"Well, it is just you and me now, sweetheart," Marissa said as she ruffled Emma's abundant curly hair.

The boy gave her his gummy smile, one of the best things she loved about him. He knew just when to bestow one of those sunny smiles on her—when she needed it the most—and she did need it at that moment as she was thinking frantically about the coming days and what she would do to turn around her situation as she stood in one of the passenger stands recently erected there as she waited for the bus that would take her home.

Emmanuel blew a sound and kicked his legs vigorously,...