She had been around five the last time I saw her.
I turned toward Lily.
Daniel’s daughter.
My niece.
“Oh my God.”
I caught the edge of my desk.
Daniel stared at me in equal shock.
“Rachel?”
“What are you doing here?”
His expression changed.
Confusion became realization.
Then horror.
“Oh, God.”
“What?”
He looked at Lily.
Then back at me.
“Paul didn’t tell you.”
Every sound in the room seemed to disappear.
I heard only my own heartbeat.
“Tell me what?”
Daniel slowly sat down.
“I moved back three months ago.”
I laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Three months?”
Daniel and Paul hadn’t spoken properly in years.
Their relationship had broken apart after a bitter dispute over their father’s estate. What began as an argument became resentment, and resentment eventually became silence.
When Maggie died, Daniel sent flowers.
Paul removed the card before I saw it.
