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“Professor?”
Rory emerged from the front, carrying two ice-cream sandwiches in her hands. She looked pretty as a forgiving New York spring morning.
I swore I could see different shades of the sun in those eyes.
She handed the sandwiches to her friend and came forward, a big smile on her lips.
“Hey, Professor! This is my best friend, Chelsea. And that’s her dog, Rain.”
“Wain,” Sally said. “Pwetty Wain.”
Chelsea and Rory laughed together. Rory knelt down beside my little girl.
“You’re very pwetty yourself. What’s your name?”
Sally looked at her with those big, innocent eyes and then looked up at me. This was a silent question.
Can I trust her?
I felt a lump in my throat and nodded.Yes.
“I’m Selena Taylow. But you can call me Sally.”
“Hi, Sally.” Rory extended her hand, a very serious expression on her face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Auwowa, but you can call me Wowy.”
I wanted to laugh so hard. I also wanted to drop down and gather both Rory and Sally in a tight hug.
She’d actually made it easier for my girl to pronounce her name. I had no idea how she’d even guessed the issue with pronunciation, but she was Rory.
Perceptive as ever, sharp as a shard of glass, and a heart of pure gold.
“Wowy.” Sally scrunched her eyebrows, trying to stop herself from giggling. “Is a nice name.”
Rory sighed and sat down on the grass. “I guess. It’s different. But you know, I feel like our parents really messed up with our names. I could totally picture you as Queenie.”
Sally’s smile widened. She was revealing her gap-toothed grin, which meant she really liked Rory.
It was a win for her, but somehow, it felt like a bigger win for me.
“Now, Sally, about this hair of yours...”
Sally touched her hair. “Yes?” she asked with big eyes.
“How do you even make hair so beautiful? It’s like silk! Would you like me to braid it for you?”
Sally nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, pwease!”
With the precision of a master-braider or whatever title would suit those magic fingers the best, Rory transformed Sally’s hair into a twisted French braid. I didn’t even know it was called that before.
I would probably forget it too. I would always remember this style as the “Sally-meets-Rory” hairstyle.
That felt more apt.
Rory opened her phone’s front camera and showed Sally what her hair looked like.
And Sally was so happy, she immediately jumped into Rory's arms and hugged her.
Rory looked up at me as she held my child in her arms. Her eyes... the light in them was softer than honey. There was kindness there, golden and warm.
