The Friends We Keep

“You can interview the families, if you’d like,” Amanda, an attractive fortysomething African-American woman, said. “We have several dozen in our files. You can pick your top two or three and we’ll go from there.”


Gabby sat close to Makayla, her hand on the teen’s back. Her stepdaughter was tense and she had trouble meeting the adoption counselor’s gaze.

“I don’t want someone close,” she said in a whisper. “I want a couple who lives on the other side of the country.”

“Of course. That’s not a problem. Any other criteria?”

Makayla shook her head. “Just that they’ll be good to the baby.” She sniffed. “Gabby and I went to the doctor yesterday. It’s a boy. Does that matter?”

“No.” Amanda’s smile was kind. “Most of our prospective parents aren’t concerned about gender. But it’s nice that you know already.”

Gabby hadn’t been sure Makayla would want to know but when the technician had asked if she was interested in the sex of the baby, the teen had said yes.

“It doesn’t change anything for me,” Makayla said now. “I just wondered.”

Amanda walked them through the process. They talked about how the parents would be chosen.

“What we find works best is one or two meetings as soon as you have your finalists, then you make the choice. You can stay in touch with them through the rest of your pregnancy, if you’d like.”

“They’ll be here when the baby is born?” Makayla asked.

“They can be.”

“I want them right there. I want them to take him as soon as he’s born.”

Gabby moved her hand to Makayla’s lap. The teen gripped her fingers tightly.

“I don’t want to see him.”

Amanda nodded. “I understand. Now about the biological father. You mentioned something about him signing away his rights?”

“I have the paperwork,” Gabby told her. “He has no problem with Makayla giving up the baby for adoption.” She’d phoned Boyd’s mother, just to be sure. “If there are more forms, he’ll take care of them.”

“Then this should all go very smoothly. Let’s talk a little about a few of the couples we have who meet your preliminary criteria.”

Gabby stayed close while Makayla looked through the folders of prospective parents. While she tried not to offer an opinion, Makayla kept looking at her and asking, “What do you think?” After a couple of hours, they’d narrowed the list down to three couples. One was from North Carolina, one from Florida and the last couple was in Maine.

“I like them best,” Makayla said as she and Gabby walked to the car. “They both work for the forest service, so he’ll get to be outside a lot. I liked their letters, too.”

Gabby nodded. “Hers especially.” The wife had gone through surgery while still a teenager and it had left her unable to have children. “Plus, they’re both from big families, so there will be lots of cousins to play with.”

“It’s an important decision.” Makayla sounded tired. “I don’t want to make a mistake.”

Gabby put her arm around her daughter. “You won’t. They’ve all been thoroughly vetted by the agency. Any one of the three would be a great choice. If you start with that premise, then it’s just the matter of which couple speaks to you the most.”

Gabby unlocked the SUV.

“Let’s talk to your dad tonight and get his opinion. The choice is yours, but maybe the three of us talking it out will help you decide.”

“I’d like that.” Makayla sighed. “I guess you should take me to school. I can still get to all my afternoon classes.”

The girl’s obvious discomfort at the idea made Gabby want to protect her from the world. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have to walk the halls of high school while pregnant. Talk about a nightmare.

“Why don’t you take the afternoon off?” she offered. “You can get your assignments online and do them at home.”

“Really?” Relief brightened her whole face. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Gabby got in the SUV and started the engine. As she drove out of the parking lot, she told herself this was it. She had to commit, one way or the other. Was she really willing to do it? Because once she committed, she couldn’t back out.

She searched her heart and found only love for the teen next to her. As for her job, well, that had been a mistake. She’d been trying to recapture who she’d been when she’d quit. That woman was long gone. She needed to think about who she was now and what she wanted. Which was going to make for a very interesting conversation with Andrew later that day.





Chapter Thirty

Hayley hesitated outside the hospital room. She felt nervous, which was silly. She was bringing lunch to a sick kid, nothing more. Well, that wasn’t true. In addition to the burger, fries and a milk shake he’d requested, she’d brought a stack of books. Still, what if Noah didn’t want to talk to her?

She drew in a breath, squared her shoulders and walked into his room.

“Hi, Noah.”