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Josie paused to take a deep breath. “It is neither,” she continued. “It is a precious child put into a situation that left her with no father, and an adoptive mother to pick up the pieces. An adoptive mother who kept up the charade of having a husband on hand while my daughter and I were undergoing liver transplants. Which means she didn’t want me investigating further all those years ago.”
Josie took another deep breath. She wanted to punch someone. She wanted to go toe-to-toe with this woman and let her know how this whole thing felt from the birth mother’s perspective. That being lied to over something as perfectly wonderful as a child went way beyond a margin of error.
It was a dagger, straight to the heart, because the one thing she’d tried to do right in the face of a grievous wrong was to ensure Addie’s place in a strong, nuclear family. “You’ve spoken with my lawyer. And I’m sure you’re busily assembling a legal team to ward off any bad publicity, but the first step is to admit you made a mistake. For the sake of children and mothers everywhere, I pray to God you can, at some point, manage at least that.”
Shaken, she disconnected the call.
She’d avoided the agency calls for the last several days on purpose because how was she supposed to concentrate on the massive job ahead of her, Addie and Jacob’s upcoming move and the waves of emotions sweeping over her daily?
Addie’s placement wasn’t a predicament, and the child herself wasn’t a situation. She was a gift from God, and Sweet Hope hadn’t taken that as seriously as they should have.
She needed to talk to her family, but there was no time for that today.
And she needed to tell Jacob, straight out, but for the upcoming weekend, there would be no time to talk, and barely time to breathe.
He’d hate her.
Ginger’s parents would hate her.
And Addie…
She firmed her jaw, having made her decision.
Addie would never know because she had no intention of telling her. This wasn’t Addie’s fault, and she shouldn’t bear fallout from the actions of foolish adults.
Once again she would put Addie first. She had to tell Jacob, especially if the adoption agency was examining records. After messing up the first time around, she was certain they’d be more careful now. Better he hear it from her than them.
But then the Weatherlys would leave, Josie would stay and Addie would have the sweet, normal life her mother had promised her in utero.
Her chest tightened as she choked back emotion. It put a vise grip on her aching heart, but she’d gone through heartache before and mustered up. She’d do the same now, because Addie was worth the sacrifice. But in the background she wanted that agency to take responsibility for its error because surrendering a child wasn’t a casual affair. Following through on the proper home vetting the agency professionals promised birth mothers shouldn’t be casual, either.
“Are you ready for the big day?”
Jacob. Here. Now.
She swiped a hand to her face, but there was no way to hide the tears.
“Josie, hey.” He crossed the short space between them in an instant and drew her into his arms. “Hey, hey, it’s all right. I know it’s crazy, but it will be fine, I promise. I’ve been through lots of these, and we haven’t lost a chef yet.”
He thought she was suffering an attack of nerves because of the grand opening, and he wanted to comfort her. Hold her. How she wished she could stay right there, in the circle of this good man’s arms and just be herself.
She couldn’t. And when he learned the truth, he wouldn’t be offering any more of those kind, loving hugs.
She stepped back.
He offered her a hanky from his suit pocket, but she refused it and used a scrub cloth instead. “I am not getting your clean pocket square messy two hours before we officially open the doors.” She tossed the dirty cloth into the laundry tote inside the kitchen and grabbed tissues. “I’m fine, just a little overwhelmed for the moment. But with so much to do, it will be fine. Just fine.”
“It will.” He set his hands on her shoulders and smiled, but the smile didn’t quite erase the concern in his eyes. “When things settle down, I’d like to have time to just sit and talk together. Wouldn’t that be nice, Josie? Just you and me and some good coffee? Away from all of this?”
