Chapter 3
William moved Emma and Noah into Laurent’s private dining room and ordered food brought immediately.
Emma did not touch it at first.
She watched the door.
William noticed.
“Victor isn’t coming in.”
Her shoulders relaxed slightly.
Then she broke a piece of bread in half and tucked one piece beside Noah’s carrier.
William stared.
“He can’t eat that yet.”
Emma looked embarrassed.
“I save things.”
“For later?”
She nodded.
William felt something tighten in his chest.
A five-year-old should not understand food that way.
He sat across from her.
“When was the last time you ate?”
“Yesterday.”
“What?”
She looked down.
“Mrs. Bell gives us soup sometimes.”
“Who is Mrs. Bell?”
“Our neighbor.”
William kept his voice calm.
“Where’s your father?”
Emma’s fingers stopped moving.
“Gone.”
“Dead?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then where?”
“I don’t know.”
William looked at Noah.
“Is Noah your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Same father?”
Emma nodded.
That meant Daniel Reynolds was likely still alive when Noah was conceived.
Elena had died four years earlier.
William frowned.
Something did not fit.
Emma noticed.
“Noah isn’t Mommy’s baby.”
William’s eyes lifted.
“What?”
“He’s Aunt Rachel’s.”
William had never heard that name either.
Emma pointed at the photograph.
“My mommy’s sister.”
William stared at her.
“Elena didn’t have a sister.”
Emma looked confused.
“Yes she did.”
That sentence landed heavily.
William’s father had hidden a husband.
Apparently Elena had hidden a sister too.
Or someone had hidden her from William.
Emma took another bite of bread.
“Aunt Rachel said Mommy told her never to trust the Parker house.”
William’s jaw tightened.
“Then why come to me?”
Emma reached inside her coat.
She pulled out a folded scrap of paper, worn nearly soft from being opened too many times.
There were only four words.
FIND WILLIAM. NOT VINCENT.
William recognized Elena’s handwriting again.
His father’s name sat beneath his.
Crossed out twice.
May you like
And suddenly William understood Elena had not been afraid of the Parker family in general.
She had been afraid of one specific Parker.
