She was holding a dirty gray stuffed rabbit with one bent ear.
I screamed.
My brain understood before I did.
The sound came out of me hard enough to hurt my throat.
The woman flinched.
“Please,” she said. “I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
I crossed the street so fast I nearly stepped into traffic.
“Where did you get that?”
She looked at Bunny.
I crossed the street so fast I nearly stepped into traffic.
“Hope gave it to me.”
I couldn’t breathe properly.
Her grip on Bunny tightened.
“My name is Rachel. I’m Hope’s mother.”
When had Hope made contact with her mother, and why hadn’t she told me?
More importantly, what was Rachel doing here now?
Her grip on Bunny tightened.
I shook my head.
“No. You don’t get to walk up to my house with my daughter’s toy and say something insane.”
Rachel swallowed.
“I know you won’t want to hear this, but Hope and I have been talking for years.”
