Chapter 6 - The Daughter Returns
The PI’s report sat on Lena’s desk like a live grenade.
Emily Marie Carter.
Born at 3:17 AM on October 14th, twenty years ago.
Six pounds, two ounces.
Nineteen inches long.
Adopted at birth by Thomas and Margaret Carter of Millfield.
The Carters were teachers.
Good people.
Stable.
Loving.
Emily was their only child.
She had graduated high school with honors.
She played soccer.
She volunteered at the free clinic on weekends.
And two years ago, she had registered with the state adoption registry.
Looking for me.
"She wants to meet you," Lena said.
I couldn’t breathe.
For twenty years, I had carried the guilt of giving her away.
For twenty years, I had told myself she was better off without me.
And all that time, she had been looking for me.
"What do I do?" I whispered.
"You don’t have to do anything," Lena said.
"We can leave it alone.
We have enough information to answer any questions Michael’s lawyer might ask.
We know she’s alive.
We know she’s well-adjusted.
We know she had a good home.
That’s enough for the trial.
We don’t have to open that door." But I was already shaking my head.
"She looked for me," I said.
"For two years.
How can I not meet her?
What kind of person would I be if I ignored her?" "Sarah, the trial is in six weeks.
Michael’s lawyers are watching everything you do.
If you meet Emily, they will find out.
They will find a way to make it look bad.
They’ll say you’re abandoning Tyler to go play happy family with the daughter you gave away.
They’ll say you’re emotionally unstable.
They’ll twist it into something ugly." "I don’t care," I said.
"I have to meet her.
Even if it’s just once.
Even if she hates me.
I have to look her in the eye and tell her I loved her.
That I only gave her up because I wanted her to have everything I couldn’t give." Lena studied me for a long moment.
"Okay," she said.
"But we do it my way.
Discreet.
No social media.
No telling anyone except your dad.
We meet in a public place halfway between here and there.
A busy restaurant in the middle of the day.
I’ll be sitting at the next table pretending to read a book.
If anything goes wrong, I’m there.
May you like
And we tell Tyler nothing until we know how this goes.
He’s been through enough."
