Page 37 of Remember Me

I nod. “Uh-huh.” I asked my mother to read it to me so many times I could recite it by heart.

She looks up at me with hopeful eyes. “Scarlet, do you want to read it together?”

“I can’t right now. I need to head back downstairs and talk more with your father and then settle into my quarters.”

She frowns with disappointment, but then her face brightens. “Maybe, we can read it together when I go to bed tonight?”

“I’d love to do that.”

“Yay!” Returning the book to the shelf, she skips over to me and gives me a hug. Her little arms circle my waist and her headrests on my hips. Tears she can’t see break loose and trickle down my cheeks.

I’m drowning with emotion. Unadulterated love.

She squeezes me tighter. “Oh, Scarlet, I’m so happy you’re my new teacher!”

“Me too, sweetie. Me too.” Happier than she will ever know.

CHAPTER 22

Skye

Itrail Maddie as she bounds down the winding stairs. When she nears the bottom, she leaps over three steps, flying in the air and landing right in front of a startled Rosita.

“Dios mío, mi amor!You are going to hurt yourself!”

Maddie giggles. My fearless Madeline! “Poo, Rosita! You’re such a worry wart!”

“Worry wart?”

Maddie translates into Spanish. There’s no exact translation for that expression, but she communicates the meaning well enough. Her accent is perfect.

The housekeeper dramatically throws up her hands. “Aye,chiquita,you will be the death of me.”

Maddie laughs again.“Dónde está mi papa?”

“En la sala grande.”

Finn’s still in the great room. In addition to Spanish, I can fluently speak six other languages I picked up from my world travels with my parents. French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin, and Arabic.

“Mi chiquita, es hora de—”

Time for what? Maddie dashes off before Rosita can finish her sentence. I follow her. Butterflies flit in my stomach at the thought of seeing Finn again.

When we get to the great room, Finn is now seated on one of the sofas. Reading something. A white binder sits on his lap.

Maddie runs up to her father. “Daddy! Guess what!”

At the sound of her voice, he lifts up his head, his gaze meeting her bright eyes. Whatever he was indulging in doesn’t matter. He slides the binder onto a cushion, allowing Maddie to climb onto his lap.

“Tell me, my love.”

“Scarlet’s read all my books! And she lovesMadeline!”

He looks up at me. “Really?”

Before I can respond, another voice enters the room.

“Darling.” Female. Breathy. Seductive. Maddie’s smile fades as I look over my shoulder.