CHAPTER 40

H ollis watched Raleigh get ready. Hollis was already dressed in a pair of jeans and a comfortable green sweater. She had her shoes on, her purse over her shoulder, and she was holding on to Raleigh’s jacket to put it on her, but Raleigh had gone back into the bedroom to change her shirt for the fifth time. At this rate, they’d be late, but Hollis didn’t want to rush her. How was one supposed to dress when they saw their four-year-old daughter for the first time in over a year?

“Is this okay?” Raleigh asked, wearing a cream-colored long-sleeved sweater now.

“Babe, you look perfect,” Hollis told her, hoping this was helpful. “Can I put this on you now and we go?”

“Yeah, we can go. I used to wear this shirt a lot. Do you think she’ll remember?”

“Yes, I do,” she replied as she put Raleigh’s jacket on for her. Then, she wrapped her arms around Raleigh from behind and rested her chin on her shoulder. “Let’s go now so that she can see you in it.” She kissed Raleigh’s cheek.

“Okay.”

It had now been a week since Olivia’s funeral and the phone call from Dylan. Hollis had snapped out of her grief the moment Raleigh came rushing into the bedroom asking if they could go to the police station. She’d both welcomed the good news and the distraction. Today, she was driving them to the psychologist’s office, which was where Dylan and the FBI agent they’d talked to had recommended they meet with Eden because seeing Raleigh for the first time in a police station would’ve been difficult for the little girl who had already been through so much.

Thankfully, Hollis had been at every meeting and on speaker for every call, because Raleigh had been difficult to understand when she’d given Hollis news about Eden of any kind. Raleigh’s words would run together a lot, or she’d leave important information out in retelling, so Hollis had to be the one to act, which made her feel useful and was a good thing because waiting a whole week from the phone call to this moment had been torture for Raleigh and she’d needed Hollis to be there for her.

They’d found Eden outside of San Antonio. First, they’d found the woman who had taken her due to some city records that had her using her first and middle name as her last name. It was a common name, so there weren’t any guarantees, but they’d followed up and surveilled, and when they saw her walking with Eden to a park, they’d taken the chance and grabbed up a popsicle stick the woman had discarded for Eden. The DNA had been rushed, and it came back with a match.

Then, they had to find a way to arrest the kidnapper with as little confusion and trauma for Eden as possible, so they’d waited until it was likely that Eden was asleep and arrested the woman, taking Eden to a hospital to have her checked out first. She was healthy. She’d been taken care of and, thankfully, seemed to have no medical problems they needed to worry about. That had been two days ago. Then, Eden had spent time with a child psychologist in Texas who’d done her best to explain what was happening to a four-year-old who was confused. She’d be present with Eden as they’d brought her to meet with Raleigh to help with the transition.

Now, Hollis and Raleigh were sitting in Raleigh’s car in the parking lot of a different psychologist’s office that they were borrowing for the day.

“What do I say to her?” Raleigh asked softly, and this wasn’t the first time she’d asked Hollis this question. “She’s inside there right now. I haven’t seen her in over a year, but I’m sitting here, frozen, because I don’t know what to say to my own daughter.”

Hollis took her hand and said, “Babe, everything is going to be fine. You don’t have to say a perfect thing. You just have to give her time. Remember what the psychologist said on the phone?”

“Yeah, that I have to be patient.”

“So, that’s the most important thing. Everything else will fall into place.”

Raleigh nodded.

As they exited the car, Hollis worried for her, though. The psychologist had asked Eden questions about her mom, but the girl had only referred to the woman who’d stolen her, so there was a good chance Eden wouldn’t remember Raleigh. Hollis wasn’t sure how any mother would handle their own child not recognizing them, but she resolved herself to that possibility and to helping Raleigh however she could.

She held the lobby door open for Raleigh, who walked immediately to the elevators and pressed the button for the third floor. There were no officers or agents there. This was just for Raleigh and Eden. Raleigh took Hollis’s hand when they climbed inside and started moving.

“I am so in love with you,” Raleigh stated.

Hollis turned to her, surprised at the comment.

“I just want you to know that,” Raleigh continued. “Nothing will change that. This will be hard, and we’re already going through hard with your mom, Hollis. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Hollis said, pressing her lips quickly to Raleigh’s as the elevator doors opened.

There was an empty desk at reception, with no one else but them in the room. Then, a door to their right opened, and a woman with a wide smile greeted them.

“Hello. You must be Eden’s mom.”

“Yes,” Raleigh replied. “This is my girlfriend, Hollis.”

“Hi, Hollis,” the woman replied. “I’m Dr. Terry McGraw. Eden is inside the playroom. She’s coloring and is in good spirits, considering everything.”

“She’s coloring?” Raleigh asked, smiling.

“She stole the green crayon from me,” Dr. McGraw replied, laughing a little .

“Green,” Raleigh said softly.

Hollis squeezed her hand.

“She understands somewhat of what happened, but not everything,” Dr. McGraw shared. “And while I’ve tried to make mention of you, you need to know that there’s a chance she won’t remember you or that she might not understand that you’re her mother.”

“I know,” Raleigh replied, nodding.

“Hollis, would it be all right if I requested you to stay out here at first?” Dr. McGraw asked.

“Of course,” Hollis replied.

“I want you in there with me,” Raleigh said, pulling Hollis into her side.

“Babe, it’s not about what we want. It’s about what Eden needs. I can wait out here. You yell for me, though, and I’ll come running, okay?”

Raleigh nodded reluctantly and said, “Okay. What do I do?”

“I need to go to the bathroom, Dr. Terry,” a small voice said then.

The doctor turned, and Raleigh and Hollis both moved to look beyond her. Standing there, in the open doorway, was Eden Leonard.

“Hi, Eden,” Dr. McGraw said warmly. “We can get you to the bathroom. Would you maybe like to say hello to my friends first?” She motioned to Raleigh and Hollis.

Hollis worried. This was clearly not part of the plan. Would it be too overwhelming for the little girl? Should Hollis back up and move behind Raleigh so that Eden could focus on her mom and not a stranger?

“Mommy?” the little voice said, surprising them all.

Raleigh’s hands went to cover her mouth, but she managed a nod. She removed them quickly, realizing she needed to say something.

“Yes, baby,” she said as tears rolled. “It’s Mommy, Eden.”

“Mommy?” Eden said again, but this time, a little smile broke on her face.

While Raleigh stood still, Hollis marveled at her strength because she knew Raleigh wanted to rush toward her daughter and pull her into the tightest hug.

“Eden, you remember your mommy?” Dr. McGraw asked.

Eden nodded rapidly and said, “She told me she was my mommy. I cried.”

“Oh, baby,” Raleigh let out, and Hollis watched her kneel on the floor and hold out her arms.

It took a moment, maybe the longest of Raleigh’s life, ever since she couldn’t find Eden in the park, but Eden walked to her and stood in front of her for another second. Then, she moved into Raleigh’s now-outstretched arms.

◆◆◆

“I should go, Raleigh,” Hollis said once they’d arrived at Raleigh’s house with Eden in the kid’s car seat in the back. “I’ll call a car to take me home.”

“What? No,” Raleigh objected. “I don’t want you to go.”

“You need to have time with just her,” Hollis replied. “You can call me tonight.”

“Hollis, I…”

“I know,” Hollis said, taking her hand over the center console. “I know. It’s okay. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

◆◆◆

Raleigh had called her that night, and they’d talked for over an hour about Eden’s first night back at home. It would be hard for the little girl to readjust. Appointments would be made with a local child psychologist, time would be spent just mother and daughter, and Eden’s bedroom would be updated for a four-year-old who liked to read now as well as color. Eventually, Eden would also be enrolled in preschool to get reacclimated, but for now, Raleigh would keep her at home with her, and they’d get to know one another together again.

Hollis had returned to her mother’s house, which was no easy task, but she knew she needed this, too. Most of the sunflowers had been given to an assisted living facility for their residents, but Hollis had kept a few of them for herself as well. She’d spent the week after Eden had returned home in the backyard, clearing the garden to make room for them, and she’d cleaned the house from top to bottom, with the exception of her mother’s room. All of the reminders of Olivia’s sickness had been removed, but Hollis hadn’t touched anything else. As she lay on her mom’s bed, breathing in her scent on the pillow, she let her tears fall, wishing Olivia had made it just two more weeks because she could’ve met Eden. When Hollis then caught a glance of a photo on the dresser of herself with her mother – one of the few they’d taken with Hollis as an adult – she saw her mother’s smile and knew something she hadn’t known before.

“You sent her back to us, didn’t you?” she asked the room, knowing that somehow, her mother had helped bring Eden back to Raleigh. “I’ll remember, Mom,” she added.

Later that day, she decided to attempt her mother’s chicken recipe and planned to go shopping for the ingredients she’d need. As she looked at the recipe card in her mom’s handwriting, she smiled, and then her phone rang.

“Hey,” she said to Raleigh.

“Hi, beautiful,” Raleigh said, sounding so very happy in just that one word. “What are you doing tonight?”

“I was going to take this new old car that I bought two days ago to the grocery store and pick up something to eat. Why?”

“Can you bring that new old car over here instead, and I’ll cook for you?”

“Really?” Hollis checked. “I’m not pressuring you, Raleigh. You two can take–”

“I want you to spend time with her, Hollis,” Raleigh interrupted. “I already told her about you. I’m not sure she understands what ‘girlfriend’ means, but she at least knows you’re an important person in my life.”

“I can come over?”

“Oh, babe… You can come over anytime. Will you tonight, though?”

◆◆◆

“Your name is funny,” Eden said.

“Eden!” Raleigh laughed.

“It is funny,” Hollis replied to the little girl as they sat at Raleigh’s table and ate dinner.

“My name was Emily,” Eden shared. “But I knew it wasn’t.”

Hollis couldn’t help but admire this four-year-old – she understood more at this age than Hollis had at thirty-five.

“Eden is such a pretty name,” Hollis told her.

“Can I go read?” Eden asked Raleigh out of the blue.

“Are you done eating?”

“Yes,” the girl said.

“Okay,” Raleigh replied, shaking her head.

Eden rushed off to her bedroom, leaving the two of them alone in the kitchen.

“She’s doing so well. Her therapist told me this week that he’s surprised but that I should just encourage her to be herself and tell me things when she’s ready. We knew the Emily thing, obviously, but then she told me about it herself yesterday.”

“Raleigh, it’s amazing. She’s amazing,” Hollis replied. “She’s a little you.”

Raleigh smiled as she leaned back in her chair and stared at Hollis.

“Will you stay over tonight?”

“It’s too soon, isn’t it?”

“I talked to her doctor about it yesterday. He said I should try to be as normal as I can around her. And you’re part of my normal, babe.”

“If you’re sure, I’d love that,” Hollis replied.

“I’m sure,” Raleigh said .

“I have a new book.” Eden came back into the kitchen, holding up a picture book for Hollis. “Mommy bought it for me.”

“She did, huh?” Hollis asked.

Without warning, Eden put the book on the table and climbed into Hollis’s lap. Hollis looked at Raleigh in fear. Raleigh smiled and shrugged.

“She’s precocious. Always has been,” Raleigh explained.

“It has dinosaurs,” Eden said, picking the book back up.

She opened it, and Hollis held on to her as Eden started to read and sound out some of the words she didn’t yet know. Raleigh watched them read together for a few minutes before she stood and started taking the plates to the sink to wash. She returned just as they finished the book, placing one hand on Hollis’s shoulder and the other on the back of Hollis’s neck, which she then started to massage.

“Can you go get ready for your bath?” Raleigh asked Eden.

“Can I read another book with Hollis?” Eden asked instead.

“After,” Raleigh replied, leaning down to kiss the top of Eden’s head and then Hollis’s cheek. “And one for you, too.”

Hollis blushed and said, “Thank you.”

After Eden’s bath, Hollis read a book to her this time, and Eden fell asleep with Raleigh sitting on the end of the bed, watching them. Managing to get out without waking the girl was a minor miracle, but they did it, and then it was time for them to talk. That was what Hollis thought, at least.

“So,” Hollis began. “I’ve been reading some articles on dating someone with a kid because I want to try to do–”

“Hollis?” Raleigh interjected softly once she’d closed the bedroom door.

“Yeah?” Hollis turned to her.

“Take a shower with me. Then, just hold me, okay? We don’t need articles; we just need each other, my love.” Raleigh wrapped her arms around Hollis’s neck and pulled her in. “Both of my girls are home now, and I’ve never been happier in my life.”