did you know my real ma’s name is Kate too?”
“I did know that.”
“Abby said she loves me lots and wants me to come home with her.”
“Well, Abby’s right.”
Riley Jo mused, “Do you know Abby?”
Kate nodded. “Yes. I’ve known Abby all her life.”
“Do you know her mama, too?”
“Yes. Better than anyone.”
“Are you best friends?”
“Something like that.”
Riley Jo turned and looked into Kate’s eyes. “Is she nice?”
“She’s not perfect. But she loves her children and tries very hard to show them every chance she gets. All she can think about right now is you coming home again.”
“Did she tell you that?”
“She didn’t have to,” Kate said. “It’s been that way for five long years. She’s missed you with a love so deep there are no words for it.”
Riley Jo paused as if she were processing, then cocked her head and looked up at Kate again. “If I ask you somethin’, you hafta tell me the truth, right?”
“Of course, sweetie. What is it?”
“You promise you’ll tell me the truth?”
“I will,” Kate said. “I promise.”
“Are you my real mama?”
Kate stopped breathing. She hadn’t seen that coming. She felt hot all over, her heart racing, her temples throbbing. She’d promised Virgil she wouldn’t go there. But Riley Jo had opened the door. And she wasn’t about to lie to her.
“Yes! Yes! I’m your real mama. The sheriff just whispered in my ear a few minutes ago that the test you took proves it. I wasn’t supposed to tell you until you had time to get over all the difficult things that have happened. But you asked me outright. And I’ll never lie to you …” Kate’s voice cracked, tears streaming down her face.
Virgil was going to be so mad.
Riley Jo cupped Kate’s cheeks with both hands, just the way Jesse always did when he wanted to comfort her. “Don’t cry. I’m happy. I like you.”
Kate laughed and cried at the same time. “I like you, too. And I never ever stopped loving you—not for one minute.”
“Not for a teeny-tiny second?”
“Not for a single heartbeat.”
Riley Jo smiled—that beautiful, angelic smile Kate recognized! “So then, you’re my mama and Abby’s mama, and she really is my sister.”
“For sure. And I know Abby’s anxious to see you as soon as you get settled at your foster parents’.”
“Why can’t I just come home with you?”
“Because some really nice doctors will want to examine you first and make sure you’re okay. And some other doctors, and probably a judge, will want to talk with you and see how you feel about everything.”
“Well, I sure ain’t feelin’ happy about livin’ with strangers.”
“I know. But there are some things we both have to get used to. For example, what would you like us to call you? You’ve always gone by the name Ella, but we remember you as Riley Jo. You’ve never been to school, and we’ll need to talk about that. And of course, you’ll want to get to know your brothers and your grandpa Buck and Halo the cat. There will be more things like that we’ll need to work out. We can take them one at a time.”
“Can I see you while I’m with my foster parents?”
Kate smiled. “Definitely. This is going to have such a happy ending. After all you’ve been through, it’s a miracle you’re here with me now.”
Kate heard someone cough, and Roberta came out from behind a tree, holding two cans of apple juice.
“Here you go, ladies.” Roberta handed one can to Riley Jo and one to Kate.
“Thanks.” Kate took a sip and studied Roberta’s expression. “How long were you standing there?”
“Just long enough.” Roberta winked. “I mean, how else is a mother supposed to answer that?”
Chapter 39
One week later, as the morning sun sat just below the horizon and turned the sky a blazing shade of hot pink, Buck sat at a table at Flutter’s Café, having breakfast with Titus and reveling in the sound of Abby laughing with the customers at table six.
“Can you believe how good all this is turning out?” Titus said.
Buck smiled. “Actually, I can. Oh, I admit I started havin’ some doubts. But God planned to bring Riley Jo home, even when we couldn’t see it.”
Titus’s eyebrows came together. “But you have to wonder why He didn’t save Micah.”
“The Lord has His reasons,” Buck said. “Far be it from me to question Him. Like the preacher said last Sunday, our lives are tapestries. It takes some dark threads to make a beautiful design. Losin’ Micah was a dark thread,