Chapter 2 - What Gracie Was Told to Hide
I kept my voice calm because Gracie was already shaking.
“When did this happen?”
“Yesterday.”
She hugged the rabbit tighter.
“Mom was on the phone with Grandma Bonnie. I tried to get water by myself, and I dropped the glass. She got really mad.”
I swallowed the anger rising in my throat.
“What did she do?”
Gracie’s eyes filled again.
“She grabbed my arm. I slipped. She pushed me into the closet, and my back hit the shelf.”
She reached behind herself, then winced before her fingers even touched the spot.
The sound that came out of me was barely a breath.
“Has it hurt since then?”
She nodded.
“Mom made me wear a sweater. She said if anyone asked, I had to say I fell during gym class.”
I closed my eyes for one second.
While I had been sitting in conference rooms, signing contracts, and checking into hotels, my little girl had spent a night in pain believing she had caused the thing that happened to her.
“Can I look?” I asked softly.
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
I checked carefully, only enough to know we needed a doctor.
I pulled her pajama shirt back down immediately and cupped her face with both hands.
“We’re going to the hospital.”
Panic filled her eyes.
“No, Dad. Mom will get mad. She said everyone will think I’m a bad little girl.”
That sentence broke something in me.
“You are not a bad little girl,” I said. “You’re a child. Children should never have to hide pain to protect adults.”
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That was when I heard the front gate open.
Caroline was home.
