Chapter 1 - THE CHAIR BESIDE THE WALL
The first thing I saw when I came through the front door was my seven-year-old son standing beside the dining-room wall.
Mason’s chair had been dragged away from the table.
His plate was gone.
Vanessa stood beside the kitchen trash can, one hand still wrapped around the edge of his dinner plate as mashed potatoes and roast chicken slid into the garbage.
“This table is for the real family.”
Mason lowered his eyes.
Then my mother walked into the room.
“Grandma.”
The hope in his voice made me stop moving.
Diane glanced at Vanessa.
It lasted less than a second.
Then Mom crossed to the sideboard, picked up the framed photograph of Mason with his late mother, Emily, and turned it facedown.
“She’s right. You don’t belong here anymore.”
Something in Mason’s face collapsed.
That was when I stepped fully into the dining room.
“Mason.”
He spun toward me.
“Dad!”
I crossed the room, pulled him against my side, and put myself between him and the two women.
“He’s my son. He’s staying here.”
Vanessa stared at me.
Mom looked down.
But Mason didn’t relax.
He grabbed my sleeve harder.
“Dad…”
“What?”
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“Grandma hid Mom’s last letter about Vanessa.”
Vanessa went completely still.
Mom’s head turned toward her.
That was the detail that bothered me immediately.
Neither woman asked what Mason meant.
May you like
I looked from one to the other.
“What letter?”
