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“Hello James,” Sylvia said. “It’s very early for you and your daughter to be at my house. I expected that you would want more time together as a family.”
He grunted. “So did I.”
Sylvia let out a low, almost amused hum. “James, would you come in for a moment? I have some things I’d like to discuss with you since you’re here.”
There was a brief break in conversation before Maddie felt his hand squeeze her arm lightly. “I’ll be right back.”
Footsteps plodded past her up the stairs, then they paused as Sylvia said, “Saff, can I trust you not to disappear while I’m gone?”
Saff didn’t answer, and Maddie had to work to keep the smirk from her face as she imagined what kind of reaction Saff was giving her.
Finally, the footsteps continued, and then a door creaked open and closed behind her. And the second she heard it shut, Maddie surged forward to where she’d last heard Saff’s voice.
“Are you okay?” she asked, not bothering to mask the worry laced thickly in her words.
“Yeah,” Saff answered, close in front of her. “They came and got me early this morning.”
Maddie reached out, easily finding her forearm before trailing down to her hand.
Saff gave her hand a light squeeze, and Maddie felt a small twinge of warmth travel down her chest and into her stomach.
Maddie turned, pulling Saff with her as she felt for the stairs with her cane. Then she dropped down onto the bottom step, pulling Saff to sit beside her.
“What happened? Where have you been?” she asked.
Saff paused, but didn’t pull her hand away. “She wanted me to evaluate someone. A pregnant woman.”
Maddie cocked her head. That was the last thing she’d expected to hear. “Evaluate as in—like a doctor-patient thing?”
“Mhm.”
Maddie nodded slowly. “Was she okay?”
Saff’s body shifted beside her, still keeping her hand in Maddie’s. “Hard to say. She needs more than what they have here. Probably more than what anyone has now.”
Maddie turned away slowly, and as she did, she placed their entangled hands in her lap, mindlessly running her thumb in circles over Saff’s warm skin.
“Why were you here so early?” Saff asked.
Maddie gave her hand a light squeeze. “I told you I wasn’t going to let them keep you in there.”
Saff went quiet for a few moments before whispering, “thanks.”
Maddie gave her a small smile.
She knew that holding her hand for as long as she already had was more than something a friend would do. It felt—intimate. And yet, Saff didn’t make any move to pull it away. And after the last day of being away from her, Maddie wasn’t about to be the one to break the contact.
“How is it seeing your family again?” Saff asked.
Maddie snorted a laugh. “Just like how it always was. Pretty sure my dad was about to lose it when I made him take me here last night.”
Saff chuckled, and Maddie realized then how long she’d gone without hearing that sound—how much she’d missed it.
“And Sylvia sort of did lose it,” Maddie continued with a laugh. “I think if it weren’t for my dad, she probably would have thrown me out on the other side of the wall right there and then.”
Saff chuckled again, as the door opened behind them, with her father’s voice floating out.
Maddie stood from the step, and it was only then that Saff gently pulled her hand away.
