Chapter 2
I stepped between Lily and the black car without thinking.
The man inside kept the phone to his ear.
His eyes stayed on us.
Not curious.
Not casual.
Watching.
Guarding.
My hand tightened around the Polaroid.
“Lily,” I said quietly, “is your mother nearby?”
She nodded toward the corner.
“She works at the flower shop.”
My chest clenched.
Anna.
Alive.
Working close enough that I might have walked past her a hundred times without knowing.
The man opened his car door.
“Lily,” he called.
His voice was calm, but Lily flinched.
I saw it.
The small step backward.
The way her fingers dug into her backpack straps.
“Come here,” the man said.
I looked down at her.
“Do you know him?”
“He works for my grandfather.”
My stomach dropped.
Anna’s father.
Victor Hale.
The man who had stood beside me at the funeral.
The man who had told me Anna died before I could see her.
The man who had taken care of everything.
Too much of everything.
The man walking toward us was tall, broad, and expressionless.
“Lily,” he said again. “Your mother is waiting.”
“She’s in the shop,” Lily whispered.
“I said come here.”
I stepped forward.
“She’s not going anywhere with you until I speak to her mother.”
The man looked me up and down.
Then his eyes moved to my face.
Recognition hit him like a slap.
He knew me.
“Mr. Carter,” he said.
I smiled without warmth.
“So we are not strangers after all.”
His jaw tightened.
“This is a private family matter.”
“That little girl just asked if I’m her father.”
Lily gasped softly.
The man’s face hardened.
“She is confused.”
“Then Anna can tell me that herself.”
He moved closer.
I did not move back.
Seven years of grief had hollowed me out.
But it had also burned away fear.
The flower shop door opened behind him.
A bell rang.
A woman stepped out carrying a bucket of white roses.
The bucket slipped from her hands.
Water splashed over the sidewalk.
Flowers scattered at her feet.
Anna.
My Anna.
Older.
Thinner.
Her hair shorter.
Her face pale.
But alive.
Alive.
For a second, neither of us moved.
I forgot the street.
The car.
The man.
The child.
Everything inside me became one word.
Anna.
Her lips parted.
“Daniel.”
My name broke in her mouth.
Lily ran to her.
“Mommy, I found him.”
Anna dropped to her knees and grabbed Lily so hard the child squeaked.
Then Anna looked at me over Lily’s shoulder.
Her eyes were full of terror.
Not joy.
Terror.
That hurt more than the grave ever had.
The man said, “Mrs. Hale, your father needs to know about this.”
Anna stood, keeping Lily behind her.
“No.”
“Mrs. Hale—”
“No.”
Her voice shook, but it held.
I walked toward her slowly.
“Anna.”
She flinched.
Not from me.
From hearing her name in my voice.
“I thought you were dead,” I said.
Tears spilled down her face.
“I thought you left.”
I shook my head.
“No. I buried you.”
Her face twisted.
“What?”
Lily looked between us.
“Mommy?”
Anna covered her mouth.
The man reached for Lily.
“We’re leaving.”
I caught his wrist.
Hard.
“Touch her and I will break your hand.”
His eyes widened.
I had never been violent.
Before.
Anna whispered, “Daniel, please. He will call my father.”
“Let him.”
“No.” Her panic sharpened. “You don’t understand.”
“Then tell me.”
She looked toward the car.
Then at Lily.
Then at me.
Her voice dropped.
“My father told me you signed the papers. He told me you chose the money and left us. He said if I tried to find you, he would take Lily.”
I felt sick.
“What papers?”
Anna shook her head.
“I never saw them. I was in the hospital. They said you didn’t want a wife who couldn’t walk properly. They said you didn’t want a baby.”
I stared at her.
“Baby?”
Her hand went to Lily’s shoulder.
“I was pregnant when the crash happened.”
The world tilted.
I looked at Lily.
My daughter.
My knees nearly failed.
Anna reached for me, then stopped, as if she no longer knew whether she was allowed.
The man backed toward the car.
I turned.
“Run,” I said.
He froze.
“Excuse me?”
“Tell Victor Hale I found them.”
Anna’s breath caught.
“Daniel—”
May you like
I looked at her.
“He buried you once. He doesn’t get to do it again.”
