Chapter 10 - Henry’s Notebook Wasn’t Where Vanessa Put It
The black notebook had not disappeared.
It had been moved.
Vanessa remembered putting it in the lower cabinet beneath Henry’s desk after the funeral.
She had found it in the drawer.
Opened it.
Read the first line.
Then closed it.
“What line?” Daniel asked.
She hesitated.
Owen rolled his eyes.
Vanessa looked at him.
“I’m trying.”
“Try faster.”
Daniel held up a hand.
Vanessa continued.
“‘Owen came back angry and left less angry.’”
Owen looked down.
He remembered that meeting.
“Then?”
“I stopped reading.”
“Why?”
“Because it was his.”
Daniel almost laughed at the irony.
Vanessa heard it.
“Yes.”
She went upstairs with Daniel, Owen, and Evelyn.
The cabinet was empty.
No notebook.
No journal pages.
Nothing but an old extension cord and a box of envelopes.
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“Did you move it?”
“No.”
“Owen?”
“No.”
Vanessa said:
“I put it here.”
Owen looked at her.
“For once, I believe you.”
Daniel walked through the study slowly.
He opened drawers.
Not frantically.
Nothing.
Then Evelyn noticed a rectangular patch of cleaner wood on the bookshelf.
A book had been removed recently.
“Was something there?”
Daniel frowned.
“Dad kept his appointment books there.”
They found eleven leather calendars.
One missing.
The year Henry died.
Owen checked the boxes he had packed.
Not there.
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She shook her head.
“I did not take it.”
For several seconds everyone silently suspected everyone else.
Then Lily appeared in the doorway.
Again.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Lily.”
She held something black against her chest.
Every adult stared.
“Is this what you're looking for?”
Vanessa went pale.
Daniel crossed to her.
“Where did you get that?”
“Grandpa gave it to me.”
Nobody moved.
“When?”
“Before he got sick.”
Vanessa whispered:
“Henry.”
Lily frowned.
“He told me not to read it because it was boring.”
Owen almost laughed.
Daniel didn’t.
“Where did you keep it?”
“In the game cabinet.”
Daniel stared.
The game room had been searched after Henry died.
Nobody searched inside Lily’s box of old coloring books.
“Why did Grandpa give it to you?”
“He said Dad loses things in rooms when he’s sad.”
Daniel looked away.
Lily held the notebook toward him.
“Are you still sad?”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
She nodded as if that settled the logistics.
“Then maybe don’t read it today.”
Nobody had expected that.
Daniel took the notebook but did not open it.
Vanessa watched his hands.
Owen watched his face.
Evelyn watched all of them watching.
Daniel noticed.
He set the notebook on the desk.
“We are not doing this with Lily standing here.”
Vanessa said:
“Daniel—”
“No.”
He crouched beside his daughter.
“You want lunch?”
“Yes.”
“Go tell Mrs. Alvarez we’re all eating downstairs.”
Lily frowned.
“Even Uncle Owen?”
Daniel looked at his brother.
Owen did not rescue him.
“Yes.”
Lily smiled.
First clean emotion in the house all day.
She ran downstairs.
Owen looked at Daniel.
“You invited me to lunch.”
“I invited you to survive another hour.”
“I’ll take it.”
Daniel looked at the notebook.
Then at Vanessa.
“After Lily eats, you and I are talking about what happens tonight.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“Are you asking me to leave?”
“I haven't decided.”
She looked almost angry.
Then scared.
Daniel added:
“And I’m not deciding before lunch because our daughter does not need another room full of adults disappearing when she walks in.”
May you like
For once, everyone went downstairs together.
The notebook stayed closed.
