Point Hope (6 page)

Summer looked over. “The nurses are calling her Baby Jane.”

They’d named her? Who were they to pick out a name? Then it hit her. They were calling her Jane Doe.

Rosette didn’t like it at all and wanted to say a few choice words to them, until she realized “Jane” might be better than “the baby,” or even worse, “it.” 

Putting that aside for the time being, she told Summer, “We need to go home and talk to the kids. Are you planning to stay awhile?”

Summer’s head jerked up. Rosette was taken aback by the fear in her eyes. She turned away, rocking the baby, maybe rocking herself, mumbling what sounded like, “I can’t believe all this.”

Rosette laid a hand on her arm. “Summer? Are you okay?”

“I don’t think I can go back to Amanda’s place. Not without her.” She looked at Rosette, her face crumpled and ready to cry. She was looking at Rosette like she’d fix everything.

 “You don’t have to go back there,” Rosette said, and suddenly remembered her promise to Amanda to help with anything she needed. “We’re going home to talk to Alex. Do you want to come with us?”

“No… I don’t want her to be alone.”

Rosette squeezed Summer’s shoulders. “Okay. Call me if you need anything. And don’t worry. You can come over to our house when you’re ready.” It was hard to look away—to walk away—from the look in Summer’s eyes. They nodded at each other as Rosette went out the door. None of this would be easy.

She left to find Trey, feeling like she was walking through a dense fog. Halfway home, Rosette realized that neither of them had said a word. She’d been thinking about how and when to tell the kids. Candice might be old enough to understand that Aunt Amanda wouldn’t come over anymore, and that she had gone to heaven.

When they were close to the house, Rosette glanced at Trey and said, “I told Summer she’s welcome at the house whenever she’s ready to come. She doesn’t want to go back to Amanda’s.”

Trey nodded without glancing over. They arrived home, and he pulled into the garage and turned off the car. Rosette felt cold and stiff, and found it hard to move. Only then did she remember that she’d been up all night. She was tired, emotionally drained, and feeling all the pain and loss physically—she hurt all over as if she’d been beat up.

She looked at Trey, who wasn’t moving either. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, one hand massaging his forehead. As much as she dreaded the thought of talking through all this, they would need to decide a few things together.

The door from the garage into the house flew open. Trey came back to life, sitting forward and opening his car door. “Alex,” he said as he stood. Rosette stepped out of the car and saw Alex’s anxious face.

Trey walked closer to him and set a hand on his shoulder. Instead of saying anything, he shook his head. They all stood in silence. Finally, Trey said, “There was an accident out on the highway last night. Her car rolled down an embankment. The doctors were able to save the baby.”

Alex nodded and turned abruptly, rushing back into the house. Trey stared after him for a few seconds before he moved.

Inside, it was quiet. Rosette hung up her sweater and walked through the kitchen. The kids had eaten and had left cereal bowls in the sink. She listened and heard their muffled voices. It sounded like they were playing in Jake’s room.

She didn’t see Trey but went up to Alex’s door and knocked. There was a noise so she opened the door. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, bent over so she couldn’t see his face. She sat down and rested a hand on his back, wondering if there was anything she could say. There wasn’t. Not right now. Instead she sat with him, watching the minutes go by on his alarm clock, until she heard Candice and Jake running down the hall, calling for her.

“I’ll need to talk to them too.”

She knew she was operating in a sleep-deprived haze but there was no way around it. Rosette had done this many times after staying up with Candice. They’d been through lung infections, ear infections, and sinus infections many times in her seven years. She’d been hospitalized three times. Then Rosette began researching two years ago and started trying a gluten-free diet. To their amazement, it helped decrease Candice’s asthma symptoms and lessened the severity of her colds. Still, it made Rosette nervous to think she might be dealing with both a sick daughter and a newborn baby shortly. Spring was the worst season for allergies and asthma.

The kids had run into her bedroom. She found them sitting on the bed with Trey. She sat down with them just as an ugly question settled over her. Actually, it was more of a questioning feeling than actual words.
Who were they anymore?
They had been ready to call it quits before getting news about Ricky. Then they’d agreed to put off any decisions. Now there was a baby in the mix—how could they make any kind of decision about anything right now?

But there were more immediate issues to deal with today. Trey did the talking, calmly and slowly telling Candice and Jake that Aunt Amanda got hurt in a car accident and went to heaven.

Jake asked a lot of questions. How did she die? Did it hurt? How come the baby is alive if Amanda died? It was just an interesting topic for him. He wasn’t old enough to really understand it all. Candice was quiet as she thought about it, and that worried Rosette. She pulled them both close and held onto them. She looked up and saw Alex standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets and tears rolling down his face.

Chapter Five

Sarah Molvik sat in her car in the hospital parking lot, wiping her nose and tears with a sweater. It was gross, but she’d been crying so much. The tissues she kept in her glove box were all gone.

It was Tuesday afternoon, two full days since the accident on Saturday night. That didn’t make any of this better. Each passing minute seemed to make it worse. It was more time to think about it.

She thought they’d be leaving with the baby soon. Unless the baby wasn’t okay. She had seen Trey and Rosette Sinclair, the brother-in-law and his wife, come and go a few times. Sarah knew their names from the news. The newspaper and local TV channel had covered Ricky Sinclair’s death. He was a huge local hero now.  The biggest article had also described how Trey had served and been wounded. It’d been titled, “A Family of Sacrifice.”

More like a family of tragedy and loss. Maybe she’d write a paper on it—how life was out to take so much from them.

This morning’s paper had a new article. “Mom-To-Be Dies on Night of Husband’s Funeral.”

Sarah picked up the newspaper on her lap: “In an already tragic situation, Amanda Sinclair, pregnant with her first child, died in a one-vehicle accident on Seven Devils Road Saturday night, only hours after her husband’s funeral. Doctors confirmed the baby is alive and doing well, and is in the care of family members.”

The article went on to talk about donations for the family and how the community was grieving with the Sinclairs. Sarah could hardly stomach it, but she made herself read every word.  

She looked up and gasped. Trey Sinclair was walking by her car. She watched him stride to his vehicle and get in, and then drive to the U-shaped patient pick-up area. They were taking the baby home.

She could see the nurse talking to them and Rosette leaning inside the car with the baby. The car seat must have been inside already.

Somehow it surprised her every time she saw them. Both looked much younger than she’d expected. Trey Sinclair was good looking, a tall guy with dark hair and arresting blue eyes. His wife was really pretty too.

She found herself imaging things about them and their life. Yeah, sick. 

Trey sat at the wheel a minute before he pulled away. Their faces were grim. Imagine if they knew the truth.

The day before, they had both walked right by her car, and she’d almost opened her door and called to them.
I have to tell you something.

She wanted to. God, how she wanted to
.

~  ~ ~

It felt so strange to leave the hospital with a baby when she hadn’t been pregnant. Rosette glanced backwards at the car seat. Somewhere she had a mirror that she could hang on the back window so she could check on the baby while driving. Today, Trey was driving and she was left to think, mainly about what they’d done. She half expected someone to jump out at them in the parking lot and scream, “Hypocrites! You can’t take that baby home! You don’t have a home—you’re faking it!”

But no one stopped them, inside or out of the hospital. Even if this didn’t feel real, Amanda was gone, and they’d accepted guardianship.

The social worker had all but held their hands through the paperwork and legal matters, thank God. The question came up if Summer had any interest in adopting the baby. Faced with answering that, Rosette had glanced at Trey, afraid to answer. Summer had answered the question herself, over the phone. No, she couldn’t take a baby. She couldn’t even find a job.

It made things simpler, at least legally, that Ricky and Amanda had listed Trey and Rosette in their will and other paperwork with the Marines. Even after all the discussing, Rosette had certainly never thought any of that would come into play.

They didn’t have to name the baby to take her home, but they would need to pick a name before the birth certificate could be issued. They had answered questions and filled out endless paperwork, but Rosette wasn’t sure if this felt real yet.

With a shock, she recognized the route to Amanda’s house. She looked at Trey.

“We don’t have everything we need,” he said. There had to be more to it than that, but she didn’t want to know. He drove the rest of the way to Amanda’s duplex and got out. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

Trey steadied himself outside Amanda’s door before inserting the key. It’d been in the bag with Amanda’s purse and a few personal belongings from the wreck. This needed done, so he braced himself and opened the door. Inside, he tried to detach himself. He went to the second bedroom and found the baby supplies. There was everything Amanda would have needed in bringing home her newborn. Instead of taking it all, he found the pre-packed diaper bag. With a quick check, he saw a package of newborn diapers, wipes, washcloths, and at least one outfit. He found a few other items to add.

Next, Trey walked into Amanda’s bedroom. He checked the dresser top and nightstand first, looking for notes, a journal, or maybe a baby-naming book.

Nothing obvious. Then, he spotted a paperback on the bookshelf, pulled out and lying flat in front of the rest of the books. That was it. It was a baby name dictionary. He thumbed through, looking for highlights or any underlining. There wasn’t any, despite the worn look to the pages. She didn’t have a separate sheet with names written down or even a bookmark marking a favorite page.

He looked around a while longer and then let himself out.

Rosette looked at the bag that Trey set in the backseat, but she didn’t say anything. She couldn’t imagine going inside, so she could only hope he had picked up anything they would need for the next few days.

The hospital had supplied them with enough formula and tiny diapers to last at least a week. People had donated money and offered baby supplies.

They pulled into the garage and found Alex, Summer, and the kids waiting for them inside. Trey carried in the car seat and set it on the living room floor.

“Can we see?” Candice leaned over the car seat. “This is my new cousin?”

The kids had been waiting for their cousin, but now Rosette wasn’t sure what they would call her. Cousin? Sister? She didn’t answer.

Things were already confusing in their family. Candice and Jake both called Alex their “big brother,” but Rosette sometimes had to explain he was actually their uncle.
No, he’s not my son. No, he’s not my stepson.
He didn’t feel like her brother-in-law either. That would be Ricky.

Candice and Jake scooted on their knees, leaning close to the baby. Alex sat on the couch next to Summer. Rosette got the feeling they’d been talking and getting to know each other better. She hoped Alex would be a good influence on Summer, instead of Summer dragging him down. Not that she knew what was going on with Summer right now; ever since Amanda died, she’d been a shadow of her former self.

“Where will the baby sleep?” Jake asked, touching her tiny, soft arm. He looked like he was ready to yank his hand back if she made even a tiny movement in response.

“In our room,” Rosette said. That answer was easy enough. On second thought, with things complicated between her and Trey, it might not end up being easy after all.

The baby puckered up her mouth and then slowly opened her eyes.

“She’s awake!” Candice yelled.

Of course, that prompted the baby to open her mouth and start screaming. Rosette undid the car seat restraints and lifted the screaming bundle into her arms. She calmed down surprisingly quickly.

“Can we hold her?” Candice asked. Jake said something similar at the same time.

Trey looked edgy, but Rosette wanted the kids to feel like things were okay, and that they were a family, even with all the changes. She let Candice and then Jake have a turn holding the baby.

Jake looked down at the tiny, doll-like person on his lap, smiling because he finally got to hold her. Rosette kept her hand under the baby’s head, just in case.

“Can we name her Hope?” Jake asked, eagerly looking up to his mom’s face.

“It’s not our baby to name,” Candice cut in. A second later she looked at her mom and then her dad. “Is she? Do we get to name her? Are you her mom since Aunt Amanda is dead?”

“We’re her family now,” Rosette said, cutting her daughter off. Jake was arguing with Candice, but quietly, as he leaned close to the baby. The baby squirmed and scrunched up her face, starting to cry again. Rosette scooped up the baby from Jake’s lap.

Alex made a throat-clearing noise and said. “She does need a name.”

“So we won’t call her Jane?” Candice asked. She must have heard it from Summer. No one else had used that name or even mentioned it.