Serena Lockwood nodded. "I'll handle this." She walked over to him, bowed to the deceased, and then gently patted Shane Sanders's shoulder, but found herself at a loss for comforting words.
Shane Sanders felt her touch and suddenly pulled her into a hug. He spoke in a quiet, choked voice, "Miss Serena, my mom's gone. From now on, I'm an orphan—no father, no mother."
Serena Lockwood was momentarily stunned by the forceful hug. The young man's vulnerability was heartbreaking. Although her own birth parents were alive, one was in prison and the other had run away. For her, having parents was the same as having none. Back when her grandmother passed away, she too had felt like a helpless, abandoned orphan. Her heart had been filled with desolation, panic, and utter helplessness. In the end, the Lockwood Family had given her a warm home, and her young heart had found a new place to belong.
So, she could deeply empathize with what Shane Sanders was feeling now.
