Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

blew it on drugs and told everyone, including Grace, that
Grandma Landers was dead."
Hannah swallowed. "What does the woman want?"
Another sigh filled the phone, this one heavier than before. "She wants Grace. She says she's been like a
mother to the child since she was born. The only stability Grace has ever known."
Until now, Hannah wanted to say. Until she came to live with us! The technicality of their situation didn't
matter; Grace was their daughter. Even if the adoption wasn't finalized. "Don't... don't we have some say
in this? Grace belongs to us now."
"Grace belongs to the state. She's a foster child, a ward of the court." Mrs. Parsons paused. "I had no idea
this would happen. I feel terrible, Mrs. Bronzan."
Hannah's mind raced for a solution. There had to be a way out. Maybe she and Matt and Jenny and Grace
could pile in the car and head for Mexico. Maybe she could hang up and the entire phone call would be
nothing but an unthinkable nightmare. Hannah rubbed her forehead and stared at the floor. Her heartbeat
was so loud she was sure the social worker could hear it. "Does ...does the woman know how happy
Grace is? Does she understand?"
"She wants her granddaughter, and according to California
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law she has the right to take custody of her as long as she's fit. We checked her out and she's a fine
woman, Mrs. Bronzan. She's flying here today from Oklahoma to take Grace home."
To take Grace home? There was a searing pain in Hannah's
heart. So that was it? Grace's grandmother figured out where she
was and now Grace would have to leave? As though she and Matt
and Jenny had never been a part of her life at all? Tears spilled
from Hannah's eyes and she struggled to find her voice. "You're
taking her today?"
"No." There was a shuffling sound of papers in the background.
"We'll come for her tomorrow morning. Say ten o'clock.
Her grandmother wants to come, too. She...she wants to thank
you for helping Grace these past three months."
"Yes ...I see..." Hannah mumbled a good-bye and hung up
the phone. As she did, her eyes fell on a framed photograph of
Grace and Jenny, their arms slung across each other's shoulders;
grins spread across their faces. Her face contorted as the sobs
came. "No!" She shouted the word so it sounded throughout the
empty house. "No, God! Don't take her away!"
Hannah reached for the picture and clutched it to her chest,
weeping over the thought of telling Grace good-bye in the morning.
There would be no time to prepare, no time to let her know
how much they loved her. Not only that, but after tomorrow she'd
be living in Oklahoma.
How would they survive? Any of them? The child had worked
her way into the very fiber of their family, into the deepest crevices
of their hearts. It would be like losing...