We did find a book for her at the study. Ruth had accumulated a lot of books about horses in her time and she clearly had thought to get some for kids, too.
When Jack came from the grocery store, he found Mona and me on the couch, sitting side by side.
The way Jack looked at us was so fond it made my heart do a weird little flip.
“What are you two reading?” he asked, stopping at the doorway after taking the first load of bags to the kitchen.
“Horsey books,” Mona mumbled, waving her hand dismissively, as if to tell him to shut up and stop bothering us.
Jack grinned.
“What she said,” I quipped, and the corner of her mouth curled up.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it, but what do you think about lunch in about half an hour?”
“Sounds good,” I replied.
“Uh-huh,” Mona added, turning the page.
Shaking his head, that fond expression still on his face, Jack went to get the rest of the groceries.
* * * *
I think something inside me settled when I heard Jack wasn’t leaving just yet. I slept better, and I never woke up to that weird feeling of dread and sadness I had a couple of times before I asked him.
There were some complications with Madden’s surgery, and he had to stay at the hospital much longer than anyone expected. Luckily Mona didn’t seem to mind too much, as long as she got to visit her brother every few days.
Somehow, time rolled on, and soon there was talk about Ben moving to the rescue officially. River and Ben made plans of driving to Pittsburgh to get his stuff around Thanksgiving, because his mom had invited them to visit.
After the setback, Madden was finally moving in. Lake, River, and Mona had gone on a wild shopping spree to buy both siblings anything they could need.
Toby had been visiting Mona a lot, and it was obvious that he wanted to be their dad one day. It was kind of sad to know that Madden wasn’t as receptive to that as he would’ve wanted.
Anyway, it was kind of hard to contain her when the car stopped at the parking lot and her brother got out.
I hadn’t met Madden in person yet, but I’d helped Mona videocall him a few times when she’d felt like she was missing him too much, so he wasn’t a complete stranger.
“Remember, gently,” I told her, when Madden started toward the front door with Toby nervously hovering behind him.
Theo and Lake were on a rescue mission somewhere a few hours away, but River and Jack were home, ready to fuss over Madden.
Madden smiled at his sister when she bounce-tiptoed to him.
I smiled at them, wondering what it would’ve been like to have siblings. Then again, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d had a younger sibling last year.
“Hey, nice to meet you in person,” Madden said politely, even though I could tell he was doing it for the so-called adults around us.
I grinned. “You, too.”
“Let’s go!” Mona whined. “I gotta show you our room!”
“Okay, okay.”
“Mona, remember it’ll be hard for him to go up the stairs for a while still,” Toby murmured from behind them.
River opened the door and only when I stepped inside did I realize I’d been in front of the house. Not that many steps from the steps, but still. I smiled as I followed the siblings inside.
Chapter 14
