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“I’m adopted,” Hope said carefully.
Awareness dawned on Ruby’s face. “I know what that means! Jack, in my class, he’s adopted. He’s from another country, so he looks different from his parents, but they all love each other, anyway. Are you from another country too?”
“No,” she said. “In fact, my mom—the mom who adopted me—looks a bit like me.” Enough so that she’d clung to that resemblance as her main proof that she was indeed Audrey Morgan’s biological daughter. “But I don’t know who my real mom was. I never saw her. There is no picture.”
After a quiet moment, Ruby sighed wistfully and said, “You’re still lucky.”
She set down her pencil, intrigued. “How so?”
The young girl looked up at her, a soul far older than six years looking out from behind luminous eyes. “Well, I know my mom died. And maybe your mom died too, but you found another lady who wanted to take care of you and be your mom. There isn’t another lady who wants to adopt me and be my mom. It’s just me and my dad.” She shrugged her tiny shoulders. “And that’s fine. I love my dad. But you’re lucky you got another mom, that’s all.”
It was all said so casually, but it caused a torrent of emotions inside Hope’s chest. It was like Ruby had ripped off a bandage, revealing a truth that Hope had been covering with her anger, bitterness, and shame.
She’d spent the last couple of months punishing her parents for withholding an important truth from her, feeling the weighted resentment of the betrayal, but the reality was that she had a mother. She’d been welcomed and accepted into a family of love. She’d never had to feel a single day of the kind of loss that Ruby had had to feel. And now, it was a different kind of shame that cloaked Hope.
Acting on instinct, she pulled the little girl into her embrace. Ruby crawled into her lap without hesitation.
“Oh, sweetie, I know you miss your mom,” she said, smoothing the riot of wavy hair Ruby had inherited from her mother. “And that’s completely okay.”
They sat for a moment as silence stretched.
“Daddy says we have to count our blessings,” Ruby’s small voice finally said.
“That’s a good suggestion,” Hope replied, trying to imagine a man like Gabe counting blessings. “What are some of yours?”
“Hmm.” There was a thoughtful pause. “I have a great daddy. And a cozy bedroom and lots of Barbies. And the best teachers at school. And my best friend takes me camping with her. And—”
“And you have an auntie who loves you so much she drove halfway across town just to deliver you her famous chocolate cream pie!” said a female voice from behind them, causing both Ruby and Hope to jump up out of their cuddle.
Hope gasped in shock and fright.
Ruby gasped with joy. “Auntie Lori!” She flew into the arms of the woman standing a step inside the apartment’s open door.
Hope hadn’t heard the door open. She must have been too engrossed in her moment with Ruby. How long had the woman been standing there?
Lori wrapped Ruby in a big hug, all the while watching Hope with sharply appraising, and now familiar, green eyes. She scanned Hope from top to bottom without revealing a single thought.
Older than Gabe, she guessed closer to forty, Gabe’s sister was slim and tall, with a neat-cut, no-nonsense bob.
Lori straightened, not breaking eye contact with Hope. “Ruby, honey, are you going to introduce me to your friend?”
Ruby bounded back to Hope. “This is Hope. She’s my nanny. We’re drawing pictures.”
Hope rose on unsteady legs and extended her hand to Lori. “Nice to meet you.”
Lori took her hand and shook it firmly “Very nice to meet you too, Hope.” She went to the kitchen, set the bag she carried on the kitchen counter, and pulled out a massive Tupperware container. “So how long have you been Ruby’s nanny?” she asked in a tone that would have been casual if Hope didn’t know better.
She was about to have another interview.
“A few weeks now.” It had been almost two months since she’d started watching Ruby, but her gut told her to keep things vague with Gabe’s sister for now.
“Interesting. Gabe never mentioned that the previous sitter had quit.”
“Well, um.” Unsure of how much to reveal, and not wanting to get in the middle of any unfamiliar sibling dynamics, Hope settled for more ambiguous truth. “From what I gathered, she was unreliable, and it left Gabe in a bit of a lurch.”
Lori dropped some utensils on the counter with a clatter. “Lord have mercy. Tell me he did not make this poor child sit in his grubby office at the back of the bar again.”
“Um…” Hope fidgeted with the hem of her sweater. God, Lori sure had the whole big-sister intimidation thing down to a tee. She hadn’t felt this nervous in ages.
