Lily glanced nervously at Evelyn.
I crouched until we were eye level.
“You can tell me anything.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“She said they might ask if I miss you when you travel.”
My throat tightened.
“What else?”
“If I stay with Grandma when you and Mommy work.”
Evelyn interrupted.
“Those are perfectly reasonable questions.”
Lily continued.
“She said if they asked who takes care of me most, I should say her.”
The room went silent.
Hale slowly turned toward Evelyn.
“You told me the child volunteered these concerns.”
“She did.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
One word.
Quiet, frightened, devastating.
Evelyn stared at her granddaughter.
“Lily.”
My daughter grabbed my hand.
“You told me to practice.”
Hale closed the folder.
That small movement sounded louder than it should have.
I asked him how long this had been going on.
He looked uncomfortable now.
“Mrs.
Crane first contacted my office approximately five weeks ago.”
Five weeks.
During those five weeks I had traveled twice.
Sarah had attended a medical conference.
Evelyn had volunteered to watch Lily each time.
I remembered thanking her.
I remembered Sarah saying how lucky we were to have help.
I remembered Lily becoming unusually quiet before my last trip.
I had interpreted it as a seven-year-old missing her father.
I hated myself for how easily that explanation had satisfied me.
“Has she brought Lily here before?”
Hale hesitated again.
“Three times.”
I looked at Evelyn.
She lifted her chin.
“You would have stopped me if I told you.”
“Yes.”
“Exactly.”
The certainty in her voice stunned me more than the petition had.
She genuinely believed secrecy proved her righteousness.
I asked Hale to explain the documents.
Evelyn objected immediately.
“You have no right to interrogate my attorney.”
Hale looked at her.
“Actually, Mrs.
Crane, given what the child has just said, I think we need to clarify several things.”
He opened the folder again, but this time he turned it toward me.
