Chapter 2
I moved Emma, Laura, and David into my private dining room.
No banquet guests.
No capos.
Food came immediately.
Emma stared at her new plate without touching it.
I sat beside her.
“You hungry?”
She nodded.
“Then eat.”
She looked toward the door.
“Aunt Margaret said kitchen.”
My chest tightened.
“Not anymore.”
Her lip trembled.
“Was she right?”
“No.”
“Because Mommy picked me?”
“Yes.”
She frowned.
That answer sounded dangerous in her head.
I corrected it.
“Your mommy chose you. That makes you family because she meant it.”
Emma looked at Laura.
Laura started crying.
Good.
Not because I wanted pain.
Because my daughter had been holding something too long.
I looked at her.
“How long?”
She wiped her face.
“Dad—”
“How long has Margaret been doing this?”
Silence.
David looked down.
Laura finally answered.
“About six months.”
I leaned back.
Six months.
“What?”
“Moving Emma’s place card.”
“Where?”
“Children’s table at first. Then side table. Then kitchen breakfast twice.”
My hands became still.
“And you didn’t tell me.”
Laura’s eyes filled.
“She said you knew.”
Of course.
Again.
My name used as a locked door.
“What exactly did she tell you?”
“That you were worried adoption complicated the future.”
I almost laughed.
“Did that sound like me?”
“No.”
“Then why believe it?”
Laura stared at the table.
“Because you’ve been talking about succession.”
Fair.
I had.
Not publicly.
Not clearly.
Enough that fear could fill the gaps.
David spoke quietly.
“She told me too.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“That you were going to give everything to Mom and Emma.”
Laura turned.
“David.”
He looked ashamed.
“She said if I didn’t protect my place, I’d lose it.”
I stared at Margaret’s influence spreading across my family.
She had told Laura I distrusted adoption.
Told David adoption threatened him.
Told Emma she did not belong.
Same lie.
Different victim.
Then Emma finally picked up her fork.
She looked at David.
“You can have some.”
He stared.
“Some what?”
“My potatoes.”
The boy almost broke.
May you like
Margaret had been teaching him that Emma wanted his future.
Emma was offering him dinner.
