Page 128 of The Kidnapped

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“I should go, Raleigh,” Hollis said once they’d arrived at Raleigh’s house with Eden in the kid’s car seat in the back. “I’ll call a car to take me home.”

“What? No,” Raleigh objected. “I don’t want you to go.”

“You need to have time with just her,” Hollis replied. “You can call me tonight.”

“Hollis, I…”

“I know,” Hollis said, taking her hand over the center console. “I know. It’s okay. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

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Raleigh had called her that night, and they’d talked for over an hour about Eden’s first night back at home. It would be hard for the little girl to readjust. Appointments would be made with a local child psychologist, time would be spent just mother and daughter, and Eden’s bedroom would be updated for a four-year-old who liked to read now as well as color. Eventually, Eden would also be enrolled in preschool to get reacclimated, but for now, Raleigh would keep her at home with her, and they’d get to know one another together again.

Hollis had returned to her mother’s house, which was no easy task, but she knew she needed this, too. Most of the sunflowers had been given to an assisted living facility for their residents, but Hollis had kept a few of them for herself as well. She’d spent the week after Eden had returned home in the backyard, clearing the garden to make room for them, and she’d cleaned the house from top to bottom, with the exception of her mother’s room. All of the reminders of Olivia’s sickness had been removed, but Hollis hadn’t touched anything else. As she lay on her mom’s bed, breathing in her scent on the pillow, she let her tears fall, wishing Olivia had made it just two more weeks because she could’ve met Eden. When Hollis then caught a glance of a photo on the dresser of herself with her mother – one of the few they’d taken with Hollis as an adult – she saw her mother’s smile and knew something she hadn’t known before.

“You sent her back to us, didn’t you?” she asked the room, knowing that somehow, her mother had helped bring Eden back to Raleigh. “I’ll remember, Mom,” she added.

Later that day, she decided to attempt her mother’s chicken recipe and planned to go shopping for the ingredients she’d need. As she looked at the recipe card in her mom’s handwriting, she smiled, and then her phone rang.

“Hey,” she said to Raleigh.

“Hi, beautiful,” Raleigh said, sounding so very happy in just that one word. “What are you doing tonight?”

“I was going to take this new old car that I bought two days ago to the grocery store and pick up something to eat. Why?”

“Can you bring that new old car over here instead, and I’ll cook for you?”

“Really?” Hollis checked. “I’m not pressuring you, Raleigh. You two can take–”

“I want you to spend time with her, Hollis,” Raleigh interrupted. “I already told her about you. I’m not sure she understands what ‘girlfriend’ means, but she at least knows you’re an important person in my life.”

“I can come over?”

“Oh, babe… You can come over anytime. Will you tonight, though?”

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“Your name is funny,” Eden said.

“Eden!” Raleigh laughed.

“It is funny,” Hollis replied to the little girl as they sat at Raleigh’s table and ate dinner.

“My name was Emily,” Eden shared. “But I knew it wasn’t.”

Hollis couldn’t help but admire this four-year-old – she understood more at this age than Hollis had at thirty-five.

“Eden is such a pretty name,” Hollis told her.

“Can I go read?” Eden asked Raleigh out of the blue.

“Are you done eating?”

“Yes,” the girl said.

“Okay,” Raleigh replied, shaking her head.

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