Page 47 of Rufus

Molly had remained strong throughout each new discovery.

She’d been especially so after Ronan had been informed of the circumstances of his adoption and he had subsequently decided that he was happy with the parents and life he had. Because of that, Molly had decided she didn’t need to see him and cause any further turmoil in his life. She felt sad for his Irish mother, but respected his decision.

No doubt it was because of that Molly now felt the nervousness she did about being reunited with her own birth mother.

But Rufus had liked the other woman when the two of them spoke on the telephone yesterday. She had sounded hesitantly warm, if slightly surprised, to receive a call completely out of the blue from a man she didn’t know, claiming to have new information about her missing daughter.

Linus had done a check on Barbara Sinclair before Rufus made that call. The last thing he wanted was for Molly to learn her birth mother was anything like the woman who had abducted and then kept her as her own daughter for so many years.

Barbara was forty-eight years old, still worked as a chemist. In her spare time she was involved in a lot of charity work that helped children.

The slender woman who opened the door to their knock was possibly five and a half feet tall, with straight, prematurely gray hair she kept styled in a shoulder-length bob.

But it was her eyes that held Rufus captive. Sky-blue eyes that were the exact same shade as her daughter’s.

She looked at him questioningly. “Mr. Wynter?”

* * *

Molly felt a tightness in her chest that prevented her from breathing as she stared at the woman she’d been told was her birth mother. The older woman was pretty, with a perfectly oval face and politely smiling lips as she waited for Rufus to confirm his identity.

Then those blue eyes—eyes the exact shape and color of Molly’s own—turned inquiringly in her direction.

Barbara tensed, her brow furrowing in puzzlement.

Then her eyes widened.

Followed by her cheeks going deathly white.

Molly released the death grip she had on Rufus’s hand to step forward. “Hello, Mama,” she greeted huskily.

Tears instantly welled up and then fell in a flood down Barbara Sinclair’s white cheeks. “You— I— Is it really you? Are you my Lily?” she choked.

“I am,” she confirmed gently.

“Oh!” Barbara looked on the point of collapse. “You really are?”

“I really am.”

“I can’t believe it! It’s— I never thought I would see this day. That I would ever see you again.” She began to sob.

Molly took the other woman in her arms, and they cried together.

Not for the loss of so many years, but with pure happiness over finding each other again now.

That happiness was increased tenfold when Molly felt Rufus’s strong arms move protectively about both women.

For the first time in her life, Molly felt completely loved and seen.

* * *

Two months later

“Nervous?” Rufus prompted as the two of them stood outside the church.

“A little,” Molly confirmed.

“Being a godparent is the easy part because you can give the baby back,” Rufus assured. “It’s being a parent that’s the hard part.”

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