Chapter 2
Then Grace screamed my name.
I dropped my fork.
Michael stood too.
We reached the upstairs hallway almost together.
The bathroom door was open.
Grace was kneeling on the floor.
Nora was against her chest.
Wrapped in a towel.
Crying.
That cry was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.
Diane stood near the bathtub.
Her face was pale.
“What happened?”
I shouted.
Grace looked at me.
“She was alone.”
I froze.
“What?”
“In the tub.”
Diane immediately spoke.
“That is not what happened.”
Grace ignored her.
“I came in and she was lying in the water alone.”
My legs weakened.
I took Nora.
Her tiny body was warm.
Breathing.
Crying.
Alive.
I checked her face.
Her mouth.
Her chest.
I didn’t know what I was looking for.
I just knew I needed to look.
Michael stepped toward his mother.
“Mom?”
Diane pointed at Grace.
“She barged in.”
Grace stared at her.
“Because I heard the baby.”
“I was right outside.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what you saw.”
Grace’s expression changed.
“I know exactly what I saw.”
Michael lifted both hands.
“Everybody calm down.”
I turned on him.
“Calm down?”
“Claire, Nora is okay.”
“She was alone in a bathtub.”
“For a second.”
Diane answered before Grace could.
“I stepped out for one second to get a towel.”
Grace looked toward the towel rack.
Three towels were hanging there.
Nobody spoke.
Diane noticed too late.
“I wanted a clean one.”
“They are clean.”
Grace’s voice was flat.
Diane glared at her.
“This is none of your business.”
Grace looked at me.
Then toward the sink.
That was when I saw the phone.
Not mine.
Diane’s.
Propped against a cosmetic bag.
Camera facing the bathtub.
The little red recording indicator was still visible.
My stomach dropped.
“Why is your phone recording?”
Diane moved immediately.
Michael moved faster.
He picked up the phone.
“Mom?”
Diane shook her head.
“I was taking a video.”
“Of what?”
“The bath.”
“Why?”
“Grandmothers take videos.”
Grace stood.
“You started recording before I came in.”
Diane snapped:
“Obviously.”
Grace looked at Michael.
“Don’t stop it.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“Don’t delete anything.”
Diane’s face hardened.
“You are way out of line.”
Grace stepped between Michael and the doorway.
“Claire, call the pediatrician.”
I was already reaching for my phone.
Michael said:
“We don’t need to turn this into something dramatic.”
I looked at him.
Something inside me went cold.
Not angry.
Not yet.
May you like
Cold.
“Turn what into something dramatic?”
