“That doesn’t bother you?”
“It never bothered me,” Audrey said. “It bothered my mother. But my mother’s gone. And we’ve been hiding it long enough.”
I glanced at Mother. How was she handling this?
But she was nodding and smiling. Hard to believe, considering the mother I’d grown up with, but I’d take it.
“I guess we’d be OK with that,” I said, and looked at Rafe. “I mean, we could try it and see how it went. It’s really up to Rafe, though. He’s her next of kin. It has to be his decision.”
Both Audrey and Mrs. J looked at Rafe. He focused on his grandmother. “This what you wanna do?”
She nodded. “Yes, baby.”
“And you’ll stay with Audrey and not wander off and get lost?”
She nodded. I have no idea whether she knew what that even meant—when she wandered off and got lost, she probably didn’t see it as wandering off and getting lost—but if she wanted to be here, and if Audrey was willing to take on the responsibility for her, I didn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t give it a shot.
Rafe nodded. “Then let’s see how it goes.”
Audrey beamed. So did Mrs. J, whether she understood or not.
“So have you picked out a name yet?” Mother asked, peering at the little bundle in the crook of Rafe’s arm.
I looked at him. He nodded.
“Carrie,” I said. “Her name is Caroline Collier.”
Mother nodded. “That seems fitting.”
I thought so. And as Carrie scrunched up her tiny face and let out an eardrum-piercing cry, and my husband hurriedly dumped her on the bed so I could take care of whatever need she had, I looked around at my husband, and his grandmother, and my mother, and her best friend, and my new baby, and knew that I was the luckiest woman in the world.
Or at least I would be, if I could just get the baby to shut up.
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About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jenna Bennett (Jennie Bentley) writes the Do It Yourself home renovation mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime and the Savannah Martin real estate mysteries for her own gratification. She also writes a variety of romance for a change of pace. Originally from Norway, she has spent more than twenty five years in the US, and still hasn’t been able to kick her native accent.
For more information, please visit Jenna’s website: www.JennaBennett.com
HOME STRETCH
Savannah Martin Mystery #15
Copyright © 2017 Bente Gallagher
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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