Page 80 of Whispers of Redemption

“Are you serious?” Cassie said into the phone.

Wade heard the surprise in her voice as she responded to Ani. Cassie listened intently and glanced at him once, her face displaying a wide grin. Puzzled, he continued washing up the mocktail dishes as the phone conversation went on, with Ani doing most of the talking.

He walked back over to join her on the loveseat just as Cassie ended the call. She faced him with an accusing look.

“What now?” he said completely baffled.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“About Hugo.”

“What about Hugo?”

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, but she said, “Hugo is adopting Ani!”

Wade’s jaw dropped.

“You really didn’t know?”

“I had no idea!” he exclaimed. “He never said a word about it to me.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t say anything to Ani either. Apparently, when you’re going through the approval process, you can’t legally say anything to the child until everything is officially approved. But apparently, it’s now official!” Cassie was beaming at him, her face aglow, all tiredness gone from her features. “Ani is over the moon! She won’t have to switch schools and she’ll get to have a real loving home for the first time in her life.”

“That’s such awesome news,” Wade said, stunned at what his partner had hidden from him. “I know he and his wife always wanted children. But it never happened for them. Then when his wife got sick, well, Hugo just assumed any hope for a family life was over.”

“Ani told me that Hugo arranged for the other foster child to be removed from the Jerk and the Joke’s home, too. And they won’t be getting any more children in the future, either. Plus, he’s going to be personally involved in the other child’s placement.”

“That’s great, Cassie!”

She was studying him now with a strange light in her eyes.

“What? Is there more?” he said.

“Not exactly,” she said. She lowered her eyes and was quiet for a long moment. Then she lifted them again and met his. “It’s just that...well, Ani told me that all of this is happening because of you butting in like you did. Because you were so bent on following the rules and trying to fix everything.”

“Oh.” He recalled how angry Cassie had been at his meddling with Ani’s situation.

“Growing up in the system is tough,” Cassie said. “I was tossed from one situation to the next, and I never had any say in anything.”

Wade nodded in understanding, and she continued.

“For so long, I didn’t trust anyone. And like I told you before, I felt that the only person I could count on was me. But I realize now that you’re a safe place for me, Wade. And Ani’s right. If it wasn’t for you, both Ani and Hugo would never know the happiness they do now. It’s just...thank you.”

He was deeply moved by how open and vulnerable she was being with him. Their relationship had changed so much from even a few weeks ago. “I’m just glad it all turned out so well.”

She looked so happy and beautiful right now, and she was looking at him with such love in her eyes, he just wanted to bask in the moment. He didn’t want to spoil it. But with an internal sigh, he knew that as usual, he had to do the right thing. He had one more thing to tell her and putting it off would only make it worse.

He turned to face her. “Cassie,” he said, taking both her slender hands into his. “I have to tell you something about Angel.”

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