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“Good food,” he shot back. “Listen, I’d—”
Her cell phone indicated an incoming text, and she used that as an excuse to break away. She’d made a pledge to leave Addie alone. Jacob already mistrusted her. She’d gotten her wish of seeing Addie one last time. And that would have to do. She lifted the phone. “I have to tend to this, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. Just be proud of what you’ve done here,” Bob told her. “It’s commendable.”
Jacob hadn’t told them. If they knew they wouldn’t be treating her like this. Would he tell them eventually?
Perhaps, once they were all safe and sound down south. She pulled out her phone, saw the picture Kimberly had sent of baby Elizabeth and sent a smiling emoji in return.
She’d wanted what Kimberly now had. A loving husband, a home and a family. For a little while, the thought of doing that with Jacob and Addie had put her pulse into high gear, but now reality lay at her doorstep. In two days they’d be gone, out of her life.
But not out of her heart.
She was experienced enough to know that wouldn’t happen. But with faith and family, she’d ride out this newest wave of sadness. She sent back the picture message to Kimberly with one single word: Amazing, knowing her cousin would understand. She drove back to town, parked alongside the carriage house drive and took a walk. She didn’t look at Stan’s, remembering Addie’s love for frozen custard. And she didn’t hit the beach where the local kids loved to gather, splash and play.
She walked by the arching stone walls of Grace Haven Community and saw the door standing open. Sweet voices melded with dancing notes from the keyboardist, drifting up the wide stairway leading to the basement-level classrooms. Thursday night choir practice was in full swing.
She took a place on a pew in the still of the summer’s evening. The bank of votives flickered to her right, and to her left, stained glass windows depicted teachings from the New Testament. Children, gathering around Jesus. A shepherd, seeking a lost lamb. A father, embracing two sons. And then one of the condemned woman, in the sand at Jesus’s feet. One hand stretched toward her, and the other indicated the empty street around them.
Her accusers had gone, every single one. And there she was, with Christ, an audience of one, needing only God’s forgiveness.
Outside, sweet sounds of summer collided in the night. Laughter, shouts and the subtle swish of bike tires on old, village sidewalks.
She’d seen Addie one last time. She’d gotten two final hugs, and that in itself was a treasure. Most important, she knew her child, her most precious gift from God, was in good hands.
All she’d ever wanted was Addie safe and sound and happy. Her wish had been granted, although not by ordinary means.
She tried not to think of Jacob. His gentle eyes, his honest smile, the touch of his hand, the grasp of his fingers, his kiss…
She blinked back emotion and stood.
She’d wished for a chance to say goodbye to Addie. To see her one final time. To realize how perfectly content she was.
That wish had been granted today. Asking for anything more would be just plain greedy, but if she had her way?
She sighed and slipped her purse strap up over her shoulder.
She’d be greedy enough to want it all.
* * *
Jacob gestured for his parents to follow him outside. Addie was curled up in the air-conditioned living room of the cottage, watching a favorite show. His mother slid the screen door shut and followed the men to the shaded gazebo overlooking the water. “I’ve got something to tell you.”
“You look serious. Should we sit?”
He grimaced. “Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea.” They sat and he did, too, trying to figure out the best way to approaching this. In the end, he just told them, straight out. “It’s about Ginger, and you’re not going to like it.”
His father’s jaw tightened, but he looked more sad than surprised. He reached out and took his wife’s right hand in his left one. “Go on.”
“She committed fraud to adopt Addie.”
“Tell me you’re joking.” His father sat more upright. Whatever he was expecting, it certainly wasn’t the truth Jacob just laid out for them.
