Page 82 of Chasing Dreams
Shaine nodded. “May we?”
“Sure, but...”
“What?”
“Would it bother you if I stayed and watched?”
Shaine glanced at Austin for his reaction. He shook his head as though it didn’t matter to him.
“Okay.”
The girl moved to arrange the cartons, dismissing sheets and clothing, and going immediately to the toys and personal items. She placed a box on the floor and showed them a soft-bristled hairbrush and a jar holding barrettes and tiny rubber bands. “She has pretty hair. Soft and fine.”
She lowered her face quickly. Shaine knew the pain of looking at these things and made a point to listen with her heart each time the girl spoke of where something had come from and how Amy had liked it.
One by one they went through the items, taking turns, getting impressions similar to the ones they’d already seen. Austin had several views of Amy with Samantha, and after he related them, she cried brokenheartedly.
“I can’t do this to her,” he whispered aside to Shaine.
“No, please don’t stop,” the teen said, overhearing. “Now I know you’re exactly what you say you are. I trust you. Go on.”
Shaine held a bulbous rattle with a red-and-white-striped tube that swirled around inside.
“That was her favorite,” Samantha whispered just as the spark of electricity shot up Shaine’s arm.
“The daycare has one like this,” Shaine said.
“What?”
“She’s seeing,” Austin told Samantha quietly.
The girl brought shaky fingers to her lips.
“She cried and stomped her feet, but they wouldn’t let her take it home.” Shaine was seeing the same facility she’d seen before. The surroundings were a little sharper this time. “The mother picks her up just after juice time every day. She carries her across the parking lot to the car.”
“This is it.” Austin mentally nudged her forward with an insistent note. “Turn and look back at the building.”
“The van,” she said. “It’s silver.”
“Whose eyes are you seeing it through?” he asked.
“I don’t know...I just see it.”
“You don’t know cars—can you see plates?”
“No.”
“Damn. Okay, the building—turn and look back at the building.”
“Tender Care Center,” she read. “Tender Loving Care For Your Little Ones.”
“That’s one smart baby if you’re reading through her viewpoint,” Austin mumbled.
“There’s a car seat in the back. It’s upholstered in gray,” she went on. “A pile of mail on the front seat.”
Austin’s breath touched her ear. “Addresses?”
Shaine’s hands were so cold, she started to shake. He took them between his and buffed them. A throbbing heat centered in her chest and spread through her upper arms as she painstakingly centered her attention on the envelopes. “A postmark,” she said weakly, and squinted at the round stamp mark.
