Chapter 6 - The Photograph Grant searched the basement until dawn.
Boxes.
Old photographs.
Wedding albums.
Hospital records.
Birthday decorations.
Finally, beneath a stack of unused frames, he found it.
A photograph of Lily's mother sitting beneath a red umbrella.
Baby Lily slept in her arms.
Grant stared at it for a long time.
Then he heard footsteps.
Lily stood in the doorway.
She held Bunny by one ear.
“Mommy.”
Grant nodded.
“She was beautiful.”
“Vivian said Mommy doesn't live here.”
Grant's throat tightened.
“No.”
He held up the photograph.
“But she belongs here.”
Lily touched the cracked glass.
“She said I should stop looking.”
Grant looked at his daughter.
“How long have you been looking for Mommy?”
Lily shrugged.
“Sometimes.”
The word destroyed him.
Sometimes.
A three-year-old should not have to search for permission to remember her mother.
Grant pulled her into his arms.
“I’m sorry.”
Lily rested her head against him.
“Why?”
Because I didn't see.
Because I was working.
Because I trusted the wrong person.
Because you kept telling me something was wrong and I called it adjustment.
Grant couldn't say any of it.
Not yet.
The doorbell rang.
May you like
9:00 a.m.
Child Protective Services had arrived.
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