Chapter 5 - The Things Lily Finally Said
Nathan carried Lily upstairs even though she was old enough to walk.
He didn’t care.
Her arms locked around his neck so tightly it hurt, and he welcomed the pain.
In her bedroom, with the door shut, he sat on the edge of her bed and cleaned her face properly. He changed her sweater. He brushed the sticky strands of hair away from her cheeks.
Lily kept apologizing.
For the food.
For crying.
For making Camille mad.
Each apology landed like a knife.
Nathan held both of her small hands in his.
“Lily,” he said carefully, “has Camille done things like this before?”
Lily looked at the door.
“She said I’m not supposed to tell you.”
Nathan forced himself to breathe.
“What did she say would happen if you told me?”
“She said you’d be sad again.” Lily’s chin trembled. “She said you already lost Mommy and if I made you lose her too, it would be my fault.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
For a moment, grief and rage met so violently inside him that he could barely stay still.
When he opened his eyes, he kept his voice soft.
“Nothing that happened is your fault.”
Lily looked unsure.
“She said big girls don’t need breakfast crying.”
“You are six.”
“She said Mommy made me weak.”
Nathan’s face crumpled before he could stop it.
Lily panicked immediately. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “No, baby. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t see it.”
Downstairs, a cabinet slammed.
Camille was not leaving quietly.
Nathan called his mother.
Evelyn answered on the first ring.
“Something happened,” Nathan said.
His voice told her enough.
“I’m coming,” Evelyn replied.
Then he called his attorney.
Then the family therapist Lily had seen briefly after Emily’s death.
Then, finally, he called Camille’s brother, because he wanted someone from her family to come collect her before the situation became worse.
He did not call the police.
He did not want flashing lights in front of Lily.
Not that morning.
He wanted distance first.
Safety first.
His daughter first.
When he returned downstairs, Camille was standing in the foyer with two suitcases half-packed and fury burning through her makeup.
“You’re going to regret humiliating me,” she said.
May you like
Nathan looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said, “You humiliated a child beside a dog bowl. I don’t think you understand what regret is yet.”
