It does, if it’s not too good to be true. In my experience, plans involving men tend to go south. I look at Sarah. “What would you do if the twins’ father showed up on your doorstep?”
She lifts her hands, palms out. “Oh, I don’t have a clue! A lot would depend on my gut instinct, I guess.” She smiles. “Just because I’m a counselor doesn’t mean I have all the answers. I pose questions to help people find their own solutions.”
“But you seem to think Zack should meet Lily.”
She lifts her shoulders. “In my experience, it’s an asset for kids to have a variety of adults in their lives who love them and give them positive attention.”
“That’s a good thought,” Annie says.
Lauren murmurs accord.
“Yeah, it is.” I look at the caring faces of my friends and feel the tightness in my chest soften. “That’s why I love you guys so much. I know you’ll do that for Lily and my baby.”
Annie nods. “Well, you give us and our kids lots of love and positive attention.”
My eyes tear up. “I feel a lot better about things than I did when I got here.”
We smile sappy smiles at each other. Annie pats my arm. “What time do you need to be back at the hospital?”
I glance at my watch. “In an hour. Evening ICU visitation is from eight to eight thirty.”
Sarah stands up and gestures to the kitchen. “Well, then, ladies—I say it’s time we eat!”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Quinn
IT’S NEARLY NINEthat evening when I arrive to pick up Lily at her friend Alicia’s house. A piece of notebook paper is taped to the front door:Please don’t ring doorbell. Baby sleeping.
I softly knock. Through the sidelight, I see Lily and Alicia race to the foyer. Caroline, a freckled, sweet-faced woman about my age, is right behind them.
“Auntie Quinn!” Lily exclaims in a whisper. She bounces up and down on her toes as Caroline opens the door, then hurls herself into my arms.
I crouch down and hug her. “Good to see you, sweetie! Did you have a nice day?”
“Yes! We played dress-up an’ went to the snowball stand an’ I rode Alicia’s tricycle an’ we watch’d-edPinocchio.”
“For about the five hundredth time,” Caroline says dryly. “Then I chased them outside.”
“An’ we looked for crickets an’ had hot dogs for dinner,” Lily reports.
“Soy dogs,” Caroline corrects. “With carrots and peas.”
“Where were you? I thought you an’ me an’ Grams were gettin’ pizza tonight.”
I shift from a crouch to a kneel. I put my hands on the backs of Lily’s arms and look into her blue, blue eyes. “Well, that was the plan. But your grams got sick and had a bad fall, so she had to go to the hospital.”
Lily’s mouth opens. Her bottom lip quivers. “Is she dead?”
My heart aches that she immediately goes to the worst-case scenario. “No, honey. But she had to have an operation, so she has to stay there for a little while.”
“Hospitals are where people go to die.” Her eyes fill with tears, and she sticks her thumb in her mouth.
“Hospitals help people get well, honey.”
“But Mommy died goin’ to one.”
My throat swells. “Your mom had an unusual health problem that happened very fast, and she died before she could get to a hospital. But Grams got to the hospital in time and the doctors treated her.”
