Chapter 13 - Daniel Had Been Doing The Same Thing In A Kinder Voice
Peter did not call back.
Not that day.
Not the next.
The school blocked his number from Mia’s student emergency file after Leah discovered it had been added as an alternate contact two weeks earlier.
No one knew who submitted the change.
Eric opened an internal review.
Walter voluntarily gave up trustee access to the camera system before anyone asked him to.
That did not repair the fact that he had used it.
It only stopped the next use.
Daniel and I sat at our kitchen table that night.
Sophie was asleep.
He had packed a small bag.
I did not ask him to.
He did not assume he was staying.
“Hotel?”
I asked.
“Maybe.”
I hated the word.
Not enough to correct it.
Daniel looked at the basement door.
“Peter found Mom’s calendar.”
“Probably.”
“You think he took anything?”
“I don't know.”
“I want to check.”
“Tomorrow.”
He looked at me.
I continued.
“Tonight is not another scavenger hunt for whatever dead people wrote.”
He nodded.
For once.
Then:
“Leah thinks I used the girls.”
“Yes.”
His face tightened.
“You do too.”
“Yes.”
He looked toward the ceiling.
“I didn't think of it that way.”
“I know.”
“I thought I was giving them something we didn't have.”
“What?”
“Family without history.”
I stared.
“That sounds nice.”
“It did.”
“And?”
He looked down.
“And I wanted Leah to see I could be safe around her daughter.”
That was the piece.
Not just Sophie and Mia.
A performance for Leah.
I waited.
Daniel continued.
“When Mia liked me, I felt…”
He stopped.
I did not help.
“Like what?”
He shook his head.
“Never mind.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Like I wasn't the person she left.”
That was enough.
He did not need to explain it further.
I thought about the alley.
My hand taking Sophie's food.
My voice:
Stay away from my daughter.
“What did you tell Mia about me?”
Daniel grimaced.
“Too much.”
“Specific.”
“That you're protective.”
“Yes.”
“That you don't like people appearing without warning.”
“Yes.”
“That if you found out before I had the chance to explain Leah, you'd probably shut the visits down.”
“Maybe true.”
He looked surprised again.
I hated that.
“You keep waiting for me to say you were wrong about predicting me.”
“I was wrong to use it.”
“Yes.”
“That isn't the same as being wrong about you.”
“No.”
We sat with that.
My flaw did not cancel his deception.
His deception did not make every fear of mine ridiculous.
Daniel said:
“Peter knew what would happen.”
“What?”
“He knew if Mia sat behind Sophie's school and said she knew me, you would react.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
I looked at him.
“Maybe because you told people.”
His face changed.
I continued.
“You've been describing me as the barrier in this story.”
“To Leah?”
“Yes.”
“To Mia.”
“Yes.”
“To your father?”
Daniel looked away.
That one surprised me.
“What did you tell Walter?”
“That Claire would never allow this if she knew.”
I laughed quietly.
“Peter could've heard that from him.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
Walter and Peter had been in occasional contact.
Another chain.
Another adult making my imagined reaction into useful information.
Daniel closed his bag.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
He thought.
Not a list.
“Making the secret easier to keep by turning you into the reason.”
That landed.
I nodded.
“I don't know what happens with us.”
“I know.”
“You're sleeping somewhere else tonight.”
“Yes.”
He stood.
At the doorway he stopped.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Leah texted.”
I waited.
“She said Mia wants to talk to Sophie.”
My first response arrived immediately.
No.
I felt it.
Daniel watched my face.
He did not say anything.
I looked at him.
“Did you answer?”
“No.”
That was new.
“What do you think?”
He took a breath.
“I think that's your question too.”
Not a dodge.
A boundary.
I picked up my phone.
May you like
Did not answer Leah yet.
But for the first time, Daniel hadn't answered for me.
