Chương 13
“You weren’t there.”
“No.”
He looked at Vincent.
“I wasn’t.”
Vanessa’s breathing changed.
“You’re going to regret this.”
“Maybe.”
“Daniel.”
“My lawyer will contact yours.”
He ended the call before she could answer.
The phone shook slightly in his hand.
Vincent watched him.
Daniel looked up.
“I wanted to yell.”
“I know.”
“I wanted to say something cruel.”
“I know.”
“I had three good lines.”
Vincent’s mouth twitched.
“Keep them.”
Daniel nodded.
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
Claire leaned through the open driver’s door.
“Tacos at six?”
Daniel looked at Lily.
She was nodding enthusiastically from the back seat.
“Six.”
Vincent pointed at his shirt.
“And someone is removing this unicorn before dinner.”
Lily shouted through the window.
“No.”
Vincent looked down at the sticker.
Then at his granddaughter.
“Fine.”
He got into his car with the pink unicorn still crooked over his heart.
Dinner was louder than anyone expected.
Lily had decided tacos required music, so Vincent’s old kitchen filled with a children’s playlist he did not remember subscribing to.
Claire chopped tomatoes.
Daniel grated cheese.
Vincent stood at the stove pretending he had not burned the first batch of ground beef.
“You burned it,” Lily said.
“I improved it.”
“It’s black.”
“It has character.”
Claire looked into the pan.
“It has carbon.”
Vincent pointed the wooden spoon at her.
“You were invited here under humanitarian conditions.”
Daniel laughed.
The laugh came easier this time.
Then the doorbell rang.
Every adult in the kitchen stopped.
Lily did too.
Vincent set the spoon down.
Daniel looked toward the front hall.
Claire moved closer to Lily without seeming to.
Vincent checked the window.
It was Carol.
He opened the door.
She held a foil-covered dish.
“I made enchiladas.”
“We’re eating tacos.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you make enchiladas?”
“Because your cooking frightened me from across the street.”
Vincent looked offended.
Carol leaned past him and saw Lily.
She lifted a hand.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Lily waved.
“Grandpa burned meat.”
“I assumed.”
Vincent took the dish.
“You can leave now.”
Carol glanced at the unicorn sticker still attached to his shirt.
“No.”
Vincent looked down.
“I forgot about that.”
“I’m taking a picture.”
“You absolutely are not.”
Her phone was already out.
The flash went off.
Lily laughed so hard she nearly dropped a tomato.
For a few minutes, the tension dissolved.
Carol stayed long enough to inspect the taco assembly and criticize Vincent’s cheese distribution.
Then she left with a promise not to post the photograph anywhere.
Vincent did not believe her.
They ate at the kitchen table.
Lily sat between Claire and Daniel.
At first Daniel barely spoke to her.
He was afraid of forcing normalcy.
Then Lily complained that he had taken the crispy shell she wanted.
Daniel immediately handed it over.
“That one’s broken.”
“You said you wanted crispy.”
“Not broken crispy.”
“That is an advanced category.”
She pushed his plate back toward him.
“You eat it.”
He did.
Halfway through dinner, his phone buzzed.
Everyone noticed.
Daniel looked at the screen.
His attorney.
He stood.
“I need to take this.”
Lily watched him leave the room.
Claire kept eating.
Vincent did not.
Daniel returned several minutes later.
His face was pale.
“What?” Claire asked.
He sat.
“The court granted a temporary protective order.”
Claire lowered her fork.
“Against Vanessa?”
Daniel nodded.
“For Lily.”
Vincent leaned back.
“What about the house?”
“She can collect personal things with an escort later.”
“Good.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
She was listening.
He stopped.
Claire said softly, “Keep it simple.”
Daniel nodded.
“Vanessa won’t be at the house for now.”
Lily looked at him.
“Because she hit me?”
The table went quiet.
Daniel did not look away.
“Yes.”
“Is she in trouble?”
“Maybe.”
“Are you mad at her?”
Daniel hesitated.
“A lot.”
Lily looked down at her taco.
“Are you mad at me?”
Daniel’s face changed immediately.
“No.”
She picked at a piece of lettuce.
“You were mad before.”
“I was wrong before.”
Lily looked up.
Daniel leaned his forearms on the table.
“I didn’t listen when I should have.”
She watched him carefully.
“I’m sorry.”
Lily said nothing.
Daniel did not add anything.
That restraint seemed harder for him than the apology.
Claire watched him from across the table.
Vincent looked down at his plate.
Lily finally asked, “Can I have another shell?”
Daniel reached for the package.
“Crispy or broken crispy?”
“Regular.”
“Good choice.”
Three weeks passed before Lily slept at Daniel’s house again.
The first attempt lasted forty minutes.
She made it through bath time, pajamas, and half a book before hearing a cabinet door close in the kitchen.
Her entire body went rigid.
Daniel found her standing beside the bed with her shoes in her hands.
“I want Mommy.”
He did not argue.
He called Claire.
She came.
Daniel helped carry Lily’s overnight bag to the car.
On the driveway, Claire said, “You did the right thing.”
Daniel stared at the taillights of a passing car.
“It doesn’t feel like it.”
“It won’t.”
He nodded.
The second attempt happened a week later.
Lily stayed until morning.
Daniel slept on the couch outside her room because she asked him to.
His neck hurt for two days afterward.
He complained about it constantly.
Lily found this hilarious.
Vincent was formally charged with misdemeanor assault for striking Vanessa.
His attorney had advised him not to discuss the case with anyone except counsel.
Vincent violated this advice conversationally almost every day, though he managed not to violate it legally.
Daniel’s assault allegation went nowhere after he declined to press for additional charges beyond the documented incident.
Vanessa’s case was different.
The investigation expanded slowly.
The bruises she had attributed to Lily became a problem for her when another photograph was linked to an evening she had spent at a fitness class.
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A former coworker later told investigators Vanessa had mentioned bruising easily and had shown similar marks months before she moved in with Daniel.
None of that proved what had happened to Lily.
