Chapter 1
“Now tell me what else you’re hiding.”
I held Mila’s severed braid in one hand.
The garage became silent.
My granddaughter clung to my shoulder while Sienna stood beside the SUV with one arm wrapped beneath her pregnant belly. Gavin was still half-buried beneath the tilted tire rack. Sabrina sat among fallen detailing bottles. Marjorie had backed herself against a concrete pillar.
Nobody answered.
I looked at Sienna.
“Did he push you?”
Her eyes went immediately to Gavin.
Wrong instinct.
That frightened me more than any answer.
Gavin dragged himself upright.
“She lost her balance.”
Mila cried against my neck.
“No! Daddy pushed Mommy.”
Gavin’s face twisted.
“That child lies whenever she wants attention.”
I slowly looked at him.
He stopped speaking.
Sienna whispered, “Dad…”
I waited.
Her hand tightened around her stomach.
Then I saw something beneath the sleeve of her cardigan.
Bruising around her wrist.
Not dark enough to be fresh.
Not faded enough to be old.
I walked toward her.
She stepped backward.
From me.
My chest went cold.
“Show me your arm.”
Gavin snapped, “She bruises easily.”
I did not look at him.
“Sienna.”
Slowly, she lifted the sleeve.
Finger-shaped marks.
Marjorie sighed as though inconvenienced.
“She gets dramatic when she’s pregnant.”
There.
Not surprise.
Not concern.
Familiarity.
I looked at her.
“How many times?”
Sienna closed her eyes.
Sabrina whispered:
“Don’t.”
I turned.
Not to Sienna.
To Sabrina.
That one word was enough.
Something larger was still buried.
Then Mila raised her face from my shoulder.
“Grandpa…”
“Yes?”
“Daddy said baby has to make Mommy useful.”
Every adult in the garage froze.
I looked at Gavin.
May you like
“What does that mean?”
This time, nobody had an easy lie.
