CHAPTER 17: The First Safe Morning
Lily slept that night in a suite bigger than any apartment she had ever known.
She did not trust the bed at first. It was too soft, too white, too high above the floor. She asked if she was allowed to sit on it with dirty feet. When the housekeeper brought warm pajamas, Lily asked how much they cost. When room service arrived with soup, bread, fruit, and hot chocolate, she asked whether they had to save some for tomorrow.
Each question cut Everett quietly.
Thomas slept in the connecting room after refusing three times to accept a separate suite. He said Lily would wake frightened if he was too far away. Everett did not argue.
At dawn, Lily woke and found Everett sitting by the window.
He had not slept.
The teddy bear rested between them on the coffee table. Under the morning light, the toy looked even older, even more fragile. But it had done what armies of lawyers and investigators had failed to do.
It had brought the truth home.
Lily sat up.
“Are you still here?” she asked.
Everett turned.
“Yes.”
“People leave when I sleep.”
The sentence nearly broke him.
“I will be here when you wake up,” he said. “Every morning you want me to be.”
She considered this.
Then she climbed out of bed, dragged the blanket with her, and walked to the window. The city glittered below in pale gold.
“Mommy said you had a big building.”
“I have too many buildings,” Everett said.
“Did she like you?”
Everett looked at his hands.
“She loved me. And I hurt her.”
Lily did not understand adult pride, but she understood apologies.
“Did you say sorry?”
“Not in time.”
Lily leaned against the window.
“Then say it to me. I can remember it for her.”
Everett covered his face.
Then he whispered, “I am sorry, Amelia. I am so sorry.”
May you like
Lily reached out and touched his sleeve.
For the first time, she did not pull away when he took her hand.
