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The fact that she immediately thought that made my chest ache. She was so used to us running.
I shook my head. “Actually, we never have to leave somewhere again unless we just want an adventure.”
She didn’t respond, but studied me and the folder in my hand.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, this is the hard part,” I started. “Netta, well, she had an accident, and she’s gone.” I couldn’t even say the word dead. I had a knot in my stomach, waiting to see how Dovie would react.
She blew out a small breath. “She’s dead?” Dovie signed.
I nodded. I wanted to tell her I was sorry, but that would be a lie. I wasn’t sorry. All I was worried about here was Dovie’s emotions.
“Did Storm do it?” she signed.
I shook my head. “No! She fell down a flight of stairs.”
That she’d think Storm had done it surprised me. Sure, I’d asked that, too, but I hadn’t realized she thought he’d do something like that.
“What does this mean for us? I’m still a minor, and if someone looks into the location of her daughter …”
I held up the folder. “Well, that’s the good news.”
Her eyes fell to it, and I tried to gauge where her emotions were right now. She didn’t appear to be anything other than concerned. There was no sadness at the mention of Netta’s death. It was as if I had told her some random piece of information.
“Storm found out about it after it happened. He had been keeping tabs on her whereabouts for our protection, even before we ended up here, it seems.”
“Because he is madly in love with you,” she signed with a tug at the corner of her lips.
I smiled, unable not to. “And he used the high-power attorney these people have on standby to … well …” I opened up the folder as my eyes started to burn. I was going to cry again, and I was really trying to keep it together. “I’m your legal guardian now.”
Her eyes went wide, and she moved her feet off the sofa to the floor as she stared at the folder, then at me. “You are serious?” she signed.
I nodded and sniffled, then wiped a tear before it ran down my face.
Her hands went to her mouth, and she covered it, still wide-eyed, then jumped up and came around the table to sit beside me. She took the folder from me and opened it in her lap. I watched as she looked over it, needing to see this for herself. When she finally lifted her gaze to meet mine, a smile spread across her face.
“He really did this.”
I nodded and wiped at another tear. “It’s my birthday present.”
“He knew about tomorrow then.”
“Yes, he did. But I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“We don’t have to run? I don’t have to hide? I can …” She stopped signing, as if thinking about the things available to her now. “Can I go to school?” she asked.
“Yes, you can. And you are going in the fall. Storm already has that set up too. It’s a Catholic school that has classes for hearing-impaired students.”
She frowned then, and I worried that my pointing out that she would need to communicate there was bothering her.
“What if I’m too behind?”
She hadn’t been in school in four years. She would be behind. There was no question in that, but Storm had managed to make that problem vanish too.
“Storm has it all handled. You’ll get to go in classes for the grade you should be in, but you will also have a private instructor who will work with you throughout your day.”
Her eyes bugged out again, and I wanted to laugh and cry. There were so few things in her life that she had to be happy about. Storm had given her a life. A real life. She was going to get a diploma, and then there would be college. We could get her student loans, and she could get a degree!
“This is real?”
I nodded.
She shook her head in amazement.
I reached over and took her hand. “I know this is life-changing, but are you okay? About Netta?”
Her shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath, and I let her hand go so she could reply.
“I don’t have one good memory with her. I have a lot of bad. I don’t think I feel anything.” She paused, and her brow crinkled. “Should I feel something? All I feel is … happy.”
I shook my head and pulled her into a hug. “You deserve to be happy. You don’t have to feel anything for her. She doesn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve you. Be happy. I’m completely giddy.”
Pulling back from her, I grabbed her shoulders. “Let’s go eat some cobbler. I have vanilla ice cream in the freezer. Then, we can make a list of all the things we want to do now.”
