Adam turns away, not answering my question. “I’ll be right up.”
“Actually, she wants Miss Russo to read to her.” She glances my direction. “If that’s okay with you.”
I jump at the chance. “I’d love to.”
As I climb the stairs, I look down the long hallway, wondering what else is up here. An open door on the left catches my attention. My chest tightens at the thought of Adam’s bed only a few feet away from me, and I have to stop myself from exploring more.
Instead, I step into her room to see the pink sheer net she explained hanging from the ceiling. White dressers line the right side, and straight back, I see the window she loves.
“Come sit next to me.” Cailin holds up a book.
I curl up alongside her. “What do we have here?” I ask.
“It’s my favorite book,I Knew You Could. My daddy reads it to me a lot, but I want to see what it sounds like with your voice.”
I glance down at her. “You think it will sound different?”
“I know it will. It’s just like a song. If someone else sings the lyrics, it sounds totally different.”
I laugh more to myself than to her. This little girl is wise beyond her years.
I read the book all about the trials and tribulations of life and how, through it all, they knew the little train could do it. With every page, I love the book more and more, which I surprisingly have never read.
The book is so motivating, so uplifting, and by the end, I have to inhale to stop my quivering lip as I read because I’m so moved by it.
As I close the book, I turn back to the cover to make a mental note of the author and title. I flip the page to the front to see when it first came out, and that’s when I notice a handwritten dedication I didn’t see before.
Adam,
I knew you could do it! I’ve never been so proud in all my life.
Love,
Linda
I run my fingers over the handwritten note.
“Linda got this for my daddy years ago,” Cailin says.
I see the book came out in 2003. I think I was around fourteen years old in 2003, and I thought Adam was around my age. This seems like an odd book to give a fourteen-year-old boy.
“And he’s kept it all this time?” I ask as I close the pages.
“Yeah, he said it was the first gift he ever got. You didn’t sound that different from when he reads it though.” She shrugs like she’s surprised.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Linda has read it to me a hundred times, but only my dad’s voice cracks as he reads the end, and yours did, too.”
The smile that graces my face is nothing like the one forming in my heart. “Must be an age thing. He’s around my age, right?”
“Ohhh, don’t tell Linda she’s getting old. Wayne says she’s sensitive about that.”
A sharp laugh escapes my lips. “I didn’t mean it like that. Here, let’s get you tucked in.”
I stand and pull the covers up around her. “Good night, Cailin.”
Adam enters the room. “Good night, Sugarplum.”
