Page 96 of Home With You

"You don't know for sure she won't be coming back."

"She won't. Zoe won't let her. She loves her too much to let her go back on the streets. It took Gladys getting sick to make this happen and now that it has, Zoe won't let her be out there again."

"I know it'll be hard to adjust to her being gone but it'll be so much better for Gladys to be in a warm house. A real bed. Have food to eat."

"I know all that but it doesn't make it any easier." I pull away from him and walk to the window. "I'm being selfish. I know I am, but it doesn't change how I feel. I'm so freaking mad right now."

"At Zoe," Miles says.

"Yeah. And stop reading my mind like that. It's weird."

"I'm not reading your mind. I just know how you feel. When someone takes away the person you love, even if it's for a good reason, you get angry. It's totally normal. I'd be angry too."

I squeeze my eyes shut, tears threatening to fall. "She's all I had."

Miles comes up behind me, wrapping me in his arms. "I'm sorry, Raine. I know it hurts to have her gone."

"What if I never see her again?"

"You will. If you want me to drive you to see her every single day, I will. I promise."

I turn and hug him. I love him for saying that. And for helping me through this. Making me feel better. I think I really do love him. I feel like I do but I've misread my feelings in the past so I can't be sure what I'm feeling is real. But it feels like love, and it feels more real than it ever felt with Rob.

Miles and I spend the morning lounging on the couch, watching TV, then just before noon, we head to the alley to meet up with Zoe. She's pulling up when we arrive. I race over to her van and open the passenger door. Gladys is there, dressed in a warm wool jacket with a scarf and a hat. Zoe must've given her that because she didn't have it before.

"Gladys!" I help her out of the car and hug her. She smells nice, like floral scented soap instead of the musty smell I'm used to. Her white hair is clean and has been cut short in a style that looks really good on her. Her eyes are bright and her cheeks have color. She looks so much better. She looks happy, and best of all, healthy. It proves how much she needed this. How much she needed to get off the streets.

"I missed you, honey," she says, squeezing me tight.

"I missed you too." I pull back. "You look great, Gladys. I love the hair."

"Zoe's sister did it for me. She's a hairdresser at the mall."

"She did a good job. It looks great."

"She'd cut yours too if you want," Zoe says, smiling at me. "Free of charge. Whenever you want to go, just let me know."

She opens the side door of the van and two little girls hop out and attach themselves to Gladys, one on each side.

"Careful, girls," Zoe says, laughing. "You don't want to knock her over."

"These are my little helpers," Gladys says, smiling down at them.

"She reads us stories," the littler girl says. She looks to be about four, with blond pigtails and a puffy pink coat.

"We made cookies," her sister says. She's probably six or seven with long blond hair and a pink coat that matches her sister's.

"We brought some for you." Zoe reaches in the van and hands me a plastic container. "They're chocolate chip. The girls' favorite."

"Thanks," I tell them.

The girls glance at me, then smile up at Gladys. I can tell they love her. They just met her and they already love her. I love her too, which is why it's so hard to tell her goodbye.

"Let's go get Gladys' things," Zoe tells the girls. They follow her as she walks to the alley.

"I'll go help," Miles says, giving me time alone with Gladys.

As he walks away, she holds both my hands and smiles at me. "You look good, Raine."

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