Maya did not leave immediately.
She carried Lily into the small guest bedroom and shut the door.
The room smelled faintly of lavender detergent. A quilt covered the narrow bed, and a stuffed rabbit sat crookedly against the pillow.
Maya placed Lily down gently.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Lily rubbed her eyes.
“Aunt Rachel was mad.”
“Why?”
“I heard her talking to Grandma.”
“About what?”
Lily looked at the door.
Maya lowered her voice.
“You can tell me.”
Rachel had always been loud when angry, but Maya had learned long ago that her sister became quieter when she was hiding something.
Lily whispered, “They were talking about Dad.”
Maya froze.
Her father was not dead, but he had been gone from the family for nearly two years after a bitter divorce from Denise. Maya rarely discussed him at family gatherings.
“What about Dad?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you hear his name?”
Lily nodded.
“Then Aunt Rachel saw me.”
Maya waited.
“She said I was listening.”
“And then?”
“She grabbed my arm.”
Maya looked at the faint red marks around Lily’s wrist.
Her breathing changed.
“She told me to go outside. I said no.”
Lily’s lower lip trembled.
“Then she pushed me.”
Maya closed her eyes briefly.
The dining-room crash came back to her.
She had assumed Lily had fallen.
Now she wasn't so sure.
“Did you hit the table?”
Lily nodded.
“Where?”
“My shoulder.”
Maya touched the spot carefully.
Lily winced.
Maya stood.
“Stay here.”
“Don't leave me.”
“I won't.”
She opened the door.
Rachel was waiting in the hallway.
“Can we talk?”
Maya stared at her.
“Did you grab Lily?”
Rachel's expression hardened.
“She was eavesdropping.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“Yes.”
Maya felt her hands curl into fists.
“You put your hands on a seven-year-old because she overheard a conversation?”
“You don't understand what she heard.”
“Then explain it.”
Rachel glanced toward the dining room.
“Not here.”
Maya stepped closer.
“You don't get to decide that anymore.”
Rachel lowered her voice.
“Dad is trying to take the house.”
Maya frowned.
“What house?”
“Our parents' house.”
“That has nothing to do with Lily.”
“It does if she heard what Mom said.”
Maya looked past her sister.
Denise was standing at the end of the hall.
Her face had changed.
“Maya,” she said quietly.
“What did Lily hear?”
Denise looked at Rachel.
Rachel looked back.
That exchange told Maya more than either woman could have said.
“What are you hiding?”
Robert appeared behind Denise.
“Nobody is hiding anything.”
Maya laughed once, without humor.
“Then tell me what you were discussing.”
Robert's expression hardened.
“This is a family matter.”
“Lily is family.”
Silence.
Maya felt the room narrowing around her.
Rachel finally spoke.
“Your father found out Mom transferred money years ago.”
Maya stared at her.
“What money?”
Denise shook her head.
“Rachel.”
But Rachel continued.
“She moved money from an account Dad didn't know existed.”
“Why?”
Rachel looked at Maya.
“Because she was protecting you.”
Maya felt a chill move through her.
“Protecting me from what?”
Nobody answered.
Then Lily screamed from the bedroom.
Maya spun around.
The door was open.
The room was empty.
Click here to continue reading: PART 3: The Missing Minutes After Dinner Revealed a Secret That Made Maya Question Everything Her Parents Had Told Her
The Dinner Was Supposed to Mend Our Family Until My Daughter’s Cry Changed Everything
Part 2 of 20
