“I was frightened you would come downstairs.”
“Why?”
“Because your father didn’t know she was here.”
Silas leaned against me, though I don’t think he realized he was doing it.
“Did she sleep in this room?”
“No. She stayed for an hour.”
“Did she bring the daisies?”
“Yes.”
The hidden room no longer felt mysterious.
It felt sad.
It had been prepared as a bridge between two sides of a family, but no one had been willing to cross it openly. Daniel had tried to protect Silas by sealing away the past. Evelyn had tried to repair the past in secret. Elena had come close enough to see her son’s home, but not close enough to speak to him.
And Silas had been left to notice the footsteps, the tea cups, the flowers, and the doors adults closed in his face.
A family services liaison named Denise Porter arrived shortly afterward.
