Chapter 13
Robert stepped out first, frantic and unshaven, a far cry from his usual polished self. Then Vanessa, clutching a designer handbag like a shield. Finally, my mother emerged from the backseat, looking ten years older, frail, her eyes hidden behind oversized sunglasses.
Emily grabbed my arm. Lily was upstairs in her playroom.
“Stay here,” I told my wife, grabbing the thick manila folder from my desk. “Do not open the door, no matter what.”
I stepped out onto the freezing porch and pulled the front door firmly shut behind me. The winter air bit at my face.
“Daniel,” my mother called, her voice trembling with unconvincing authority. “We’re a family. We are not doing this silent-treatment nonsense anymore.
I demand to see my granddaughter.”
“You don’t get to demand anything here,” I said, my voice echoing off the snowbanks.
Robert stepped forward, puffing out his chest. “Listen to me, you little punk. We have a lawyer ready to draft a grandparents’-rights petition by tomorrow morning.
You’re isolating Margaret. You’re unstable. We can make your life a living hell.”
I didn’t look at Rob. I looked directly at my mother, shivering in her expensive coat.
May you like
“Mom,” I said, my voice dropping to a dangerous calm. “Did you really come here to see Lily? Or did Vanessa tell you that if you brought Rob along to threaten me, I’d panic and write a check to save his clinic?”
Vanessa flinched. The color drained from her perfectly contoured face.
