“I’m sure it made it all that much harder for you.” She grew angry again. “That father of yours should be stood up and shot.”
“Mama didn’t want to drink whiskey,” I said. “It made her feel better.”
“Well, yes, I suppose …”
“She didn’t have to think about us. She tried to change herself into another person so that she wouldn’t have to think about all that had happened to her.”
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She stared at me. “That’s very astute. You’re a very bright young girl. I can see that, Sasha. It would be a waste to let you fall through the cracks. I’m sure you wanted to be in school.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’m not usually someone who believes in fate. When Alena died, I knew there were some people who thought it was just something meant to be and that was why nothing we tried to do could stop it. It’s like everything is designed, and we just follow the path we’re given. Something like that. Donald believes that. I’d like to think that maybe some good could come out of Kiera being the one to have caused your accident, the injuries, and your mother’s death.”
I recoiled. Good?
“It brought me to you and you to me,” she said. “I had a great loss when Alena died, and so did you when you lost your mother. We can help each other. Actually, you’ll be helping me and Donald by giving us more to do with our lives, our family lives.”
“How?” I asked.
She smiled. “I’d like you to think about something. I’d like you to come live with us, Sasha. First, we’ll be your foster parents, and then, if you’re happy, we will adopt you.”
All I could do was stare at her. She wanted me to live with her? But I’d be living with her daughter Kiera, too?
“You’ll only end up a ward of the state otherwise and be shipped off to some orphanage or multichild foster home,” she quickly added. “You don’t want that. Even your mother, in the condition she was in, that you were both in, avoided putting you there, and now that I have gotten to know you, it would make me very sad, too.”
My continued silence unnerved her.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?” she asked.
I nodded, and she stood up.
“Okay. You just think about it. I’ll be back tomorrow, and we’ll talk again about it.”
Jackie came to the door and hesitated, waiting to see if it was all right for her to return.
“You can come in,” Mrs. March told her. “She’s doing quite well, according to Dr. Milan.”
“Yes, she is,” Jackie said, smiling at me.
“We might only need you a few more days.”
“Of course,” Jackie said. She smiled at me. “In this case, I’ll be glad to lose my job. She’s been a delightful patient.”
Mrs. March smiled and looked at me. “Yes, she’s quite a wonderful young girl,” she said. “Continue to take good care of her,” she added, and left the room.
Jackie waited until she was sure she was gone and turned to me. “Well? What is she planning to buy you? What is she going to do for you now?”
“Have me take the place of her dead daughter,” I said.
5
A New Life
You mean she wants you to come live with her?”
“Yes. And if I like it, she and her husband would adopt me.”