“Did you leave it at your mom’s house?”
“I don’t think so. It was in my pocket.”
“Maybe you lost it in the car.”
We take the food back up to the waiting room, and settle down to wait. A few minutes later, Dad comes out and I give him the plate of food I made for him. He says, “She wants to see Lark.”
Lark chokes on the food that’s in her mouth. One of her sisters—I still can’t tell which one is which—pats her on the back until it passes.
Dad jerks his thumb toward the hallway. “If you don’t go, she’ll come out here and get you.”
“I’ll go with you,” Marta says as she gets to her feet.
Lark holds up a hand. “It’s all right. I can do it myself.” She adjusts her shirt and tries to tidy her hair.
“You look fine,” Marta says to her.
She takes a deep breath. “I got this,” she says.
Emilio tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, you do.”
Lark
I step into the room and am actually comforted by the chirps and beeps that mean Mrs. Shepherd is alive. She’s tired and weak and her color hasn’t returned yet, but the doctor says she’s going to be all right.
“I never did like that bitch,” she signs as I get closer to the bed.
Relief washes over me. “I didn’t know you were allergic. I’m so sorry. I ruined your birthday. I almost killed you.”
“You didn’t ruin it. Samantha did. Never did like that girl, not since she was little and she used to throw rocks at Mick because he could hear.”
“She didn’t!”
“She did. So I went to her mother and threatened to dispose of her body in a pretty vile way. The mother, not the kid, because the mother was in charge at that age—and we never had another problem out of her.”
I laugh. I like Mrs. Shepherd, and I can see where Ryan gets his sense of humor. “I did hope he’d marry a deaf woman, though, I have to admit.”
“He still might.” I wince.
She laughs. “No, he won’t. He has that look in his eye. I knew he would meet someone and fall in love one day, and I knew it wouldn’t be with Samantha, but I never thought it would be with someone like you.”
“I know I’m not what you wanted for him, but—”
She waves her hands in the air to stop me from talking. “He’s a grown man. He’s a talented artist. He has a good job and a home of his own. He will always be my little boy, but he will one day be someone’s husband…” She stops to wipe away tears that have formed in her eyes. “And that’s a decision he has to make all on his own. If he picks you, I’ll support both of you one hundred percent.”
“Even though I can hear?”
“Oh, you’ll have your own special challenges. You will always be the one who has to answer the phone when there are voice calls. You will end up translating for him more than you think you will. And you will avoid situations where you think he won’t fit in. And he’ll avoid similar situations for you. You’ll change your life for him, and he’ll change his for you. For him, he’ll hate that he has to rely on you for some things, and it’ll cause a rift between you at times. But when you love someone, there are always things that get in the way of it, and hearing is only a small percentage of them.”
I sit down in the chair next to her and settle in. “I’m pretty sure I’m in love with him.”
“I know. I can tell.” She smiles softly at me. “You have my blessing.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, go get my boys in here so I can make them feel bad.”
“Beg your pardon…?”