“Thanks,” it’s the only thing Eileen can think to say to the two uniformed men standing at her door. “Thank you,” she repeats as Verona begins begins to push past her legs to see the strangers that her mother had spent so much time speaking to. Eileen begins leaning over usher her daughter back inside but Verona’s hair is the same color as Jude’s and that rattles her chest. The way the little girls looks up at her with Jude’s eyes halts her breath and she steps back in the doorway, away from the men that had been the bearer of bad news for the afternoon. She can hardly think of a way to excuse herself other than to let out another, “Thanks,” before giving the door a weak push to shut it.
“Who were they?” Verona asks, and Eileen can barely bring herself to look at her own daughter because her face is the only one on which she’ll ever see that hair or those eyes again.
“They’re no one,” is the only explanation Eileen can over as he draws a deep breath and crouches in front of her daughter. “No one at all.” It’s only when she has her arms around the child that she allows herself to blink for the first time since hearing the words, “We’re sorry, Mrs. Archer,” from the lips of the officers. It’s only then that she allows hers tears to fall.