Page 53 of Finding Her Strength

“Wine would be great. Whatever is open.”

Quinn starts pouring while I awkwardly stand there, waiting for her to finish. It’s annoying how out of place I feel, all because I lack the courage to put myself out there. These people have been nothing but welcoming to me, but my insecurities keep telling me I’ll never be good enough to fit in. Even though I know it’s irrational, it’s hard to get your brain to stop thinking the worst about yourself.

“I’ve already told the girls not to pry too much. We’d love for you to keep hanging out with us, so sit back, get to know the group, and you tell us what you want, when you want,” Quinn says quietly.

I’m overcome with gratitude for her friendship, and, completely out of character, I reach out to pull her into a hug. “Thank you so much for including me, Quinn.”

She gives me a squeeze in response, then pulls away to hand me my glass. We make our way back to the living room, and Levi catches my eye, silently asking if I’m okay with an eyebrow raise. I smile at him, happy to be included. He winks at me, making my grin widen. I love that wink.

I squeeze onto the couch next to Natalie and Megan, who both have glasses of wine in hand.

“I’m so glad you’re here! Did you get food? I sort of went crazy with the appetizers.” Natalie grins at me. Her beautifulred hair is swept back into a messy bun, and she’s got on yoga pants and a long-sleeve T-shirt. It makes me feel so much better about the casual clothes I’m wearing. I know she’s still healing from the house fire she was trapped in a couple of months ago, so I’m not surprised she has on long sleeves despite the summer heat.

“Not yet, but it looks great,” I respond.

“We have news!” Megan says as if she’s about to burst if she doesn’t tell everyone right away.

“Spill!” Lucy grins. I swear she’s one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Her husband, Max, too, which was a surprise when I first met him. He came off as super intimidating before I got to know him.

“We’re getting our first kiddo!” Megan beams.

A chorus ofyaysechoes across the group as they all ask questions simultaneously.

“Is it a boy or girl?”

“Do you know their name?”

“Can you adopt him?”

Megan laughs, gesturing with her hands for the girls to stop talking. “It’s a boy, he’s seven, his name is Nathaniel. We don’t know a whole lot other than he’ll be arriving tomorrow.”

“This is amazing! I’ll see if Noah would be interested in meeting him once he gets settled at your house.”

“That would be great, Nat.”

I look over at Noah right as Tucker throws the little blond boy over his shoulder, making him squeal. I have a lot of respect for these people who are so willing to open their homes to kids who would never know love without them. It gives me a little sense of peace knowing Nathaniel and Noah will grow up surrounded by so much love.

“Hope, how was the beach? I’m so jealous you got to go,” Sara asks me after the group exhausted all their questions about Nathaniel.

“It was amazing but way too short. I’d never been before, so I wasn’t ready to come home yet.”

“You’d never been to the beach before? Where are you from?”

“West Virginia.” My tendency to clam up about my life has me holding my tongue from saying anything else. Oddly enough, there’s a large part of me that wants to share my life with them. I think having told Levi part of my story, I feel more accepting of my past than I ever have before.

I’m too used to holding things close to the vest, though, so I won’t be sharing my past tonight. It’s better this way. There are too many people here for a story as dark as mine.

“How’d you end up here?”

“My grandmother told me about this place. She used to live here when she was a girl and would tell me all these stories about how beautiful it was here. When I got my chance to move, I knew this was where I wanted to make my home.” The stories my grandmother used to tell me made it seem so idyllic. When I actually got here, the stories didn’t do it justice. It’s everything I dreamed it would be.

“How long did she live here? I wonder if our parents might know her,” Megan asks.

“She lived here until she graduated from high school. Then she moved to West Virginia with her husband’s family while she was in college. Her last name was Langley—like mine—so you could ask, but I doubt it.”

“Well, we’re glad she told you about this place—for more reasons than one.” Quinn nods her head over to Levi.

“Seriously, who knew Levi would be the one to settle down so quickly?” Natalie grins at me.

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