Chapter 8 - What He Hadn't Told Her
“No.”
Grant moved his chair so Rose could see his whole face.
“Your mommy died because something went wrong in her body when you were born. The doctors tried to save her. Nothing you did made that happen.”
Rose pulled the blanket higher.
“Babies cry.”
“They do. They're supposed to. That's how they tell us they need help.”
“Big girls aren't supposed to.”
“Big girls can cry. So can grown-ups.”
She thought about that for a long time.
“Was she mad when I came?”
He reached for his phone, then stopped.
He had photographs, but he wanted to answer first.
“She was so happy to meet you, Rosie.”
Her mother's name was Emma.
Grant had rarely said it aloud since the funeral.
He'd kept her photographs in expensive frames and her actual life packed into a cedar chest because remembering hurt.
His daughter had grown up surrounded by a beautiful woman nobody talked about.
Of course she had filled the silence with questions.
Someone cruel had supplied the answers.
“Emma used to talk to you before you were born,” he said.
“Mostly about how you kept kicking her whenever she tried to eat dinner.”
Rose's mouth moved toward a smile.
“With shoes?”
He laughed, and the laugh hurt.
“No shoes.”
That evening, Diane arrived at the hospital carrying a pink gift bag.
Leah stopped her at the nurses' station.
“You're not going in.”
“I only want to make sure the poor child is all right.”
Grant joined them.
“Leave the bag with staff if you want. Then go.”
Diane lowered her voice.
“Vanessa isn't perfect. Neither are you. She was under terrible pressure.”
“Rose is four.”
“She wanted Vanessa every second. I warned my daughter that marrying a widower came with baggage.”
Grant stared at her.
“Say her name.”
“What?”
“The baggage. Her name is Rose.”
Diane's mouth tightened.
“If this becomes public, people will ask where you were.”
“They should.”
He asked hospital staff to make sure neither woman could visit.
No shouting.
No bargaining.
When he turned back toward Rose's room, Ruiz was waiting near the elevators.
May you like
“The hotel found another camera angle,” she said.
“I need you to come with me.”
