Chapter 5
I called Marcus from my car.
“Keep Lily inside. Celeste’s across the street.”
“I see her,” he said. “Lena’s with Lily. I’m calling the officer.”
Celeste got out of her car as I approached the house. She wore the same cream coat she had worn the day we found Nora.
“Daniel, please.”
I stopped on the sidewalk, far enough away that she had to speak clearly.
“Why are you here?”
“I wanted to know Lily was all right.”
“Then call and ask. Don’t wait outside Marcus’s house.”
“I’ve called you all day.”
“I’ve been talking to the police.”
She glanced at the front windows.
“Peter betrayed me.”
“He told them where to find my daughter’s things.”
“I put the bag away because Lily was holding on to the past.”
“Her mother is part of her life. You don’t get to clear Amelia out of it.”
Celeste flinched.
“I was trying to help you both move forward.”
“You took Lily’s scarf. You told her I agreed.”
“I thought you would.”
I could still hear Lily saying that little girls did not know what was good for them.
“Why did you write to her school?”
“I wanted us to live together after the wedding. The commute from your house would be too long.”
“You didn’t tell me we were moving.”
“I was looking at options.”
“You wrote my name on the letter.”
“It was a draft.”
Behind her, a car pulled to the curb. The officer stepped out and spoke to Celeste. I went inside without waiting to hear her answer.
Lily was sitting on the floor with Lena. She came to me immediately.
“Was that Celeste?”
“Yes.”
“Does she want to take me somewhere?”
My heart dropped.
“Why would you ask that?”
“She told me when we got married, we’d go to a new house where nobody would remind us of sad things. I said I wanted to stay here. She told me it would be a surprise for you.”
I looked at Marcus. He had heard every word.
“You’re staying with me,” I told Lily. “And you can tell me if anybody says something that worries you. Even if they ask you to keep it secret.”
“Celeste said it was a nice secret.”
“I’m sorry she put that on you.”
Lily leaned into me.
“I don’t want her to be mad.”
“You don’t have to manage her feelings.”
We stayed at Marcus’s that night.
The next morning, the officer told me Celeste had agreed not to approach Lily while the investigation continued. I wanted a clear plan for school and home, so I spoke with the school principal and our attorney. Lily would be picked up only by me, Marcus, or Lena. Mrs. Flores returned to work and helped us check that the house was ready for Lily.
Nora called from the hospital.
“They’re letting me go home tomorrow,” she said.
“Can I bring Lily to see you?”
“I’d like that, if she wants to.”
Before she hung up, Nora asked whether the police had found her phone.
“They found it in the storage unit,” I said. “They’ll return it when they can.”
“I recorded Celeste in the cellar on Thursday.”
I stood up.
“What did she say?”
“I was frightened. I turned it on when I heard her coming. I don’t know if it captured much.”
I called the officer and told her.
Hours later, she confirmed the recording was there. She could not give me a copy yet, but she told me the voices were clear enough to identify.
That evening, Peter called again.
“I didn’t tell the officers everything yesterday,” he said.
“Then call them back.”
“I have. I wanted you to hear it from me too. Celeste asked me to drive her to a property two hours away after your wedding. She called it your new home.”
“Where?”
He gave me the town.
I knew no one there.
“She asked whether a child could start at the local school without records from the old one,” he said.
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Why did you help her?”
“I thought you knew. She showed me floor plans and said you wanted privacy.”
I remembered the letter with my name at the bottom.
“What made you doubt her?”
“She said Nora had abandoned Lily. I knew Nora. It didn’t sound right. Then Celeste wanted me to tell the police the storage unit was yours.”
After I hung up, I sat in Marcus’s kitchen until Lena came to find me.
“Lily’s asleep,” she said.
“I nearly married someone who planned to move her without telling me.”
“You found out before she could.”
“Nora found out. Lily heard her.”
“And you listened to both of them.”
I looked at the drawing on the refrigerator. Lily had drawn our house with three people standing outside: me, her, and Nora.
I had been so afraid of failing Lily after Amelia died that I let Celeste take charge of things I should have asked about myself.
“I need to tell Lily I’m sorry,” I said.
“You will. She needs breakfast first.”
I smiled despite myself.
May you like
Lena sat down across from me.
“Start with what happens tomorrow,” she said. “Then keep showing up.”
