Bringing Rosie Home by Loree Lough

Author:Loree Lough
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-10-16T18:51:54+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

AN HOUR HAD passed when Grant joined her at the kitchen table.

“What’re you working on there?” he wanted to know.

“My to-do list for the next few days.”

“Thought you finished that yesterday.”

“I’m a horrible person. I only said that so my folks would go to bed last night and wouldn’t feel obligated to get up at the crack of dawn to help me.”

Grant laughed. She loved the vibrant, masculine sound of it and wished he’d laugh more often, the way he had before...

“You’re not a horrible person. I was relieved when they went upstairs, too.”

She drew a little heart in the margin of her notepad, colored it in and added ruffles to its edges, searching her mind for something she’d forgotten to add to the list.

“If you’re finished now, can we talk?”

Rena tensed and put down her pen. “Sure.”

“Did Rosie seem...different earlier? When she was asking all those questions about the life expectancy of fireflies, I mean.”

“Yes, now that you mention it, she did seem preoccupied by it. I thought at the time that maybe she was identifying with them, trapped in a jar. Maybe that’s how she felt after Barbara took her...trapped in that woman’s house, trapped in a life she didn’t want.”

One brow rose on his forehead. “Whew. That’s deep. That never occurred to me, but y’know, that might explain things.”

“Like her bedtime prayer? I nearly cried.”

Rena replayed the scene in her mind: Rosie, eyes shut tight, tiny hands folded against her chest, asking God to bless her grandparents and parents, “...and the fireflies, too, because they’re very pretty and when they light up, they make people happy.” She’d paused long enough to make Rena and Grant think her next word would be Amen. Instead, Rosie had added one last line: “I’m sorry I caught them. Dad says they don’t live very long, so making them spend any time in the jar wasn’t very nice. I promise never ever to do it, ever again.”

“She’s some kid, all right,” Grant said.

“I don’t deserve her.” Instantly, Rena regretted the words. She considered self-pity one of the most useless human emotions and hated that she’d surrendered to it. How often had she gone down that road? Wondering how life could have been if Rosie hadn't been taken. She and Grant would never have separated. And who knows? They might have another child by now if...

“That’s nonsense. You’re a good mother. One dumb mistake doesn’t change that.”

He hadn’t always felt this way, and she had the mental scars to prove it.

But Rena had to admit, from the moment she’d pulled into the driveway that first evening, he’d been doing his best to make her feel welcome. The fact that she didn’t was on her.

Grant stifled a yawn. “Don’t know about you, but the idea of hitting the hay sounds mighty inviting.”

She was tired, too, and climbing into bed did sound good.

Standing, Rena turned on the light above the stove. “Just in case Rosie wants a drink of water or something.”

“I saw you do that on her first night here, and thought it was a good idea then, too.

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