Chapter 7 - The Blue Rabbit
Lily stood on the guest-room bed, pointing at the doorway.
“He was here.”
Ethan reached her first.
“Who?”
“The man outside.”
An officer checked the balcony.
Another ran down the stairs.
Grace stayed beside the bed.
“What did you see, Lily?”
“A light.
Then somebody moved.”
The balcony door was locked.
Beyond it, a branch scraped the glass.
An officer had passed below with a flashlight.
Lily began to cry.
“I’m sorry.”
Grace sat on the edge of the mattress.
“You don’t apologize for telling us you’re scared.”
Ethan stood uselessly beside the lamp.
His daughter was shaking.
He wanted to promise that no one could ever hurt her again.
After tonight, promises felt cheap.
Instead, he pulled up a chair.
“I’ll stay.”
Lily looked at him.
“All night?”
“All night.”
Near dawn, she finally spoke again.
“Sabrina said Mommy got hurt because she wouldn’t stop asking questions.”
Ethan felt something cold move through his chest.
“When did she say that?”
“After I asked about the blue rabbit.”
Grace kept her voice calm.
“What rabbit?”
“Mommy’s.
It’s on her keys.”
Ethan knew the keychain.
Olivia had bought the little enamel rabbit at a roadside gift shop because Lily liked its crooked ears.
It hadn’t been returned with her belongings after the crash.
Lily picked at the blanket.
“I saw it with Mr. Miles.”
“When?” Ethan asked.
“The night Mommy went away.”
He stopped breathing.
Lily glanced at his face and began talking faster.
“I came downstairs because I wanted water.
He was by the garage.
He had Mommy’s keys.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“I told Sabrina.”
Ethan shut his eyes.
Of course she had.
Sabrina had offered to handle the difficult conversations.
The grief.
The bad dreams.
The things he couldn’t hear without falling apart.
He had called her wonderful.
Lily’s voice dropped.
“She said if I told you, you’d think I was making Mommy die again.”
Ethan moved to the bed.
This time, he asked before touching her.
“Can I hold you?”
She nodded.
He folded her against his chest.
“You did nothing wrong.”
Lily cried into his shirt.
Grace turned toward the window to give them a little privacy.
Behind her, Lily whispered one more thing.
May you like
“Mommy put something in my bear.
She said it was for when Daddy finally listened.”
