Chương 12
“You could have told me you lived on the third floor.”
“Would that have changed anything?”
“I might have complained sooner.”
“You’re welcome to leave.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“I know.”
Grace unlocked the apartment.
Nathan stepped inside and stopped.
The place was small but bright, with pale walls, mismatched furniture, children’s drawings attached to the refrigerator, and a lavender sweater tossed over the arm of the couch.
A pair of tiny sneakers sat beside Grace’s brown flats.
Nathan stared at them.
Grace saw his face and looked away.
“Tablet is in the bedroom.”
He nodded.
She went down the short hallway.
Nathan remained in the living room.
When Grace returned, he was standing in front of the refrigerator.
Lily had drawn three people beneath a yellow sun.
One figure had long black hair.
One was much smaller and wore purple.
The third was tall and colored almost entirely in blue.
Nathan did not touch the drawing.
Grace stopped behind him.
“She made that last month.”
He looked at her.
“Is that me?”
“I think so.”
“You think?”
“She said it was Daddy.”
Nathan swallowed.
“How long has she been drawing me?”
“About a year.”
He looked back at the picture.
“Based on one photograph.”
“Yes.”
His voice dropped.
“Jesus.”
Grace placed the tablet on the kitchen table.
“It’s old.”
Nathan came over.
She powered it on and waited.
The battery showed nine percent.
“Of course.”
Nathan glanced around.
“Charger?”
“Bedroom.”
“I’ll get it.”
“No.”
He stopped.
Grace was already moving.
The reaction had been automatic.
She realized that too late.
Nathan looked toward the hallway, then back at her.
“I wasn’t going through your things.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Grace closed her eyes briefly.
“Give me a minute.”
He stepped away from the table.
She returned with the charger and plugged in the tablet.
Messages began loading slowly.
Nathan stood on the other side of the kitchen.
Grace searched Victoria’s name.
Nothing.
Then she searched the phone number from the text.
A thread appeared.
“There.”
Nathan came closer.
The first message had arrived that morning.
We should talk privately about Lily.
Grace had replied, About what?
Victoria had answered, Nathan.
The next message read, Bring Lily if you need to.
Nathan stared at it.
“So she definitely invited her.”
“Yes.”
Grace scrolled.
There was another message.
I know more than you think I do.
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
Grace opened the message details.
The number was unfamiliar.
Nathan photographed the screen with his own phone.
“Don’t alter anything.”
“I’m not.”
“I know.”
Grace gave him a look.
He nodded.
“Bad phrasing.”
She kept scrolling.
Several messages from earlier in the week had synced too.
One stopped her.
Have you ever wondered why Nathan never answered?
Nathan leaned closer.
“When did she send that?”
“Three days ago.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t know who it was.”
“Why didn’t you block the number?”
“I almost did.”
“What stopped you?”
Grace stared at the message.
“The next one.”
She scrolled.
Ask your mother about the woman who came before Lily was born.
Nathan went silent.
Grace sat down.
“That is why I went today.”
“You knew your mother had been hiding something?”
“No.”
“You suspected.”
“I suspected somebody knew enough to make me afraid.”
Nathan pulled out the chair opposite her.
“Why bring Lily?”
Grace’s face tightened.
“Because I didn’t have childcare.”
“You could have left her with your mother.”
“My mother was volunteering at the church pantry.”
“You could have waited.”
Grace looked at him.
“I had already waited four years.”
He sat back.
The answer struck home.
Grace rubbed her forehead.
“I thought Victoria wanted to scare me.”
“She did.”
“I thought if I showed up calm, she would lose interest.”
“She didn’t.”
“No.”
Nathan looked at the tablet.
“What about the hospital?”
Grace’s fingers stopped moving.
There it was again.
She closed the message thread.
Nathan waited.
Grace stood and went to the hall closet.
From the top shelf, she pulled down a white cardboard box.
It had once held baby clothes.
Now it held papers.
She carried it to the table.
Nathan watched.
“What is that?”
“The reason I didn’t try harder to find you.”
His face tightened.
Grace opened the box.
Inside were hospital discharge papers, insurance statements, Lily’s first pediatric records, and an envelope folded in half.
Grace removed the envelope.
Nathan recognized the logo before she handed it to him.
Cole Holdings.
His father’s company.
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
He did.
Inside was a single-page letter printed on corporate stationery.
Nathan read silently.
Grace watched the color leave his face.
The letter stated that representatives of the Cole family were aware of Grace’s pregnancy and requested that all further contact regarding Nathan be directed through counsel.
It warned against attempts to contact Nathan personally.
Nathan read it twice.
“This is fake.”
Grace said nothing.
He looked up.
“This signature is fake.”
The bottom of the letter carried his father’s name.
“You believed it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Grace laughed quietly.
“What part was I supposed to question?”
“My father would never write something like this.”
“I had met your father once.”
Nathan looked down again.
“The wording is wrong.”
“I didn’t know his wording.”
“The letterhead is old.”
“I didn’t know that either.”
“This office address—”
“Nathan.”
He stopped.
Grace’s eyes burned.
“You are reading it like someone who had access to the truth.”
He lowered the page.
“I’m sorry.”
“I had none.”
He looked at the envelope.
“There’s no postmark.”
“It was delivered.”
“By who?”
“A courier.”
“Where?”
“The hospital.”
Nathan froze.
Grace looked at him steadily.
“That is what Victoria meant.”
His voice dropped.
“You were in the hospital when you got this?”
“Yes.”
“For Lily?”
Grace shook her head.
“For me.”
Nathan stared.
Grace sat across from him.
“I started bleeding at thirty-one weeks.”
His face changed.
“Was Lily—”
“She was fine.”
Nathan exhaled.
Grace continued.
“I wasn’t.”
He looked at her.
“What happened?”
“Placental abruption was ruled out.”
May you like
She spoke carefully.
“They kept me overnight because my blood pressure was high and I was having contractions.”
