Every Precious Thing

CHAPTER SEVENTY — ONE

“I’m not going to kill you,” Logan said.

Sara wasn’t about to stand there any longer. She raced toward the hallway.

“Hey!” Rachel called out. “You leave her alone.”

Sara heard someone running after her. She glanced over her shoulder, thinking it might be Rachel trying to stop her, but it was Diana.

“Hurry,” her sister said.

Rachel and Kurt’s house was a single story with three bedrooms. They had two sons, both away at college, so Sara guessed Emily would be using one of their rooms. The first was Troy’s, but it was empty. The second was Cory’s.

Sara stopped in the doorway, frozen in place by the sight of the small form sleeping on the bed.

Emily.

She had almost convinced herself she’d never see her daughter again, but there she was, peacefully asleep. Sara could even hear her breathe. It was like music.

“Did you find her?” Diana asked, stopping behind her.

Sara pulled herself out of her trance and raced into the room. She pulled back the covers, put her arms under her daughter, and lifted Emily from the bed. The girl rolled against Sara’s chest, then seemed to realize something was different.

Her eyelids fluttered, and opened. She stared at her mother for a full second. Then her eyes grew wider than Sara had ever seen them, and she threw open her arms and wrapped them around Sara’s neck.

“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!”

Sara hugged her daughter tight. “It’s me, sweetie. It’s me.”

“We gotta go,” Diana said.

Sara remained motionless, wanting to remember this moment for the rest of her life. Then she nodded, and carried Emily out the door.