Loree Lough - Bringing Rosie Home

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Extract

Chapter One

AS SHE’D DRESSED this morning, Rena had decided this would be her last session with Dr. Hutchinson. Two years of therapy, and what did she have to show for it? A smaller bank account and dozens of wasted hours, that was what. And the psychologist hadn’t brought her little girl back. Or saved Rena’s marriage.

But the analyst surprised her, shifting her line of questioning from Rosie’s kidnapping to Rena’s relationship—or lack thereof.

“How are things with Grant?” Martha asked.

They’d been separated over three years now, ever since Rena had taken her mother-in-law’s advice and turned Rosie’s room into a home office for Grant. When he saw it, every ugly thought and accusation he’d kept to himself had poured out, and when Rena had realized it was her presence—not sparkly tiaras, dolls and Teddy bears—that reminded him of that awful day, she’d offered to leave.

And he’d done nothing to stop her.

“We haven’t spoken in months.” Not since his grandfather died and he’d called to ask if she wanted to attend the services.

“Do you ever regret leaving?”

Only every day! Yes, Grant had allowed bitterness and blame to turn him into a surly, brooding man, but Rena remembered well the man he’d once been. The man he’d still be if she hadn’t taken her eyes off Rosie that day at the zoo.

“It was the right thing to do,” she said.

“For Grant? Or for you?”

“Both of us. Living under the same roof with the person responsible for what happened to Rosie... I don’t blame him for anything.”

Rena held her breath, partly to keep from remembering how it felt to have her sweet little girl beside her one minute and gone the next.

“We were both miserable.”

“Still,” Martha injected, “I wish he’d consider seeing someone. It might help him come to terms with it, and admit, finally, that it wasn’t your fault. That it could have happened to anyone.”

They’d been over this a dozen times. Maybe more. Rena didn’t feel much like repeating that she’d go to her grave feeling guilty for taking her eyes off Rosie during the field trip.

“But it didn’t happen to anyone. It happened to Rosie, because of me.”

Martha sighed. “I think you know what I’m going to say to that...”

Rena was about to admit that yes, she knew, and that pretending she wasn’t to blame only made it hurt more. But her cell phone buzzed.

Rena glanced at the number.

“Sorry, but I have to take this. It’s my... It’s Grant. Our hour is almost up, anyway, so...”

Rena was almost out the door before Martha said, “See you next week.”

No, she wouldn’t. But there wasn’t time to get into that now. Later, she’d call and cancel all future appointments.

“Hello?”

“Rena. I have important news. Are you sitting down?”

His voice sounded hoarse, deeper than usual. When she’d spoken with his mom a few days ago, Tina had complained about a dizzy spell. Grant was aware that she and his mother had stayed in close contact, and to his credit, had never said or done anything to discourage it.

“Is Tina all right?”

“She’s fine. Sends her love.”

Rena exhaled a breath of relief. She cared about her mother-in-law almost as much as her own mother. But if he hadn’t called about Tina’s health...

“Heard from Burt Campbell this morning.”

The detective who’d been assigned to the kidnapping case before FBI Agent Gonzalez had stepped in. Heart pounding, she made her way to the nearest bench and sat down. A call from Campbell could mean just one thing: after all this time, they’d finally found her little girl’s body.

“He got a call from the Chicago police.” Grant cleared his throat. “They’ve found Rosie. Alive.”

Chapter Two

WHAT A CRUEL joke it would be if it was someone else’s little girl.

“Are they... How can they be sure it’s Rosie?”

“She gave them our names,” Grant said. “Our address. Her preschool teacher’s name. Told them she called her favorite Teddy bear, Mr. Fuzzbottom. They sent me pictures, too. I’ll forward them to your cell. It’s our Rosie. No doubt in my mind.”

Our Rosie... She hadn’t heard him use that phrase since—

“I’ll make reservations and let you know when our flight takes off.” He paused. Cleared his throat. “If you want to come with me to Chicago, that is.”

“Of course I want to!”

Another pause, long enough this time that she was about to check if the call had been dropped.

“I’ll go home right now, dig up the paperwork. Rosie’s birth certificate. Her immunization records. Photographs. Our passports...”

Rena had left so quickly that day, more than three years ago now, that she hadn’t even thought to grab her birth certificate and passport. But the Chicago police would need proof that she and Grant were who they claimed to be.

“Rosie is speaking with a pediatric psychiatrist now,” Grant continued. “By the time we get there—I’m thinking midafternoon tomorrow at the latest—she’ll be prepared for the fact that we’re coming to take her home.”

Home. The house they’d shared since the day after their honeymoon, and the only place Rosie had ever lived...until the abduction. And where accusations and arguments pushed Grant and Rena apart even before she moved to Delaware’s Fenwick Island.

“I, ah, I think for the time being you should plan to stay at the house. Maybe you can stop by tonight, before we leave for Chicago, so you can unpack, make it look like you never left. Spend the night. That way, just one car to worry about at the airport.”

It was a lot to absorb in just a few minutes. She couldn’t imagine living under the same roof with him again, not after all the harsh words they'd exchanged. But there would be plenty of time later to question his decision. Right now, he was waiting for her reply.

“All right. I’ll go straight home to pack and make arrangements with work. And find someone to water my plants. And collect my mail. And then it’ll take me a few hours to drive to Ellicott City. Unless there’s traffic, I can be there by six.”

“Rena, you know what this means...”

“That we have to put on a good front, make Rosie believe we’re still a happy couple.”

“Exactly. She doesn’t need to cope with her parents’ breakup on top of everything else she’s gone through.”

How many times had she wondered about that? A thousand? Ten thousand? Even after accepting that they might never know, Rena had always hoped the kidnapper had been gentle and kind.

“I...I think that’s best, too,” she told him. “Anything, anything for Rosie’s sake.”

“I’ll pull something together for supper. We can talk about how we’re going to proceed while we eat.”

The invitation was a big sacrifice on his part, especially considering that during their last months together in the house, she’d slept in the guest room. He hadn’t stopped her from doing that, either. Would they go back to living as roommates? Rena couldn't imagine a more uncomfortable scenario.