Chương 7
She saw Daniel.
She stopped.
He did not move toward her.
“Morning, bug.”
Lily gripped the banister.
“Hi.”
“I brought your blue toothbrush.”
“I have a purple one here.”
Daniel looked at Vincent.
Vincent lifted his coffee.
“Told you.”
Daniel nodded toward the bag.
“I brought the rabbit pajamas too.”
“I’m wearing stars.”
“I can see that.”
Lily descended slowly.
Daniel kept his hands in his sweatshirt pockets.
When she reached the bottom, she looked from him to Vincent.
“Is Vanessa here?”
“No,” Daniel said.
Her shoulders dropped.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Daniel saw it.
Vincent saw Daniel see it.
“She’s staying with Aunt Rachel,” Daniel added.
“Why?”
“Because the grown-ups need some space.”
Lily frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel glanced at Vincent.
Vincent gave him nothing.
“It means she’s sleeping somewhere else for now.”
“For how many sleeps?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Lily absorbed that.
Then she walked past both men toward the kitchen.
“I want cereal.”
Daniel followed.
Vincent stayed a few steps behind.
At the kitchen table, Lily climbed into her usual chair and pointed at a cabinet.
“Grandpa has the good kind.”
Daniel opened the cabinet.
Three cereal boxes stared back at him.
“Which one is the good kind?”
“The one with marshmallows.”
“That narrows nothing.”
“The purple box.”
Daniel found it.
“Mom says this is dessert pretending to be breakfast.”
Lily’s expression changed at the word Mom.
Not Vanessa.
Her mother.
Daniel froze with the box in his hand.
Vincent turned away and busied himself rinsing a clean mug.
Lily watched her father.
“Can I call Mommy?”
Daniel set the cereal down.
“Yes.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
He reached for his phone, then stopped.
Lily’s mother, Claire, lived in Oregon now.
She and Daniel had divorced two years earlier after a long period in which every conversation had become negotiation and every negotiation became evidence that the marriage should have ended sooner.
Claire called Lily several times a week.
The arrangement was informal because neither parent had wanted to drag a small child through a prolonged custody fight.
Daniel suddenly wondered whether informal had been another word for convenient.
“Do you want to use my phone or Grandpa’s?”
“Yours.”
He unlocked it and found Claire’s contact.
His thumb hovered.
Vincent noticed.
“Call her.”
Daniel looked irritated.
“I’m doing it.”
The video call rang four times.
Claire answered with wet hair wrapped in a towel and one eye half covered by a smear of mascara from the previous day.
“Why are you calling me this early?”
Then she saw Lily.
Her face changed.
“Baby.”
Lily immediately started crying.
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
Claire sat down wherever she was.
“What happened?”
Lily reached for the phone.
Daniel handed it over.
“I want you.”
Claire’s expression tightened.
“I’m here.”
“No, here.”
Daniel looked away.
Vincent stared out the kitchen window.
Claire’s voice stayed gentle.
“I know.”
“Can you come?”
“Yes.”
Daniel turned back.
Claire looked at him through the screen.
“How bad?”
He knew what she meant.
He did not know how to answer without making it worse.
“There was an incident yesterday.”
“What incident?”
“With Vanessa.”
Claire’s eyes sharpened.
“Daniel.”
“She hit Lily’s hand with a rolled towel.”
Claire went completely still.
“What?”
“It left a mark.”
Claire’s gaze moved back to Lily.
“Sweetheart, can you put Daddy on?”
Lily clutched the phone.
“No.”
“That’s okay.”
Claire changed direction immediately.
“Can you show me Grandpa?”
Lily turned the screen.
Vincent appeared.
Claire exhaled.
“Hi, Vincent.”
“Morning.”
“Is she safe?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Vincent nodded once.
Claire said, “Put Daniel back on when you’re ready, baby.”
Lily held the phone against her chest.
“I don’t want Daddy to be mad.”
Daniel felt something inside him fold.
“I’m not mad.”
She looked at him.
“You get mad when Mommy talks.”
Claire heard that.
Everyone did.
Daniel sat down.
“When do I get mad?”
Lily pressed the phone tighter to her pajamas.
“When she asks questions.”
Claire’s mouth became a thin line on the screen.
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“Okay.”
He stopped there.
Vincent watched him.
Lily’s eyes stayed on her father.
“Okay what?” she asked.
Daniel lowered his hands.
“Okay, I need to do better.”
She looked unconvinced.
That was fair.
Claire said, “Daniel, I’m booking a flight.”
He nodded.
“I figured.”
“I’ll text you the details.”
“Okay.”
“And I’m staying with Lily.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
Vincent stepped away from the sink.
Claire saw it.
“I’m not asking.”
“You don’t get to make that decision by yourself.”
“Neither did Vanessa.”
Lily looked from the phone to Daniel.
Claire immediately regretted the sentence.
Daniel did too.
“Claire.”
“No, actually, don’t Claire me.”
“Not in front of her.”
“You’re right.”
Claire inhaled.
“You’re right.”
The quick agreement seemed to surprise everyone.
She looked at Lily.
“Baby, can Grandpa show you whether he has bananas?”
Lily frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I need to talk to Daddy about boring grown-up stuff.”
“I don’t want a banana.”
“Neither do I.”
Lily considered the logic and handed the phone to Vincent.
Vincent set it on the counter facing Daniel, then took Lily toward the pantry under the pretense of searching for breakfast options.
Claire’s voice dropped.
“Tell me everything.”
Daniel looked toward Lily.
“She can still hear.”
Vincent opened the pantry.
“We’re looking for bananas.”
“They’re not in there,” Lily said.
“Then this may take a while.”
Daniel almost laughed.
Claire did not.
He lowered his voice.
“There’s an investigation now.”
“Police?”
“Yes.”
“Did you call them?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“Vanessa.”
Claire stared at him.
“Why would Vanessa call police on herself?”
“She didn’t.”
Daniel touched his jaw.
“She called because my father hit her.”
Claire blinked.
Then she looked toward Vincent.
“Oh.”
“I also got hit.”
“That part I can see.”
Daniel gave her a tired look.
“Thanks.”
“Sorry.”
She was not.
“What happened?”
He told her the sequence without dramatizing it.
May you like
He left out nothing that made himself look weak.
When he reached the part where he had said Lily should ask first, Claire closed her eyes.
