Bringing Rosie Home. Loree Lough

      They’d been over this a dozen times. Maybe more. Rena didn’t feel much like repeating that she’d go to her grave feeling guilty for taking her eyes off Rosie during the field trip.

      “But it didn’t happen to anyone. It happened to Rosie, because of me.”

      Martha sighed. “I think you know what I’m going to say to that...”

      Rena was about to admit that yes, she knew, and that pretending she wasn’t to blame only made it hurt more. But her cell phone buzzed.

      Rena glanced at the number.

      “Sorry, but I have to take this. It’s my... It’s Grant. Our hour is almost up, anyway, so...”

      Rena was almost out the door before Martha said, “See you next week.”

      No, she wouldn’t. But there wasn’t time to get into that now. Later, she’d call and cancel all future appointments.

      “Hello?”

      “Rena. I have important news. Are you sitting down?”

      His voice sounded hoarse, deeper than usual. When she’d spoken with his mom a few days ago, Tina had complained about a dizzy spell. Grant was aware that she and his mother had stayed in close contact, and to his credit, had never said or done anything to discourage it.

      “Is Tina all right?”

      “She’s fine. Sends her love.”

      Rena exhaled a breath of relief. She cared about her mother-in-law almost as much as her own mother. But if he hadn’t called about Tina’s health...

      “Heard from Burt Campbell this morning.”

      The detective who’d been assigned to the kidnapping case before FBI Agent Gonzalez had stepped in. Heart pounding, she made her way to the nearest bench and sat down. A call from Campbell could mean just one thing: after all this time, they’d finally found her little girl’s body.

      “He got a call from the Chicago police.” Grant cleared his throat. “They’ve found Rosie. Alive.”

       Chapter Two

      WHAT A CRUEL joke it would be if it was someone else’s little girl.

      “Are they... How can they be sure it’s Rosie?”

      “She gave them our names,” Grant said. “Our address. Her preschool teacher’s name. Told them she called her favorite Teddy bear, Mr. Fuzzbottom. They sent me pictures, too. I’ll forward them to your cell. It’s our Rosie. No doubt in my mind.”

      Our Rosie... She hadn’t heard him use that phrase since—

      “I’ll make reservations and let you know when our flight takes off.” He paused. Cleared his throat. “If you want to come with me to Chicago, that is.”

      “Of course I want to!”

      Another pause, long enough this time that she was about to check if the call had been dropped.

      “I’ll go home right now, dig up the paperwork. Rosie’s birth certificate. Her immunization records. Photographs. Our passports...”

      Rena had left so quickly that day, more than three years ago now, that she hadn’t even thought to grab her birth certificate and passport. But the Chicago police would need proof that she and Grant were who they claimed to be.

      “Rosie is speaking with a pediatric psychiatrist now,” Grant continued. “By the time we get there—I’m thinking midafternoon tomorrow at the latest—she’ll be prepared for the fact that we’re coming to take her home.”

      Home. The house they’d shared since the day after their honeymoon, and the only place Rosie had ever lived...until the abduction. And where accusations and arguments pushed Grant and Rena apart even before she moved to Delaware’s Fenwick Island.

      “I, ah, I think for the time being you should plan to stay at the house. Maybe you can stop by tonight, before we leave for Chicago, so you can unpack, make it look like you never left. Spend the night. That way, just one car to worry about at the airport.”

      It was a lot to absorb in just a few minutes. She couldn’t imagine living under the same roof with him again, not after all the harsh words they'd exchanged. But there would be plenty of time later to question his decision. Right now, he was waiting for her reply.

      “All right. I’ll go straight home to pack and make arrangements with work. And find someone to water my plants. And collect my mail. And then it’ll take me a few hours to drive to Ellicott City. Unless there’s traffic, I can be there by six.”

      “Rena, you know what this means...”

      “That we have to put on a good front, make Rosie believe we’re still a happy couple.”

      “Exactly. She doesn’t need to cope with her parents’ breakup on top of everything else she’s gone through.”

      How many times had she wondered about that? A thousand? Ten thousand? Even after accepting that they might never know, Rena had always hoped the kidnapper had been gentle and kind.

      “I...I think that’s best, too,” she told him. “Anything, anything for Rosie’s sake.”

      “I’ll pull something together for supper. We can talk about how we’re going to proceed while we eat.”

      The invitation was a big sacrifice on his part, especially considering that during their last months together in the house, she’d slept in the guest room. He hadn’t stopped her from doing that, either. Would they go back to living as roommates? Rena couldn't imagine a more uncomfortable scenario.

      “Yes, yes, that’s a good idea.”

      Did she sound as much like a robot to Grant as she did to herself?

      “How have you been, by the way?”

      It surprised her that he’d bothered to ask. “Fine.” Seeing a shrink, trying not to give in to insanity, dealing with insomnia, but... “And you?”

      “Fine,” he echoed.

      But she knew he wasn’t. She could hear it in his strained voice. Neither of them were fine. How could they be?

      “Well, I’d better skedaddle.”

      How long since she’d heard him recite the phrase that had so often inspired good-natured teasing between them? Not once in the five years since Rosie vanished, like the smoke from a spent match. It told her that Grant had hope, real hope, for the first time since the kidnapping. His belief that they’d find her had been the second biggest issue between them next to the blame. The third biggest? Her dreams of having another baby. “Another child won’t replace Rosie. How can you just give up on her?” he’d demand. “What kind of mother just throws in the towel this way?”

      “Just so you know, I asked Mom not to come around for a few days, to give Rosie time to adjust to being back,” Grant said now.

      Rena clenched her jaw. “But Grant, your mother was always such a huge part of her life. Wouldn’t it seem strange to her if Tina didn’t stop by once we're...” She couldn’t bring herself to call it home. Not yet. “At least for a little while?”

      He didn’t reply right away, and Rena braced herself for his dismissal.

      “You’re right, I guess,” he said, surprising her. “I’ll give her a call. You think she should be at the house, waiting? Or stop by a couple of hours after we get home?”

      Who was this cordial man? In their last few months of living together, he hadn’t agreed with her on anything.

      “Later, maybe, to give Rosie a chance to look around, reacquaint herself with her surroundings.” And being with us.