“Yeah. It’s pretty bad this time. The hospital’s holding her, but that’s all I’m comfortable saying.”
“I get it, and it’s probably good at this point. Any other home would be better for those kids than that one.”
“You’ve got that right,” I said.
“Miss Gentry! Miss Gentry!”
I looked over and saw Zoey running up to me, her hair blowing in the wind. She was holding out something in her hand and I scooped her up before she tripped on a tree root. She wrapped her arms around me and I smiled, taking in her comforting warmth as her legs wiggled to be put down.
“What is it, sweetheart?” I asked.
“I made this for you.”
“What is it?”
“Look!”
She held out a card for me made out of construction paper and glitter. I plucked the car from her hand and saw a picture on the front with the people on it labeled. Me, Ryan, her, and her brothers. All standing around holding hands.
“That is beautiful, thank you so much,” I said.
“Open it up,” she said.
“Oh there’s more? Lucky me,” I said with a smile.
And what I saw made my heart soar.
“It says, ‘thank you, Miss Gentry, for loving me lots to take me home.’,” Zoey said. “And there’s a big heart on the back.”
I blinked back tears as I held the card against my chest. I crouched down and wrapped my arm around the little girl and felt her drop into me. Her head was nuzzled underneath my chin as I stroked my fingers through her hair and I could feel her need to be close to someone. She scrambled up my body and wrapped her legs around my waist, so I tightened my grasp and stood with her on my hip.
“It’s beautiful. Thank you so much,” I said.
“Did you read the other side?” Zoey asked.
“What other side?” I asked.
“Where the heart is. On the back. Did you read it?”
I furrowed my brow as I turned the card over. Zoey was right. There was another message written on the back. But it wasn’t in Zoey’s messy handwriting. It was in crayon. A bright yellow against the dark green construction paper. But it wasn’t messy at all.
In fact, it was written in a very beautiful cursive.
“What does it say?” Zoey asked.
“Yeah. What does it say?” Catherine asked.
I felt my heart stop in my chest as I read the words over and over.
The children woke up talking about you. Seems they enjoyed you as much as I did. Can I take you to dinner?
And underneath that message was a number.
Ryan’s number.
“Uh oh,” Catherine said.