Paige began appearing about six months later. She had been Nora’s best friend since high school. The same Paige who had held my hand at the funeral, who had crouched to Sadie’s height and promised, “Sweetheart, I’ll always be here for you.”
She would arrive with small presents.
“I just want Sadie to know she’s loved,” she told me once on the porch. “Nora would want that.”
I believed it was compassion. I failed to recognize what was right in front of me, smiling with pink lipstick and wearing Nora’s old charm bracelet around her wrist.
One year after the funeral, Brent called me on a Wednesday morning.
“Gracie, I have something to tell you. Paige and I are getting married.”
For a moment, I thought I had heard him wrong.
“That’s quick, Brent.”
“Sadie needs a mother figure. Paige loves her. Nora would understand.”
“Don’t tell me what my daughter would understand.” Children’sbooks
He let out a tired breath. “Please come to the wedding. For Sadie.”
