Read Online Lullaby and Goodnight by Wendy Corsi Staub - Free Book Online

arm. He rests a loving hand on her shoulder, as though the two of them haven’t been at each other’s throats all day in the frenzy to prepare for the adoption agency representative’s arrival.
    â€œTell me a little about yourselves,” Rose suggests, her pink-lipsticked mouth curving into a pleasant smile.
    Derry would much rather she told them about the unwed Iowa teenager who, miracle of miracles, selected their profile from the dozens the agency sent her.
    Who would ever have expected that to happen so quickly after Derry responded to the initial e-mail? She’s heard nightmarish stories about all the red tape, high costs, delays, and false starts that go along with the adoption process, but this was easy.
    Almost too easy.
    And, remarkably, affordable. The fee is much lower than the tens of thousands she anticipated. Even better, it can be paid in small monthly installments that will commence only when the adoption is complete.
    At this rate, Derry could be a mother in just a few months.
    â€œ. . . and then we realized we can’t afford infertility treatments,” Linden is saying, having conveniently forgotten that Derry’s case was so futile Dr. Lombardo didn’t even present that option, “so we sort of knew that we probably aren’t going to be parents.”
    Sort of knew?
    There was a time when Derry was charmed by his poor grammar. She used to be drawn to that rough-around-the-edges quality of his.
    Not anymore. She has to get him to shut up, or he’s going to ruin this. No adoption agency wants to give a child to a father who says ain’t . Of that, she’s certain.
    â€œBut then, just when we figured it wasn’t gonna happen, Derry got that e-mail,” Linden goes on, oblivious of her disgust, “and she was so happy when she heard back from you. You should have seen her face. I don’t think she’s stopped smiling since that day.”
    Derry melts a little, touched by the glance her husband sends in her direction. His grammar stinks, but anyone can see that he loves her. Surely two happily married parents meet the most important adoption criteria.
    â€œI’m happy to hear that, because your future as parents looks very bright.” Rose includes them both in her pleasant smile, revealing a row of perfect, ultrawhite teeth. Still, there’s a slight air of detachment about her expression. The smile doesn’t quite reach her brown eyes.
    That’s because she’s the epitome of professional decorum, Derry tells herself, relaxing a bit despite her anxiety. This isn’t as scary as she expected. Everything is more casual than she expected, almost as though the slim blonde on the couch is a new neighbor from down the hall, dropping by to introduce herself.
    Not that she can quite picture Rose living here in Co-op City. There’s a vaguely upscale air about her. Her hair is styled in a country club pageboy, and she’s wearing a trim black suit and a pair of leather pumps that look as expensive as her perfume smells. And if that square-cut diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand is real, it’s worth almost as much as this apartment.
    Derry always pictured adoption agency employees as nuns, or social worker types. In a way, that might be easier. She wouldn’t feel as self-consciously inferior.
    Shifting her gaze away from the woman’s huge ring, she notices that at least her nails aren’t long and perfectly polished, as one might expect in a city where weekly manicures are requisite. Derry unclenches her own ravaged fingertips a little, no longer quite as desperate to hide them in the folds of her sweater.
    There’s nothing critical in Rose’s mascara-fringed eyes as she says, “I’m sure you have a lot of questions. Why don’t you go ahead and ask them?”
    Linden, who has been skeptical about this process from the start, promptly opens his mouth.
    Before he can throw a