Chapter 5 - LILY’S RULES
Lily was awake when I entered her room.
Color had started returning to her cheeks.
She was wearing a hospital gown and holding a stuffed bear someone had given her.
I sat beside the bed.
“Hey, bug.”
She gave me a tiny smile.
“Hi, Daddy.”
I kissed her forehead.
A social worker named Marissa sat in the corner.
She explained that she wanted to talk to Lily while I was present.
Only if Lily felt comfortable.
Lily nodded.
At first, the questions were simple.
Did she know where she lived?
Who helped her get ready for school?
Who made dinner?
Then Marissa asked about Grandma.
Lily’s fingers tightened around the bear.
“Grandma has rules.”
“What kind of rules?”
Lily counted them on her fingers.
“Don’t cry too loud.”
“Don’t ask Mommy about Daddy.”
“Don’t leave food.”
“Don’t tell secrets that make Grandma look bad.”
I felt pressure behind my eyes.
Marissa remained calm.
“What happens if you break the rules?”
Lily glanced at me.
“You can tell her.”
She swallowed.
“Sometimes the cold place.”
“Sometimes the basement chair.”
I remembered Aaron’s second camera.
“What basement chair?”
Lily looked confused, as if the answer should have been obvious.
“The thinking chair.”
Marissa asked what happened there.
Lily said Evelyn made her sit alone facing the wall.
Sometimes for twenty minutes.
Sometimes until she apologized.
“For what?”
“For making Mommy sad.”
My throat closed.
Then Lily said something that changed the direction of the entire investigation.
“Grandma said Daddy left because I cried too much.”
I reached for her hand.
“That isn’t true.”
“She said you wanted a new family.”
“Never.”
My voice broke.
“Lily, listen to me.”
“I wanted you every single day.”
She studied my face carefully.
“Even when I was bad?”
“You were never bad.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
I leaned forward.
“You could spill every cereal box in Colorado and draw on every wall in my house.”
“I would still come for you.”
She gave a tiny laugh through her tears.
Marissa closed her notebook.
Then Lily whispered, “Grandma said you couldn’t come because Mommy signed the paper.”
I looked at her.
“What paper?”
May you like
Lily pointed toward Taylor’s purse sitting on a chair outside the glass door.
“The paper Grandma keeps telling Mommy to hide from you.”
