More than anything

For a moment, she wonders if she said too much -- if Saoirse isn't leaning back so much as recoiling. But the enormous smile on the girl's face puts an end to those fears, as well as any lingering anxieties over whether she's making a mistake. Saoirse wouldn't be beaming like that if she'd said the wrong thing.

Granted, this could all still end in tears. Trusting Darrow to let them remain together might be an exercise in futility. But for as long as they're both here -- for as long as she's allowed -- she's more than willing to be a sort of surrogate mother for the girl. It's what she was doing anyway, more or less. Maybe there's no harm in being open about it.

Greta retrieves the thank-you note from where she'd set it on the floor. "Can I take this home with me?" she asks. The refrigerators in the Gardens' kitchen already sport artwork by some of the younger children, Saoirse included. But this one... she thinks she'd rather keep it close than display it someplace as highly trafficked as this. She doesn't want it to come to harm by accident.