Chapter 6 - The Letter Vanessa Read Without Permission
Claire knew exactly which card was gone.
Portland.
Nine months earlier.
Emma had written:
I’m terrified Lily will love Vanessa more than me.
Maybe she should.
But I need to stop making my fear her problem.
I want to do this correctly.
Claire remembered placing it inside her overnight bag during a weekend at Daniel’s house.
She had planned to tell him.
Then Lily ran a fever.
Daniel left for a work emergency.
Vanessa and Claire argued about Emma again.
Claire left without saying anything.
The postcard remained in the bag.
Two days later Vanessa called.
“Stop encouraging Emma.”
Claire had gone cold.
“What?”
“She abandoned Lily.”
“How do you know I’ve spoken to her?”
Vanessa hung up.
Claire had searched her bag.
The postcard was gone.
She confronted Vanessa.
Vanessa denied taking it.
Claire never told Daniel.
That admission nearly ended the conversation.
“You keep saying that.”
Daniel paced across Claire’s apartment.
“You keep telling me one more thing you decided I didn’t need to know.”
“I was afraid Vanessa would destroy the postcard.”
“You were afraid of Vanessa?”
“I was afraid she’d rush the adoption.”
“She did.”
Claire nodded.
Daniel looked at the shoebox.
“So Vanessa knew Emma was alive.”
“At least nine months ago.”
“And kept telling me Emma had abandoned Lily.”
“Yes.”
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
Two women.
Opposite motives.
Same method.
Control the information.
Claire hid Emma’s contact because she feared instability.
Vanessa hid it because she feared losing her place.
Daniel was furious with both.
And himself.
Because both women had apparently decided he was too reactive to trust with difficult information.
That assessment had not come from nowhere.
Claire spoke quietly.
“You were not safe to tell everything to three years ago.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Emotionally.”
She continued.
“You were exhausted. Angry. Terrified. Every conversation about Emma became an emergency.”
Daniel remembered punching a hole through the laundry-room door the week Emma vanished.
He had never touched Emma.
He had also frightened her.
Both were true.
Claire continued.
“I told myself I was protecting everyone from your reaction.”
“And eleven months ago?”
Claire had no answer that helped her.
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.”
He left.
That night Lily asked where Vanessa was.
“With Aunt Nicole.”
Lily frowned.
Then touched Daniel’s face.
“Miss V?”
Daniel swallowed.
“You miss Vanessa?”
Lily nodded.
He hugged her.
The simplicity hurt.
May you like
Adults had turned motherhood into territory.
Lily still loved people without understanding why they kept demanding exclusive ownership of that love.
