red-hot rage has drained leaving her white as a sheet. “You need to leave,” she says with a trembling voice. “I will call the police. The guard shouldn’t have let you in. Malcolm made sure of that.”
“Because of the last time I was here,” I ask her coolly, “or because you don’t want me near Ellie.”
“Be-be-because,” she stammers as she drops the basket on the kitchen island followed by the shears. “I don’t need a reason. A grown man should not be alone with a child. It’s inappropriate.”
I slide off the stool, straightening until we’re at eye level. “Not if the man’s her father.”
Ginny falters, her hands splaying to catch herself on the marble counter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Let’s not play dumb. You’ve known the whole time. Malcolm might have been too focused on his career four years ago, but you…” I pace to the end of the island. “You remember me, don’t you? That’s your job. Remembering all those important details your husband forgets, like the name of the man who knocked up your sister-in-law—the man whose child you stole.”
“We adopted Ellie,” Ginny snaps. “Adair was in no position to—”
“Honestly,” I interrupt, “I’m not interested in your side of the story.”
“How dare you come here acting high and mighty when you vanished? We did you a favor.”
“Is that what you see when you look at her? A favor? A responsibility?”
“Of course not. We’ve given her everything money can buy: the best nannies, toys. She’s traveled. Look at the life we’ve given her and tell me how Adair could have done that alone without a penny to her name.”
My blood freezes as the truth spills from her. I know she’s being honest, because only someone as thoughtfully narcissistic as a MacLaine would brag about shaking someone down for her child so she could play house. But just as quickly, the molten rage is back, thawing my chilled veins. “Is that how you did it? Well, she’s not penniless anymore.”
“Is that what you think?” Ginny laughs, the sound high and piercing like nails on a chalkboard. “I thought you knew Angus left us all with practically nothing. So if that’s your plan, to sweep her off her feet and take her family fortune—”
“Adair doesn’t need money, she can take care of herself and our daughter.”
Ginny winces at the reminder that Ellie isn’t truly hers. “I doubt her little publishing company is going to pay for Kindergarten at Valmont Prep next year. It probably can’t even pay for a birthday party. So stop calling her your daughter.”
“She is my daughter.” I’ll keep saying it until it sinks in. “My flesh. My blood.”
“And you left her,” Ginny roars.
“I wouldn’t have left if I’d known.”
“Not Ellie. You left Adair. She did what she had to do to survive, because that’s what people like us do. We don’t fail. We find a way.”
There was a time when her words might have struck. Not anymore. Because I no longer see the MacLaines or their family name or their money as marks of superiority. Every mistake, every sin, every crime, every choice—it’s led me to this moment. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” I say, “but you will.”
“You’ll never win,” she says as I walk toward the door. “We have better lawyers and resources. She belongs to us now.”
My hand pauses on the knob and I resist the urge to yell at her. To tell her that Ellie isn’t an object, something to possess or spend money on. She’s a child. She’s a family. She’s Christmas mornings and scraped knees and chocolate chip cookie dates. And that’s why it’s easier to restrain myself than I would have thought, because now I know exactly why I will win—and why we’ll win: because we have something worth fighting for.
13
Adair
He can’t avoid me forever.
I look at the book sitting in the box. Next to it there’s a tiny white cardboard box, smashed a bit from being shoved in with the books. I open it and stare at the silver charm inside. I’ve never worn it. By the time, I’d found it in the car—my long-lost birthday present— after Sterling had left, it had felt more like a bad omen than a good luck charm. Now, I take the silver four leaf clover charm out. It takes me a second of digging to find an old jewelry box. I string the charm onto a necklace I find inside and clasp it around my neck. It helps