LITMIR.BIZ

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his way to the study to put out a distress call to the man most likely to know what to do. “It’s a hell of a mess you’ve gotten me into, so the least you could do would be to tell me how I’m supposed to get myself out of it and do what’s right for Molly at the same time.”

      Rafe actually paused for a moment, like he expected an answer from his aunt. Then, when he realized how absurd that was, he continued on his way, thinking about how really alone he was in this. It was him, no one else. Jess had his responsibilities elsewhere, and his own private hell to wade through every waking minute of every day. Then after Jess, there was…no one. Absolutely no one. Sure, Rafe could have easily turned and walked away, and let Aunt Grace’s attorney handle the remaining affairs for him. One of those being Molly. But that wasn’t the kind of person he was. He was…dutiful. That was what Aunt Grace had always said about him. Jess was sunny, Rafe was dutiful.

      Except these days Jess was sad and Rafe was…well, he wasn’t sure what he was. But he sure as hell was sure what he was not, which was daddy material!

      The dutiful tag, though, was the thing causing the tension to quadruple in him right this very minute, as finding Molly a new family seemed almost cruel at this particular time. But she needed love, and that was something he knew nothing about. More than that, had no earthly desire to learn about. Love caused pain, and he’d had enough pain to last a lifetime. That attitude probably made him selfish, but so be it. He’d loved his aunt, he loved his brother. But no one else. It was a hard choice, but he was OK with it, for himself. Molly stood a chance at better things in this world, however, and she needed the kind of love he simply didn’t have in him.

      So with the resolve firmly in place that he was going to find that perfect adoptive situation for her, Rafe stepped into the study to phone the man he hoped would do most of the solving for him and shut the door behind him, grateful for the thick wooden walls that had always felt so safe to him when he was a child. All those nights when his dad had been drunk, or bellowing for the sake of bellowing, this was where he’d found his sanctuary, in Aunt Grace’s study right across the street from his own private hell. In the red leather chair behind her desk, where she’d let him sit.

      He ran his fingers over the back of the chair, picturing himself as a little boy, feeling so safe and important there. For a moment, when he sat down, he could almost see Aunt Grace standing across the desk from him, telling him to take a few deep breaths to help him calm down.

      “Calm down,” he said to himself, taking those few deep breaths, noticing, for the first time, a small, custom-made desk in the corner of the room. An exact replica of Grace’s massive mahogany desk. Next to it, an exact replica of the leather chair. For Molly. The way it had been for Jess and him, and countless others.

      “I don’t suppose there’s a simple way out of this, is there?” he asked Henry Danforth. Henry was Aunt Grace’s confidant, her lawyer.

      “Do you actually believe your aunt would have made things simple for you, son? She left this world the way she lived in it day after day…and you know how that was.”

      He did. In a word…complicated. “So tell me, what am I going to do about Molly?” Glancing at the big leather chair, then the smaller replica, he felt the first real knot of emotion constrict his throat. I’ll do my best, Aunt Grace. I promise, I’ll do my best. “And do you know where I can I can find her little playmate called Edie?”

      * * *

      “Shall I let him in?” Betty Richardson, Edie Parker’s secretary, asked from the door separating her office from Edie’s. “He’s not on the appointment list, but he said he’s here about Molly, so I figured you’d want to talk to him.”

      Rafe stepped up behind Betty, expecting to find little Edie’s mother, ready to plead his case to her, but Edie, as it turned out, wasn’t so little. And she wasn’t anything close to the kind of friend Rafe expected Molly to have. In fact, his first impression was that Molly’s friend was a very curvaceous friend indeed. Stunningly so. “You’re sure that’s Edie Parker?” he asked Betty, simply to make sure.

      “That’s Edie,” she confirmed, stepping out of Rafe’s way.

      One without a wedding ring, he noted at first glance as he looked around the ample figure of the secretary. He also noted the long blonde hair, the blue eyes, the impeccable smile. Edie Parker, or Edith Louise Parker, as it stated on her name plaque, shoved her desk chair back and stood, staring straight at the man who hadn’t waited but had followed her secretary through the office door. Yet before she could speak, Molly shot around him and ran straight into Edie’s arms. “Edie,” she squealed. “I was afraid I’d never get to come see you again.”

      Edie scooped her right in. “You know I’d have come out to Gracie House to see you,” she said, holding on to Molly for all she was worth. “I’ve missed you. We’ve all missed you.”

      “I don’t like it there any more, Edie. It’s too…quiet.”

      Edie glanced up briefly at Rafe. “Then we’re going to have to see about you coming back to work here, at the hospital, as soon as possible. We have a lot of things for you to do. Janie, in the gift shop, needs someone to straighten her shelves. And André, in the kitchen, needs some help getting his pantry rearranged. Oh, and Dr. Rick mentioned, just yesterday, that he needs someone to help him pick out what kind of fish he’s going to put into the new aquarium in the front lobby.”

      “I like yellow-striped fish,” Molly said, almost shyly. “The ones with the blue stripes.”

      “Then that’s something you and Dr. Rick should talk about.”

      For a moment, watching the exchange between Edie and Molly, the only thing that came to Rafe’s mind was the phrase from an old song…something about the mother and child reunion being only a motion away…That was what it looked like he was witnessing right now, not just on Molly’s part but on Edie Parker’s as well. He was surprised how well they connected. Pleased, actually, as he hadn’t observed that kind of emotion in Molly since he’d been here, and he’d worried about it. But witnessing Molly with Edie, he was pretty sure there was nothing to worry about. For the first time, Molly appeared a perfectly normal little girl. “I, um…Molly wanted to see you,” he said to Edie, somewhat awkwardly. “Didn’t mean to interrupt anything, but I didn’t know what else to do for her. It’s been pretty difficult these past few days.”

      Glancing up from her embrace, Edie answered him with a soft smile. “That’s fine. I’ve been worried about Molly, and she’s always welcome here. I’d thought about stopping by Gracie House, but I didn’t want to intrude on your family at a time like this, though, so I’ve stayed away.” She tried pushing back from Molly a bit, but the child clung ferociously. “But I am sorry for your loss, Dr. Corbett. We all loved your aunt. Dearly. She was a kind, caring woman. Full of compassion. She’s already missed.”

      Yes, she’d been all that, and more. “I appreciate your sentiment, Miss Parker.”

      “Please, call me Edie,” she said, her voice so collected and reassuring it reminded him, in a way, of his aunt’s voice.

      He smiled. “I appreciate your sentiment, Edie. It’s been a difficult few days for everybody, and I’m not sure any of us have even begun to feel just how much she’s going to be missed.”

      “If there’s anything I can do…”

      He saw sincerity in her eyes. Saw genuine affection for Molly, too, and wondered…“Maybe there is. Molly hasn’t been eating well, or sleeping. I thought that spending some time with one of her playmates might help, but obviously you’re not a playmate. Maybe, though, you can point me in the direction of one of her playmates.”

      “Actually, in a way, I am a playmate. I’m the hospital’s child life specialist, which does entitle me to play with the children, along with a few other more professional-type duties.” She laughed. “Although I’ll admit to a real fondness for the play aspects of the job.”

      “Child life specialist. Isn’t that a position

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