Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I exhaled and knelt so I could look into her face. “Yes, your daddy is upset that Ms. Kim would put your mommy’s picture in the drawer because he wants you to be able to talk to your mommy anytime you want. But you can talk to Mommy anywhere, anytime, even if you don’t have her picture.”
Winnie smiled as she nodded. “Can we talk to her now?”
I smiled. “Of course we can.”
Winnie took my hand and pulled me over to the sofa. We both sat down. “Talk to Mommy, Rora.”
“Oh, um, okay. Well, let’s see.” I drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “Hi, Hope, it’s Winnie and me, Aurora. We wanted to take a moment to tell you that we both miss you very much. We know you are in Heaven, and we know you miss us too. Especially Winnie, but you’re happy and no longer sick. And we know that someday we will get to see you again.”
Winnie squeezed my hand. “When we see Mommy?”
“Well,” I said, cursing myself for probably going deeper than a two-year-old could comprehend. “It will be a very long time before we will get to see her because you will have to grow up, and have a family of your own, and well…it will be fast for your mommy in Heaven, but a bit slower for us.”
She stared at me like she had no clue what I was saying. I let out a nervous laugh. “Guess I need to order a book about talking to kids about grief and the afterlife.”
“Do they make such books?”
I startled as I turned and saw Liam standing there. Another bubble of nervous laughter escaped. “I’m sure they do.”
“Get a copy for me, too, will you? Because apparently, I’m screwing everything up.”
“Of course I will, Liam,” I said as I stood. “So did she say what happened with the photo?”
A look of anger passed over his face, but it was gone as fast as it appeared. “She said Winnie was playing on the bed and she put it in there so it wouldn’t get knocked over and forgot to take it out.”
I nodded, wanting to believe it but having difficulty thinking there was any way what she said was true. Winnie knew she couldn’t play on the bed, let alone jump to where she might knock something off the table. First, Perry the Moose was gone and replaced by one Kim bought, and then Hope’s picture was stored in the drawer. None of it sat well with me, and I needed to figure out a way to tell Liam that without seeming like I was crossing any lines. I certainly wasn’t going to talk to him about it in front of Winnie. That much I knew.
“I’d better get going. Thank you for letting me hang out with you guys this morning,” I said as I moved toward the door.
“Thanks for stopping by. We’ll see you later for storytime.”
Turning, I quickly made my way out of the house and to my car. This afternoon, I would ask Lou to watch Winnie for a bit so I could talk to Liam. The sooner I told him about my thoughts on Kim, the better.
Brystol stared at me with a look of utter shock. “She wasn’t letting you see Winnie?”
“Nope,” I said as I popped my P while sitting on the sofa. “She’s been giving me excuses. Like Winnie is napping, or they’re about to leave, and she doesn’t want to upset their routine.”
“And you told Liam?”
“I did.”
She shook her head slightly. “What did he say?”
I gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I don’t think he was pleased about it. But that’s not the worst of it.”
“There is more?” Brystol asked.
“So much more!” Harper and Cadie said simultaneously.
Brystol sighed. “Just because I had a baby doesn’t mean I don’t want in on everything happening!”
I looked at Lily sleeping peacefully in Harper’s arms and smiled. “She is so precious.”
Beaming, Brystol nodded her head. “She is. Now, get back to the gossip! What is the worst of it?”
Cadie chuckled.
I leaned forward. “She put Hope’s picture in Winnie’s side table drawer. She said she didn’t want Winnie to…” I held up my hands and made air quotes. “Break it.”
“And the Perry the Moose stuffy that Aurora bought her is gone,” Harper added in a very accusatory voice.
Brystol gasped.
“My reaction as well,” Cadie stated. “She probably buried him in the backyard and planted a tree over it or something.”
I turned to look at Cadie. “You have had way too much suspense in your life lately, you know that?”
She sighed. “I know. I’m sorry.”
I smiled.
“But I wouldn’t be surprised if she decapitated it, poured gasoline on it, and—”
“Cadie!” Brystol cried out. “What in the hell?”
My hand came up to my mouth to keep myself from full-on laughing. When I looked at Harper, she raised her brows and grinned.