Chương 5
So he said only, “I should have paid closer attention.”
Lily picked at the cracker.
“Victoria said you’d think I was dramatic.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“When?”
“A lot.”
“Did you believe her?”
Lily shrugged.
Children could make a shrug look like a wound.
“Sometimes.”
Daniel looked down at their joined hands.
“I’m sorry.”
She leaned toward him.
He pulled her against his chest.
Her body remained stiff for a moment.
Then softened.
Over her shoulder, Daniel looked at Elena.
Elena turned toward the window.
They left the hospital after eight.
Martin was waiting outside.
He looked exactly wrong for the moment: expensive navy suit, immaculate tie, sunglasses, paper cup of coffee.
Lily saw him and whispered, “Uncle Martin looks like a spy.”
Martin heard.
“I am a spy.”
“You’re a lawyer.”
“Cover story.”
She smiled.
Daniel nearly cried.
He hated himself for how close it came.
Martin drove them home because Daniel’s car was still there and Elena had come in the ambulance.
On the way, Lily fell asleep against Elena.
Martin spoke quietly.
“Victoria retained counsel.”
Daniel looked over.
“Already?”
“That surprises you?”
“Yes.”
“It shouldn’t.”
“Who?”
“Claire Haldane.”
Daniel knew the name.
Everybody with sufficient money in Los Angeles family law eventually knew the same dozen names.
“She’s good?”
“Very.”
“Better than you?”
Martin glanced at him.
“I bill you to avoid answering questions like that.”
Daniel looked out the window.
Morning traffic crawled along Sunset.
At one intersection, a man in a pickup ate yogurt with a plastic spoon while waiting for the light.
Daniel watched him and felt a strange, bitter envy.
The man’s entire morning problem appeared to be yogurt.
Martin said, “The house may be complicated.”
“What does that mean?”
“Whose name is on title?”
“Mine.”
“Premarital?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“Can I keep her out?”
“Maybe temporarily, depending on what happens with protective orders. But do not change locks yet.”
Daniel looked at him.
“She tried to take away Lily’s ability to breathe.”
“I understand.”
“No, you understand rules. I’m telling you she cannot walk back into that house.”
“And I’m telling you the fastest way to hurt your own position is to start behaving like the court does not exist.”
Daniel’s hands tightened.
Elena looked at him.
He released them.
At the house, the kitchen remained almost exactly as they had left it.
The police had moved things.
The broken plates were gone, collected or discarded.
The sink was empty.
The kitchen looked clean enough to deny everything.
Lily stood in the doorway.
“I don’t like it.”
Daniel crouched.
“We don’t have to stay here.”
She glanced toward the sink.
“Can we go to Grandma’s?”
Daniel’s mother lived thirty minutes away.
“Yes.”
Martin said, “That’s probably wise.”
Lily went upstairs with Elena to pack.
Daniel stayed in the kitchen.
He touched the disposal switch.
Martin said, “Don’t.”
Daniel removed his hand.
“I wasn’t going to turn it on.”
“I know.”
Daniel leaned against the island.
“There should be something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. A mark. Anything.”
Martin studied him.
“You want the room to look as bad as it feels.”
Daniel nodded.
“That would be convenient.”
Daniel gave him a tired look.
“Were you always this irritating?”
“Yes.”
They stood in silence.
Then Martin said, “There’s something else.”
Daniel waited.
“Victoria’s lawyer contacted me before I contacted her.”
Daniel frowned.
“How did she know you represent me personally?”
“She knows.”
“I never told her.”
“She’s your wife. You’ve used my firm for years.”
“Why contact you?”
“To propose that both sides avoid escalation.”
Daniel laughed.
Martin did not.
“What does that mean?”
“No press. No public accusations. No immediate divorce filing. No attempt to remove her from charitable boards or shared social organizations. In return, she voluntarily stays away from Lily while the incident is investigated.”
Daniel stared.
“She offered to stay away from the child she endangered if I don’t embarrass her?”
“That is the practical shape of it.”
“No.”
“I assumed.”
“No negotiations.”
“There will be negotiations eventually.”
“Not about Lily’s safety.”
“Agreed.”
Daniel walked to the sink.
This time he did not touch anything.
“Does she think this is about reputation?”
Martin did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Daniel’s mother, Susan Crane, lived in a Spanish-style house in Pasadena that smelled permanently of beeswax and coffee.
She opened the door before they rang.
Lily ran into her arms.
Susan looked over the child’s head at Daniel.
Her eyes asked for the entire truth.
Daniel shook his head slightly.
Not yet.
Susan understood.
She led Lily into the kitchen and began making pancakes.
Not because Lily was hungry anymore.
Because Susan made pancakes when the world broke.
She had done it when Daniel’s father died.
She had done it the morning after Rachel’s funeral when Daniel could not remember whether Lily had eaten.
She did it badly. The first pancake always burned, and she always blamed the pan.
“This pan is garbage.”
“It’s the same pan,” Daniel said.
“Exactly. Years of evidence.”
Lily sat at the counter.
“Grandma, Victoria threw my inhaler in the garbage disposal.”
Susan stopped pouring batter.
Daniel closed his eyes.
His mother set the bowl down carefully.
She turned.
“What?”
Lily looked at Daniel, suddenly uncertain.
He crossed the room.
“Mom.”
“What did she just say?”
“I’ll explain.”
Susan’s face went white.
“You’ll explain now.”
“Not in front of Lily.”
Lily frowned.
“I was there.”
Susan’s eyes closed briefly.
“Of course you were, sweetheart.”
Daniel touched Lily’s shoulder.
“Can Elena help you unpack?”
“I want pancakes.”
Susan looked at the pan.
The pancake was burning.
She swore.
Lily giggled.
Susan turned off the burner.
“Five minutes,” she said. “Then pancakes.”
Elena took Lily upstairs.
Susan waited until they were gone.
Then she hit Daniel.
Not hard.
An open hand against his arm.
Still, he stared at her.
“You left her with that woman.”
“Mom.”
Again.
“You left her.”
“I know.”
“You married her.”
“I know.”
“I told you—”
“No.”
Susan stopped.
May you like
Daniel pointed at her.
“You do not get to rewrite history because you never liked her.”
