Chapter 7
Laura’s parents came the next day.
Margaret and Thomas.
They had kept distance after I got engaged because Vanessa made them uncomfortable and I had been too defensive to listen.
Margaret entered my house and went straight to Noah.
He ran into her arms.
“Grandma.”
She held him like he might disappear.
Thomas looked at me.
His face was old with grief.
“You should have told us.”
“I know.”
“We warned you she moved too fast.”
“I know.”
He nodded.
No yelling.
That made it worse.
Detective Brooks interviewed them.
Margaret remembered Vanessa from the hospital.
“She was too interested in Laura,” she said. “Always asking about Daniel. About Noah. About whether Laura’s family had money.”
Thomas added, “Laura said she caught Vanessa reading her chart.”
My blood went cold.
“Why didn’t I know?”
Margaret looked at me sadly.
“Laura didn’t want to worry you.”
That was Laura.
Protecting me even from things I should have known.
The reopened investigation found the bakery receipt from the retreat.
Vanessa had volunteered to coordinate desserts.
She denied it.
Then photos surfaced.
Vanessa in a staff apron.
Vanessa near the dessert table.
Vanessa standing behind Laura minutes before the reaction.
I watched the footage once.
Laura smiled in the video.
Alive.
Unknowing.
My chest cracked open.
Noah sat beside me later with his dinosaur blanket.
“Did Vanessa know Mommy?”
I answered carefully.
“Yes.”
“Did she hurt Mommy?”
My throat closed.
“We don’t know everything yet.”
Noah looked at me.
“But maybe.”
I could not lie.
“Maybe.”
He leaned against me.
May you like
“I don’t like maybe.”
“Me neither.”
