Chapter 2: What the Letter Said
After dinner, Lily went straight to her room.
No TV, no coming back out for water the way she usually does.
Just the soft click of her door, and then nothing.
I found Tara in the kitchen, rinsing dishes like nothing had happened.
"You need to explain what that was."
She didn't turn around.
"I don't need to explain anything."
"You took food off a child's plate, Tara."
She set down the glass slowly.
When she finally looked at me, her expression wasn't angry.
It was something colder than that.
"She's not yours, Marcus.
Not legally.
Not really.
And you keep letting her believe otherwise."
I stared at her.
"She calls me Dad."
"Because you let her." She picked up the glass again.
"That's going to be a problem when the paperwork doesn't go through."
I went still.
"What do you mean, doesn't go through?"
Tara didn't answer.
She turned back to the sink.
I walked to Lily's door and knocked softly.
When she opened it, her eyes were dry but her face told a different story.
She held something in her hand — a folded piece of paper she'd clearly been reading before I knocked.
May you like
"Dad," she said quietly.
"What's a 'temporary placement review'?"
