Chapter 1 - The Paper at Her Feet
“THIS SPOT IS FOR MY GRANDSON.”
Margaret Whitmore shoved fifteen-month-old Lily from the backyard swing so abruptly that Rachel barely understood what she was seeing.
Lily hit the grass.
Her tiny cry cut through the garden.
Then Margaret calmly lifted three-year-old Noah onto the swing as if nothing had happened.
Rachel had just stepped through the garden gate.
“Lily!”
She ran.
But before she reached them, Margaret nudged Lily away again with her foot as the toddler tried to sit up.
Rachel’s blood went cold.
She dropped beside her daughter and pulled her into her arms.
“Mommy… hurts…”
“I know, baby. Mommy’s here.”
Lily buried her wet face against Rachel’s blouse.
Then, between sobs, she whispered something that made Rachel freeze.
“Grandma said… not hers.”
Rachel slowly looked up.
Margaret stood beside the swing with one hand resting possessively on Noah’s shoulder.
“She has none of my blood in her.”
Rachel rose.
“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
Margaret’s expression was almost smug.
“She should stop calling me Grandma.”
Rachel moved Lily behind her.
“And you thought that gave you the right to hurt her?”
“Don’t be dramatic. She fell on grass.”
Rachel’s palm struck Margaret’s cheek before Margaret could finish.
Margaret stumbled backward and dropped onto the lawn.
For the first time, her confidence cracked.
“You hit me!”
Rachel’s voice dropped.
“You touched my daughter.”
Margaret glared.
Rachel reached into her trouser pocket.
She pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
Margaret’s anger shifted.
Just slightly.
But Rachel saw it.
Fear.
Rachel unfolded the page without turning it toward anyone else.
“Still want to talk about blood?”
Margaret’s lips parted.
Rachel stared directly into her eyes.
“Then look at whose signature is on this.”
She threw the paper down.
It landed inches from Margaret’s knees.
Margaret looked.
All the color disappeared from her face.
“No.”
Rachel tightened her hold around Lily.
“Oh, yes.”
From inside the house, a man’s voice called out.
“Rachel?”
Rachel turned.
Her husband, Daniel, was walking toward the garden.
Margaret snatched the paper from the grass.
May you like
And before Daniel could see it—
she ripped it in half.
