as do I. This is the original, and it’s for you.
“I’ve spoken with the sister—and several other close relatives—about this matter. They were horrified to learn what Barbara had done, but they’d never met Rosie—or Ruby, as Barbara called her.”
“How many relatives were there?”
“Just the sister and her grown children. They lived relatively nearby.”
“But they never met her?”
“According to my interviews, they did not.”
“Good. Because...I can't speak for Grant, but I'm not in favor of visiting rights!”
Rena might as well have remained silent for all the attention the doctor paid her comment.
“Her sister told me that Barbara was suicidal after losing her husband and child. Sounds like she suffered survivor’s guilt.”
“Agent Gonzalez told me the drunk driver only got five years? That must have made things tougher,” Grant said.
Robson sniffed. “The man had a good lawyer, for one thing, and it was his first offense, for another. Throw in a sympathetic judge...” She ran a hand across the tidy handwriting that filled the first page of the letter. “I think learning more about her will make it easier for you to understand what she did.”
“Understand? You must be joking!” Rena said. “Nothing you say, and nothing in that letter can make me understand how a person steals someone else’s child. Grant and I lived without Rosie for years because of her. She took a part of us when she took Rosie. Losing her nearly destroyed us, but we didn’t go out and kidnap someone else’s child to ease our pain!”
Rena felt the heat of an angry blush coloring her cheeks. The office grew quiet, so quiet she could hear the steady swish of the pendulum, swaying right and left in the body of Robson’s stately grandfather clock. What was the woman waiting for...her or Grant to say that they’d split up because it seemed less agonizing than holding on to one another?
“While I agree with Rena, we’re not any closer to seeing Rosie, now are we?” Grant pointed out.
“I just want to take a moment to stress how important it is that you’re honest with yourselves. If you aren’t absolutely sure you can present a united front, it’ll be better for Rosie if you sit her down and tell her the truth about your relationship, right away.”
Rena imagined the scene... Rosie, teary-eyed and frightened by the prospect of being shuttled from Grant’s house to hers. “Dr. Robson—”
“Fiona, please.”
After tomorrow, they’d never see her again, so Rena saw no reason to feign a friendly relationship. Except that the doctor might see her reluctance to agree as a character trait that might be damaging to Rosie. She decided to play nice.
“We’ve barely had a chance to adjust to the situation, ourselves. There hasn’t been time to discuss exactly how we’ll make it work. But I can assure you of one thing. We. Will. Make. It. Work.”
Robson returned to her chair. “Good. I’m relieved to hear that. Because from what I gathered through interviews with Rosie and studying her behavior, she’s handling things admirably. It’s possible she’ll adapt quickly and easily to being with you, to being home again.” She raised an eyebrow. “That said, she will most likely have some issues related to Barbara’s death. She told Rosie you two were gone, then stepped into your shoes. Now that Rosie knows you’re alive and well, and that Barbara lied to her... Well, all that is bound to cause a few problems.
“Don’t be overly concerned, though. As I said, she seems like a well-adjusted little girl, despite all she’s been through. So, much as I hate to repeat myself, if you can’t pull off the whole together again thing, tell her. Tell her now. She won’t be happy, but she’ll adapt. She’s a resilient kid.”
“Tell her?” Grant all but shouted. “Out of the question! She’s just a little girl! A little girl who’s been through more these past few years than most adults go through in a lifetime. Life has made too many demands on her already. Dealing with the breakup of her parents...” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not going to happen. She needs to know she can count on us.” He glanced over at Rena. “We’re in this for the long haul, right?”
Rena searched his face and saw how much he needed her to say yes. And so she did.
Facing Robson, she said, “We’re not so naïve that we think it’ll be a cakewalk, but we have the best incentive in the world to make the marriage work—Rosie.”
It did her heart good to hear Grant’s relieved sigh.
“You know,” Robson said, “I agree with Manuel. I think you guys are going to do fine, just fine.”
With that, she put on her glasses and picked up the letter. Rena didn’t know what possessed her to do it, but she reached for Grant’s hand. He took it, gave it a slight squeeze, and held it against his chest.
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