After Anna(29)

‘We’re off to a good start,’ he whispered in her ear.

‘I know,’ Maggie whispered back, and they headed toward the stairs after Anna and Caleb. Maggie and Noah reached the second floor to find Anna and Caleb in the hallway and went to them, looking inside the room. It used to be Noah’s home office, but it was completely empty, and on the wall was a poster handmade by Caleb with crayoned letters that read: ANNA’S ROOM!

Maggie felt so touched. ‘Honey, when did you do all this?’

Noah shrugged with a smile. ‘Last night. Caleb and I did it together.’

‘Where’s all the furniture?’

‘In the basement. It made sense to give her my office since it has a bathroom and the train room doesn’t.’

Caleb ran to his poster. ‘Look, Anna!’

Anna burst into delighted laughter. ‘This is so sweet! I love my poster and room. This is twice the size of my old room at school!’

‘And look!’ Caleb pointed at the border of the poster, where he had drawn small beds, chairs, lamps, and Wreck-It Ralph. ‘This is our cat. He sleeps on my bed. That’s how he is.’

‘Thank you.’ Anna grinned. ‘I didn’t know you had a cat. I love cats!’

‘Look. Your bathroom.’ Caleb ran to the bathroom to turn on the light switch. ‘I have a bathroom. We both have bathrooms.’

‘I have my own bathroom?’ Anna caught Maggie’s eye with a surprised smile. ‘At school, I shared with three other girls.’

‘Eeew!’ Caleb screwed up his nose, and looking on, Maggie couldn’t remember the last time she had been this happy, feeling everything come together. She owed a big hug to Noah, who had put Caleb and Anna first, which was so like him.

Anna frowned slightly. ‘Noah, I hope I didn’t cause too much trouble.’

Noah waved her off. ‘Not at all. We had a good time, and the basement is finished.’

Maggie interjected, ‘This is only one of the reasons why my husband is the greatest guy in the world.’

Anna’s forehead eased. ‘Well, thank you. I really appreciate it.’

Maggie asked, ‘Do you want to paint the walls? The white is boring, don’t you think?’

‘I’d love to! What color?’

‘Whatever you want! We’ll get the bedspread and see what you think. It’s your room, so it’s your decision. I can stop by the paint store and get some samples.’

Caleb grabbed Anna’s hand, beaming up at her. ‘Come see my train room!’

‘Did you say training room?’ Anna looked down at him with a puzzled smile.

‘No! Come and see!’ Caleb tugged Anna out of the room and down the hall.

‘I’m glad you’re happy, babe.’ Noah smiled down at her, moving a curl from her eye. ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Maggie said, meaning it more than ever.

‘You got what you wanted, huh?’

‘I fished my wish!’ Maggie said, borrowing a line of Caleb’s.

Laughter came from down the hall, and Maggie and Noah walked to the train room, where Noah and Caleb had built a setup for model trains, with a town surrounded by fake trees and a lake that Ralph used as a water dish.

‘Anna, look!’ Caleb twisted the dial on the transformer, switching the model locomotive to new track.

‘Amazing!’ Anna glanced back at Maggie with a grin.

‘Isn’t it great?’ Maggie appreciated that Anna was being so nice about Caleb’s trains. Noah had started Caleb on them to build his self-esteem, because it was a nonverbal activity.

Caleb tugged Anna’s jacket. ‘Want to try? I can show you how. It’s easy.’

‘Thanks.’ Anna accepted the box, and Maggie edged back, taking Noah with her into the hallway.

‘I think he likes her, don’t you?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘Isn’t she pretty?’ Maggie smiled.

‘She’s beautiful.’ Noah touched Maggie’s cheek. ‘Like her mom.’

Maggie nodded happily. ‘She has my dimples, did you see?’

‘I sure did,’ Noah said with a smile.





Chapter Nineteen


Noah, After

TRIAL, DAY 5

‘I didn’t send Anna that text,’ Noah repeated, firmly.

Linda motioned to the screen, which read,

Anna, will you meet me at my house @915 tonight? I’m sorry and I want to work this out. Please don’t tell your mother.



‘Dr Alderman, is it seriously your testimony that you didn’t send this text to Anna?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh, are you merely being precise again? Did you write the text but not send it?’

‘No. I neither wrote nor sent the text.’

Thomas jumped to his feet. ‘Your Honor, objection as to authenticity and hearsay. This is the problem that Koch was intended to prevent. Dr Alderman is testifying that he is not the author of the text.’

Linda faced Judge Gardner again. ‘Your Honor, these are two separate issues. It’s clear under Koch and the rules of evidence that the text is authentic and it is therefore admissible. Dr Alderman is free to claim, as he just has, that he is not its author. That does not go to its admissibility, but rather to its weight.’