“No.”
The word came out of me before I could stop it.
“They wouldn’t,” I said. “They wouldn’t do that.”
Malcolm’s face stayed gentle. He didn’t argue. He just looked at me with those same brown eyes I remembered from the end of a cafeteria table.
“I hoped I was wrong,” he said.
“They’re my children.”
“I know.”
“They love me.”
“I’m sure,” Malcolm said quietly, “they would say they do.”
That answer frightened me more than any accusation would have.
Chapter Four: The Highlighted Sentence
Outside, the rain finally started. It tapped against the window, soft at first, then harder.
I looked at the empty chairs where David and Sarah and Michael were supposed to be sitting.
Then I looked at the folder in Malcolm’s hands.
“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked. “Today? Of all days?”
His jaw tightened.
