[Finding Emma 03.0] Megan's Hope Read Online Free PDF

bench, set the heavy bag she ’ d been carrying between her legs on the ground and leaned back. She was happy. Contented. Excited.
    Peter stood in line with the girls to ride the large Ferris wheel; Emma stood in front of him. Megan loved how they stood there: his hands rested on her shoulders while she stared up, her head tilted all the way back as she watched the wheel turn.
    And to think just last year, they ’ d all been here, at the fair but still separated.
    She scooted over a little as Jack made his way towards her. His hands were full of cotton candy, popcorn, and candied apples. She reached out and took the bags of cotton candy that dangled from his arms.
    “ You shouldn ’ t have bought so much, ” she said to him.
    “ What kid doesn ’ t like all this sugar? ” Jack muttered as he set everything down around him.
    “ The girls could have shared one bag of cotton candy. They don ’ t need their own. ” She shook her head but smiled at him before she reached for one of those bags and opened it.
    “ Who said they were all for the kids? ” Jack winked at her before his hand sneaked into the bag and he pulled out a handful of the pink sugary treat.
    They sat there in silence and watched the girls as they made their way onto the benches. Hannah and Alexis went first and Peter and Emma climbed into their own seat.
    “ That was Dottie ’ s favorite ride. Every year we ’ d come and I swear, if she wasn ’ t on that ride at least three times before we left, she wasn ’ t satisfied. Something about being high up and able to see everything around her, ” Jack mused.
    Megan remained quiet. She knew Jack needed to talk about Dottie, just like Emma needed to talk about her memories of the woman, but it didn ’ t mean Megan had to like it.
    “ It was here, last year, that I saw my first glimpse of Emma. ” She leaned forward and pointed towards the right. “ Just over there, by those booths. I stopped to take a photo of the girls who ’ d just won some stuffed animals, and you were there. Both you and your wife, holding hands with Emma. I didn ’ t realize it though until later, when I looked at the images on my computer. ” Megan sat back and shook her head. To think that if she hadn ’ t taken that photo, hadn ’ t stopped at that exact moment … she might still not have her little girl back.
    “ I ’ ll never forget that fair. Em, she was happy. We all were. ”
    Megan reached across and patted Jack ’ s arm. “ Knowing she was happy, that she was safe and loved … it ’ s eased my heart in more ways than you could possibly imagine. ”
    Jack nodded his head and ate more cotton candy.
    Megan waved at the girls as they slowly made their way to the very top. Megan knew Alexis would try to rock their seat and Hannah would shriek with a mixture of both fear and excitement.
    “ French toast for dinner, I hear. ” There was a smile on Jack ’ s face as he said it.
    “ It was her number one choice. Strawberry banana, I believe. ” It had been weird, too. When Megan had asked Emma what she wanted for her birthday dinner, she asked for only one thing. Strawberry banana French toast. Something Megan had never made before because she wasn ’ t a fan of French toast.
    “ It ’ s a casserole Dottie used to make her on Sunday mornings. Em liked to make up the strangest concoctions … I remember having to eat a blueberry caramel waffle once, with peach jam slathered on top. ”
    Megan wrinkled her nose at that. She wasn ’ t sure how she felt about having to make a dish Dottie had made for Emma, but she couldn ’ t say no, not now.
    “ I was thinking of letting the kids take care of meals one day a week during the summer, but now I ’ m not so sure. ” She made sure there was a teasing tone in her voice.
    Jack laughed. “ Just make sure it ’ s not on a day I ’ m around. ” He winked at her.
    “ Oh no, I ’ ll make sure those are the days Emma ’ s in charge. ” She took another piece