Chapter 3: The Call That Should Not Have Been Made
Emma didn't move until Margaret was around the corner of the house.
Then she looked at Daniel.
"Who is she calling?"
"I don't know."
"Daniel." Her voice dropped.
"Who does your mother call when she needs something done quietly?"
He didn't answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
Emma picked up Olivia's backpack from the driveway and handed it to her.
"Go inside.
Use the side door.
Stay in the kitchen."
"Mama—"
"Now, sweetheart.
Please."
Olivia looked at her father once, then went.
Daniel watched her go.
Something moved across his face — not guilt exactly.
Something older than guilt.
"Three years ago," Emma said.
"When you filed those documents.
Did she know?"
"No."
"Did anyone know?"
"My lawyer.
That's all."
"And your lawyer — is he still your lawyer, or is he hers?"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"He's mine."
"Are you certain?"
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
"I'll call him now."
"Don't." Emma stepped in front of him.
"If she's already made contact, a call from you tells her which direction you're moving.
Don't touch your phone yet."
He stared at her.
"When did you become like this?"
"When your mother dragged my daughter across a driveway by her hair." She said it without raising her voice.
"That's when."
Margaret came back around the corner.
Her phone was in her pocket.
Her face had settled into something composed and almost pleasant, which was worse than the anger.
"I think," she said, "we should all go inside and discuss this like adults."
"There's nothing to discuss," Emma said.
"The documents are filed.
The transfers are legal.
Olivia's placement at St.
Catherine's was confirmed in writing eight months ago."
"Documents can be challenged." Margaret smiled.
"Especially when the mental state of the person who signed them is called into question."
Daniel went still.
"What did you just say?"
"You've been under enormous stress, Daniel.
Anyone who knows you would say so.
A good physician — the right physician — could provide a very thorough assessment."
"You're going to have me declared incompetent." His voice was flat.
"That's what you just arranged on that call."
Margaret tilted her head.
"I'm going to protect this family.
The way I always have."
Emma looked at Daniel.
He was pale.
His hands were at his sides.
"She's done this before," Emma said quietly.
It wasn't a question.
He didn't deny it.
"Your father," Emma said.
"The year before he died.
The documents he signed over to her.
He wasn't confused, was he."
Margaret's smile didn't move.
But something behind her eyes did.
"That's a very serious accusation," Margaret said.
"It's a very serious pattern." Emma picked up the legal folder from the driveway where it had fallen.
She tucked it under her arm.
"Daniel, I need you to call your lawyer from my phone.
Right now.
Not yours."
He took her phone.
Margaret watched him walk toward the house.
Then she turned to Emma.
"You think those papers protect her," she said.
"They don't.
Paper is paper.
What protects a child is family.
And you have made yourself an enemy of this family from the day you walked through that door."
"I walked through that door," Emma said, "because your son asked me to.
And everything that happened after that is in writing."
She followed Daniel inside.
Behind her, she heard Margaret's heels on the stone driveway.
Slow.
Unhurried.
That was the part that frightened her most.
When Emma reached the kitchen, Olivia was sitting at the table.
One shoe on, one shoe off.
She was holding the missing white shoe in both hands, looking at it like she wasn't sure where it belonged anymore.
Emma sat down beside her.
She didn't say anything for a moment.
"Am I still going to school?" Olivia asked.
"Yes," Emma said.
"You are going to school."
"Is Grandma going to stop me?"
Emma looked at her daughter's face.
Seven years old.
Uniform dusty at the knees.
Still holding her shoe.
"No," Emma said.
"She is not."
From the hallway, she could hear Daniel's voice — low, urgent, words she couldn't make out.
And beneath that, the front door opening.
May you like
Then closing.
Margaret had come inside.
