Chapter 10
The first morning June slept through the night, she came running into the kitchen to tell us.
Anna was making breakfast. Lily was already at the table. I had just burned the toast.
June stopped when she smelled it.
“Mommy said you do that.”
Anna laughed.
“I warned him you’d find out.”
I put fresh bread in the toaster while June climbed onto a chair between her mother and sister. She looked proud of herself, and I understood why.
She had woken in her own room, seen daylight through her window, and known she could come straight to us.
We made that morning special. Lily insisted on strawberries. June chose the music. Anna let me try the toast again.
Months had passed since the day in the closet. Some things still took work. June sometimes needed us close when she went to sleep. Lily still asked difficult questions about Vanessa. Anna and I answered honestly and let the girls feel whatever they felt.
There had also been good days. So many that I could no longer count them.
Preston’s case ended that spring. He was convicted for his part in June’s abduction and confinement, Anna’s unlawful detention, and the theft from my company. The judge imposed a prison sentence.
Vanessa accepted responsibility for her actions and received a sentence of her own. Her cooperation helped investigators recover much of the stolen money.
I sat beside Anna when June’s statement was read to the court. June had said she missed her mother, felt scared in the dark, and wanted grown-ups to listen when children told them something was wrong.
I held Anna’s hand through all of it.
Afterward, Ortiz met us outside.
“It’s done,” she said.
Anna let out a breath I thought she had been holding for months.
We did not take the girls to court. We took them to the park that afternoon and told them the adults who had hurt them had been held responsible.
June asked whether Preston could come to our houses.
“No,” I said. “He cannot.”
She looked to Anna, who nodded.
Lily asked if her mother was safe.
“Yes,” I said. “She’s being looked after. The choices she made are hers to answer for.”
Lily was quiet for a while. Then she took June’s hand and asked her to race to the swings.
I stayed on the path with Anna and watched them run.
At work, Daniel helped me rebuild the company’s checks on payments. I apologized to the people whose trust had been damaged while I let Preston manage things I should have understood. Some stayed. Some left. I accepted both.
My mother came over often. June liked helping her plant flowers. Lily liked digging the holes and finding worms.
One Saturday, the four of us painted the girls’ bedrooms. June chose a warm yellow. Lily chose blue. By evening, we had paint on our hands and hardly any on the floors.
We ordered dinner and ate on a sheet spread across the living room.
June leaned against my shoulder.
“Do I get to stay here forever?”
Anna and I exchanged a look.
“Yes,” Anna said.
“With Mommy?”
“With me.”
“And Daddy?”
I put my arm around her.
“I’ll always be your dad.”
June turned to Lily.
“And you?”
Lily looked offended.
“I’m your sister. You can’t get rid of me.”
June laughed so hard she tipped sideways into my lap.
Later, when the girls were asleep, Anna and I sat on the porch. Our houses had both become places the girls called home. Some nights they stayed with me, some with Anna. Most evenings, we ate together.
Anna rested her head against my shoulder.
“We’re doing all right,” she said.
“We are.”
I loved her again. I had told her so a few weeks before, without asking her to make a promise. She had held my face and told me she loved me too.
We were taking our time. The girls knew they belonged to both of us, and that was enough for now.
Inside, I heard footsteps.
June appeared in the doorway, holding her blanket. Lily stood behind her with a book.
“We can’t sleep,” Lily announced.
“You were asleep an hour ago,” I said.
“Now we’re not.”
Anna moved aside to make room. The girls came onto the porch and settled between us. June tucked her feet beneath my leg. Lily opened her book and asked me to read.
I read while Anna rested her hand over mine.
Halfway through the story, June looked up at me.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“I can tell you things, right? Even if I’m scared?”
I closed the book.
“Always. I’ll listen.”
She nodded and leaned back against me. Lily turned the page, eager to hear what happened next.
So I kept reading.
When the story ended, neither girl wanted to go inside. We stayed together a little longer, watching the porch light shine across Anna’s garden.
June’s breathing grew slow and even. Lily curled against her sister. Anna smiled at them, then at me.
I carried June to bed, and Anna carried Lily. We left the bedroom doors open, just as the girls liked them.
Before I turned out the light, June reached from beneath her blanket and caught my hand.
“I knew you’d come,” she murmured.
I sat beside her until she slept.
In the next room, Lily called goodnight to her sister. June answered without opening her eyes.
May you like
Their voices reached each other through the open doors.
I stood in the hallway with Anna, listening to the quiet that followed. She slipped her hand into mine, and together we went back to our daughters.
