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“I told you she was fine.”
“Where did all those come from?”
“Riley was addicted when she was younger. She told Emmy she could watch over them while she was visiting.”
“Well, thank Riley for me.”
“I’m going to bring them home with me tonight so that she has them with her.”
“I’m so sorry—”
Kayley gave me a stern look. “Don’t you dare. You hang with Lauren, and we got Emmy. There is an army of people here who will look after her.”
“Thank you and thank your parents and everyone else.”
“You got it. Kiss Lauren for me. I’ll talk to you later.”
Wes came to see me right before they moved her and said that everyone was heading back now, but he would be out to see her in the morning. He hugged me again, and I told him to thank everyone again—like I hadn’t already said it enough. I could honestly never say it enough.
An hour later, Lauren was in her room, and I had changed clothes. Lauren was resting, and I lay back in her side chair and closed my eyes. The entire scene played over in my mind a dozen times, and I was more thankful each time for the outcome.
Late that evening, I got a text message from Brad. When I opened it, I saw a picture of Emmy lying in the middle of my air mattress. Lined up all along the edge of the bed were the stuffed animals. I laughed as a second picture downloaded, and I saw Tyler and Tonya sleeping on a mattress beside Emmy.
I glanced at Lauren to see her sleeping soundly. I slipped out of her room and down to the lounge at the end of the hall where I called him.
“I didn’t expect you all to be at my house. I thought she was going home with Kayley.”
“Well, Emmy decided that she needed to sleep here. So, me and the kids are having a sleepover too.”
“I appreciate you doing that.”
“You’re welcome.” He paused. “Your house looks fantastic. Especially that kitchen. I didn’t realize that you changed the cabinets.”
“Yeah, after some long thought, I realized you were right. The ones I had picked out were a bit too modern. I love the more rustic look.”
“It’s beautiful, so is everything else. Your floors are fantastic.”
“Thank you. They turned out even better than I could have hoped. There is still a lot more to do, but it’s coming along.”
“Much faster than you anticipated.”
“Yeah.”
“How is Lauren?”
“She’s doing much better. If she is this strong tomorrow, they might let her go home.”
“That’s great.”
“Yeah, except I don’t have a bed for her, and I don’t think I can take her back to my parents. I’m not ready to let her out of my sight.”
“I can understand that. What if I found a bed you could borrow until your furniture was available?”
“That might work.”
“Alright, let me see what I can do.”
“Brad.” I sighed.
