She gave me a smile and the waiter walked over and placed our food in front of us.
“One spaghetti with plain sauce for the little lady.” He smiled.
“Thank you.” She giggled.
As we were eating our dinner, I heard a voice behind me.
“I don’t believe it.”
I looked up from my plate and saw Coco and Garrett standing there. I narrowed my eyes at both of them.#p#分页标题#e#
“What are you two doing here?” I asked.
“We just came from visiting Lorelei and decided to get something to eat,” Garrett replied.
“How is she? We’re heading over there as soon as we’re finished.”
“She’s still very sleepy and not feeling good. We were only there about fifteen minutes. We brought her some flowers,” Coco spoke. She looked at Hope. “Hi there, sweetie. I’m Coco, Jack’s sister. This is our friend, Garrett.”
“Hi.” She smiled.
“I need a picture.” Coco grinned as she handed her purse to Garrett. “Hope, do me a favor and go sit next to Jack so I can take your picture.”
“Coco, stop!” Jack commanded.
“Oh no, big brother. This is too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Hope slid next to me and turned so she was facing Coco.
“Jack, lean in a little.”
“Coco, I’m warning you.” I gritted my teeth.
Hope looked up at me, smiled, and Coco snapped the picture.
“That was lovely. One more with both of you looking at the camera.”
I took in a sharp breath.
“Smile, Jack.” Hope placed her hand on my cheek.
I looked at Coco and forced a smile as she took another picture.
“Okay. Our table awaits us,” she spoke as she took her purse from Garrett. “It was nice to meet you, Hope.”
****
We entered Lorelei’s room and she was sleeping. I told Hope to be very quiet so we didn’t wake her. She looked pale and it hurt me to see her like that. Suddenly, I didn’t care about anything else but her. I didn’t care about the company, what was going on, nothing. I only wanted her to get better.
“Hope, come with me,” I spoke as we stepped out into the hallway. “We have to go home now. It’s getting late. I’ll tell the nurse to tell your mom that we were here and I promise I’ll bring you back to visit her tomorrow after school.”
She gave me a sad look as she slowly nodded her head. “Wait,” she spoke. “Can I lay Luna next to her?”
“You sure can but make sure you don’t wake her up. Your mom needs all the rest she can get right now so she can get better.”
I followed Hope back inside Lorelei’s room and she carefully placed Luna beside her.
“Now my daddy can be with her while she gets better.”
My heart ached when she said that. A feeling washed over me that I’d never felt before. This little girl, Lorelei’s little girl, was probably the most thoughtful person I’d ever known. Walking up to the nurse’s desk, I told Lorelei’s nurse to be sure to tell her that we had been there when she woke up. We met Tony outside and headed home.
I sent Hope upstairs to get into her pajamas. As I was pouring myself a scotch, she came down and sat on the couch.
“All ready for bed?” I asked.
“Yep. Can you read me a bedtime story? My mom reads to me every night.”
Oh shit. She’s kidding, right?
“Umm. Sure. Did you bring any books?”
“Yeah. I brought Charlotte’s Web. Wilbur just met Charlotte.” She smiled.
“Shouldn’t you be reading that yourself? Practicing?”
“I read a lot of other books, but every night, my mom reads me to sleep. She said it’s our quiet time together.”
This was something I didn’t want to do. The only thing I read was the newspaper or the internet. I sighed.
“Only a couple of pages, okay?”#p#分页标题#e#
“Okay.”
I walked up the stairs and Hope followed behind. When we reached her room, she pulled back the covers and climbed into bed. I looked at her and narrowed my eye.
“Did you brush your teeth?” I asked.
“Yes. Right after I changed into my pajamas.”
She handed me Charlotte’s Web and I opened to the page that was bookmarked.
“I’ve never read this book.”
Hope laid her head on her pillow and I sat down on the edge of the bed and started reading from the pages. I had read ten pages of the book when Hope asked me to stop.
“I’m going to sleep now.”
I placed the bookmark on the page where I left off and pulled the covers up over her. As I got up from the bed, she reached her hand out and grabbed mine. I turned and looked at her.