.  He had helped Lisa, after all, and his intentions seemed good, so maybe I was just too distrustful.

“Are you lost?”  I asked him.  Oh, maybe not the best way to start a conversation.  Maybe something less…accusatory.  “Err, you’re not from here, I figured you must be a traveler or tourist,” I explained.  “They don’t usually wander around in the woods.”

“Traveler, I guess,” he mused.  “I wanted to take some time off and think and a small mountain town seemed like the ideal place.  I was taking a walk through the woods when I came across your girls here.  Do they normally wander through the woods by themselves?”  His question sounded just curious, but I still felt the sting of judgment.

“No, they just wandered too far.”

“Mr. Miles told us not to,” Danny volunteered.  “But we saw a butterfly and had to follow it and when it flew up too high, Lisa thought we might could see it again if we climbed a tree.”

Right.  Of course.  Distracted by a butterfly.  Totally on brand for the girls.

I sighed a little, knowing they weren’t going to like this.  “Miss Susanna doesn’t want you playing outside of the yard anymore, okay?”

“Aww,” Lisa whined.  “It’s so boring in there!  At least there’s things to explore in the forest!”

I didn’t really disagree with them, but what could I say?  I didn’t make the rules.

We reached the orphanage yard a few minutes later and I kind of paused awkwardly in the light.  “Um, thanks for your help.  Do you, uh, want to join us for dinner as thanks?”

I had hoped he say no, but for some reason he instead said yes instead so I found myself bringing him inside, explaining to Susanna what had happened and that we now had a dinner guest – thankfully food quantity was never a problem so that shouldn’t be an issue – and then leaving him with her while I took Lisa to the nurse’s room to take care of her ankle.

We didn’t have a nurse, but Susanna made sure I knew first aid and could do basic stuff like taking care of small injuries before she hired me.  If the kids had anything serious happen, of course we’d take them to a doctor, but smaller injuries like sprains – this didn’t even look that bad, it was probably more of a twisted ankle that would be fine in a day or two – were something it was simpler for us to take care of.

When we rejoined the others after Lisa’s ankle had been taken care of, I was surprised to see that Nathan had removed his shoes and was flopped out on his side with the little ones, who were climbing all over him.  He seemed happy with it, though, judging by the smile on his face.

I hesitated, then came to sit near him.  “You like kids?”

“Mmm-hmm.”  He booped Jojo’s nose, sending her into gales of laughter, before he looked up at me from his sprawled-out position.  “I have a lot of younger siblings,” he explained.  “I helped take care of them growing up, felt almost like a third parent to them.  I actually thought about opening a daycare when I got older but…that didn’t end up happening.”

“Oh?”  I crossed my legs and plopped London into my lap where he eagerly sucked on a rubbery toy.  “How come?”

Nathan took a while to answer, and I worried I might have asked something I shouldn’t.  I wasn’t a good judge of where boundaries were with adults, what questions might make them angry or closed off.  It was one of the reasons I liked working with kids – they were more straightforward, less…less deceptive.

“I made a choice,” he said at last, just when I was about to open my mouth and apologize for asking.  “I…wanted to be available to someone but our schedules wouldn’t have worked if I’d opened a daycare.  So I decided to pursue something else.”

It seemed like he didn’t really want to go into any more detail, which was fine.  It was none of my business if he’d decided his romance life outweighed his desire to start a daycare.  I mean, I was kind of assuming the romance part of it, but who else would you give up a dream for?

“So what do you do now?”  I asked instead.

“I work for a landscaping company.”  He laughed a little.  “Yes, far different, I know, but my hours are a lot more flexible and the work is relaxing.  I spend all day outside.”

That sounded nice.  Okay, there were some days during the cold of winter that weren’t great.  I didn’t mind the heat or rain, it was just really cold days that bothered me.  But working outside, especially if he lived in a city – I was kind of assuming he did, based on his statement about visiting a mountain town to get away – well, that was the best way to live in a city, wasn’t it?

“Did you grow up here?”  He asked softly.

I stiffened before realizing he meant in the orphanage, not in the town.  “No.  I…came to town for a, um, fresh start.  I’ve been working here about four months.”

I hoped my tone didn’t invite questions.  I was not willing to discuss my past, especially not with a stranger.  I hadn’t even told Susanna what brought me here, and I hoped I’d never have to.

Thankfully, Susanna came in just then and informed us dinner was ready.  I had to focus on helping the little ones manage their stew without totally getting it everywhere, so I could mostly ignore Nathan while he talked with Susanna, Danny, and Lisa.

By the time dinner was over and the little ones were washed and put to bed, I was feeling tired.  I wanted to just climb into bed – Susanna was dealing with the older kids – but I wasn’t sure what to do about the tall man still in the house.

“So, Miles, is it?”  He asked hesitantly.

Oh, right, I hadn’t really introduced myself.  “Yes, Miles.”  I didn’t offer him my last name.  The fewer people knew my last name, the less likely I could get tracked down and he would find me.

“Well it’s nice to meet you, Miles,” Nathan offered me a soft smile.  “Sorry for thinking you were a teenager earlier.”

I found my gruffness softening a bit.  “It’s pretty normal,” I reluctantly admitted.  “Apparently because of my height everyone just assumes I’m a teenager still.”

He laughed lightly.  “It can be a good problem to have, looking young, but I’d imagine it would get annoying, too.”

I agreed with the annoying part.  “Well, thanks again for helping Lisa,” I said awkwardly.  “Um, do you have some place you’re staying in town?”

“Rosewater Inn.  Seems like a nice place.”

I’d walked by it a few times.  Simple, but cozy.

“Well, while you’re in town, if you want to play with the kids again, uh, let me know?”  What the hell was wrong with me?  Why did I suggest that?  Sure, he’d seemed to be so relaxed and happy with the little ones and it was clear watching him that he did genuinely like kids and wasn’t some kind of pervert, but I didn’t usually go inviting people to come over out of the blue.

To my chagrin, his eyes lit up.  “I might do that,” he admitted.  “I miss getting to play with my siblings.”  He went to the door, then looked back at me.  “Good night, Miles.”

“Good night.”  I shut the door behind him, then made sure the lights were off downstairs, everything was locked up, and got ready for bed.

As I did, I wondered why someone who clearly loved kids so much had given up on his dream of opening a daycare just for a person.  Girl, guy, whatever – it was still just a person.  Could dealing with bushes offer half as much joy as I’d seen on his face in the few minutes he’d been with the kids?  I really hoped whoever this person was that he’d given up his dream for appreciated what he’d done for them.

And then I wondered why I was even worried about that and decided it was best to get some sleep.