Page 87 of The Kidnapped

“I love what we just did. That’s all I need tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” Hollis said softly.

???

The lawyer had come and gone, and Raleigh had held Hollis’s hand through the very tough conversation while he’d done the best he could to help Hollis understand all of her mother’s wishes. Olivia had given pretty explicit details to the attorney way in advance, so she’d slept through the whole meeting, as Hollis hadn’t wanted to wake her. Raleigh had been the one to check on her once during the night and then to get her breakfast ready in the morning because both she and Olivia had wanted Hollis to sleep in. When Hollis had finally woken up around ten, she’d looked so cute in her mussed hair, sleepy expression, and wrinkled sleep clothes that Raleigh had kissed her right there, in Olivia’s bedroom, because she couldn’t not. Hollis’s mother had teased them, of course, but then they’d all sat together and talked for a bit until Olivia had fallen asleep and the lawyer had arrived.

After that, Hollis had gone into her room to change and get some work done on her laptop, and Raleigh had decided to make the living room her office for the day and had made hourly checks on Olivia, who had been in and out of it often.

“Hey. You’re up. Can I get you anything?” Raleigh asked, walking into Olivia’s room.

“No, I’m all right. I hate that the medicine makes me sleep this much,” Olivia replied, coughing a little as she tried to sit up.

“Let me help. And I’ll get you some water,” Raleigh said, helping Olivia sit up and holding the cup with a straw in it to her lips so she could take a sip.

“How is she?”

“Hollis? She’s fine. She’s in her room, working.”

“I don’t mean right now, Raleigh. I mean, how is she?”

“Oh,” Raleigh said. “I can get her for you. Maybe you two should–”

“I’m asking you. Hollis will only lie to me.”

“No, she won’t. She–”

“She will because she thinks it’s her job to protect me, when it’s always been my job to protect her. And I failed her once. I don’t want to fail her again.”

“You didn’t fail her,” Raleigh replied, sitting on the side of the bed carefully, avoiding touching Olivia. “He took her.”

“Other than our love for Hollis, there is one thing you and I both have in common, so I know you know how this feels, Raleigh.”

Raleigh picked up on the word ‘love’ used by Olivia in reference to her feelings for Hollis but decided it wasn’t the time to correct her. Things were still new between her and Hollis. They’d only just gotten together. Love was definitely possible, but it would come later. It was something for later, right?

“I lost Eden, too,” she said, choosing to focus on that part of Olivia’s statement instead.

“Someone took her from you. Are you really telling me you’ve never thought that you failed to protect your daughter?”

“Of course, I feel that way. But your situation is different. I actually failed Eden. You didn’t. You planned to pick Hollis up from school as usual, and her father drove off with her. I went to a park. One second, she was there, and the next, she was gone.”

“You can’t watch them every minute of the day, can you?” Olivia asked.

“No,” Raleigh said, shaking her head. “Even when we were at home, I’d swear she was sitting on the floor next to me, playing with her toys, and she’d be in another room, terrifying me with her silence. I always prepared to walk into a tornado or colors all over my walls from her crayons, but she’d just be coloring quietly or looking through a picture book, talking softly to herself.”

“She sounds like a good little girl,” Olivia said with a smile.

“She is,” Raleigh replied, trying to hold back the tears.

“If there’s anyone you can let those out in front of, it’s me.”

Raleigh wiped her cheek when one fell and said, “And Hollis.”

“She’s a good woman, isn’t she?”

“She’s the best,” Raleigh replied. “She’s been so good to me. And even when I tried to push her away, she let me back in, when she didn’t have to.”

“I won’t ask you to take care of her for me when I’m gone,” Olivia said and then paused for a moment as if to gather herself. “I know things are still new with you two, and I don’t want to put that pressure on either of you, but I want my daughter to be happy, Raleigh. He took her and made her so lonely. He kept her from having friends and participating in things that kids should get to participate in. She’s been all alone, and just when she finds me, I won’t be around long enough to make sure she’s okay.”

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