Point Hope by Kristen James

on to talk about donations for the family and how the community was grieving with the Sinclairs. Sarah could hardly stomach it, but she made herself read every word.  
    She looked up and gasped. Trey Sinclair was walking by her car. She watched him stride to his vehicle and get in, and then drive to the U-shaped patient pick-up area. They were taking the baby home.
    She could see the nurse talking to them and Rosette leaning inside the car with the baby. The car seat must have been inside already.
    Somehow it surprised her every time she saw them. Both looked much younger than she’d expected. Trey Sinclair was good looking, a tall guy with dark hair and arresting blue eyes. His wife was really pretty too.
    She found herself imaging things about them and their life. Yeah, sick. 
    Trey sat at the wheel a minute before he pulled away. Their faces were grim. Imagine if they knew the truth.
    The day before, they had both walked right by her car, and she’d almost opened her door and called to them. I have to tell you something.
    She wanted to. God, how she wanted to .
     
    ~  ~ ~
     
    It felt so strange to leave the hospital with a baby when she hadn’t been pregnant. Rosette glanced backwards at the car seat. Somewhere she had a mirror that she could hang on the back window so she could check on the baby while driving. Today, Trey was driving and she was left to think, mainly about what they’d done. She half expected someone to jump out at them in the parking lot and scream, “Hypocrites! You can’t take that baby home! You don’t have a home—you’re faking it!”
    But no one stopped them, inside or out of the hospital. Even if this didn’t feel real, Amanda was gone, and they’d accepted guardianship.
    The social worker had all but held their hands through the paperwork and legal matters, thank God. The question came up if Summer had any interest in adopting the baby. Faced with answering that, Rosette had glanced at Trey, afraid to answer. Summer had answered the question herself, over the phone. No, she couldn’t take a baby. She couldn’t even find a job.
    It made things simpler, at least legally, that Ricky and Amanda had listed Trey and Rosette in their will and other paperwork with the Marines. Even after all the discussing, Rosette had certainly never thought any of that would come into play.
    They didn’t have to name the baby to take her home, but they would need to pick a name before the birth certificate could be issued. They had answered questions and filled out endless paperwork, but Rosette wasn’t sure if this felt real yet.
    With a shock, she recognized the route to Amanda’s house. She looked at Trey.
    “We don’t have everything we need,” he said. There had to be more to it than that, but she didn’t want to know. He drove the rest of the way to Amanda’s duplex and got out. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
     
     
    Trey steadied himself outside Amanda’s door before inserting the key. It’d been in the bag with Amanda’s purse and a few personal belongings from the wreck. This needed done, so he braced himself and opened the door. Inside, he tried to detach himself. He went to the second bedroom and found the baby supplies. There was everything Amanda would have needed in bringing home her newborn. Instead of taking it all, he found the pre-packed diaper bag. With a quick check, he saw a package of newborn diapers, wipes, washcloths, and at least one outfit. He found a few other items to add.
    Next, Trey walked into Amanda’s bedroom. He checked the dresser top and nightstand first, looking for notes, a journal, or maybe a baby-naming book.
    Nothing obvious. Then, he spotted a paperback on the bookshelf, pulled out and lying flat in front of the rest of the books. That was it. It was a baby name dictionary. He thumbed through, looking for highlights or any underlining. There wasn’t any, despite the worn look to the pages. She didn’t have a separate sheet with names