Chapter 1 - THE SLAP
My brother-in-law slapped his seven-year-old daughter at his wedding because she asked for her mother.
Then I walked in.
Inside the country club outside Dallas, a sharp sound stopped the laughter. Then came a child's scream.
“I WANT MY MOM!”
Lily stood beside the head table, one hand against her cheek. Ryan towered over her in a tuxedo. His new bride, Vanessa, was looking around at the guests as if the embarrassing part was the noise.
I crossed the room before I thought.
Ryan turned. I kicked him hard enough to send him onto the dance floor.
“CALL SECURITY!” Vanessa screamed.
I dropped beside Lily. She backed away at first, frightened by one more angry man. That stopped me harder than any punch could have.
“It's James,” I said, opening my hands. “Sweetheart. It's Uncle James.”
She fell into my arms.
“Daddy says Mommy is gone.”
For eight months, that was what he had told all of us.
An accident. Complications. A private cremation before I could get home from Oregon. My sister Emily reduced to a framed photograph and a sealed box Ryan wouldn't let anyone touch.
Now he was pushing himself off the floor.
“Get away from my daughter.”
I ignored him and checked Lily's face. Her cheek was red. Tears had soaked the collar of her pale blue dress.
“I just wanted Mommy,” she whispered. “Vanessa said I was ruining everything.”
Behind her stood an empty chair. Lily had dragged it beside her place setting. Someone had tied a white ribbon around it.
“Tell him what you said,” Vanessa snapped at Lily. “Tell him how you behaved.”
I looked up.
She stopped talking.
A security guard approached. “Sir, step away from the child.”
“Call the police,” I said. “And an ambulance to check her.”
Ryan straightened his jacket. “My brother-in-law is unstable. He's been struggling since my wife's death.”
My phone pressed against my leg. Three hours earlier, a nurse had called a number she found inside an old birthday card.
I had heard a voice I thought I would never hear again.
I held Lily's trembling hands.
“No, sweetheart. Mommy isn't gone.”
Ryan's face lost its color.
“James, don't.”
Lily looked at me.
May you like
“Your mother is still alive.”
Behind us, Vanessa dropped her champagne glass.
