Chapter 4 - The Appointment I Never Knew Happened
Dr. Naomi Price still had notes.
Not clinical records in the formal sense.
Margaret had never completed intake because Naomi refused to proceed once Sophie said her mother did not know she was there.
Rachel met Naomi the next morning with Julia.
Sophie stayed with Julia's husband and refused to discuss the rabbit.
Rachel let her.
Naomi placed a thin folder on the table.
"Margaret brought Sophie in after school."
"How?"
"She was listed as an approved pickup person."
Rachel remembered.
Temporary permission while Rachel had pneumonia.
She never removed it afterward.
Naomi continued.
"Margaret said you and Daniel were considering marriage and that Sophie had become aggressive toward Lily."
"Was she?"
"Not in my office."
"What did Sophie say?"
Naomi opened the note.
"She said Lily took her toys because Grandma told Lily she could."
Rachel's jaw tightened.
"Anything else?"
"She asked whether kids get sent away for being jealous."
Rachel looked down.
Naomi had ended the session immediately.
She told Margaret she needed parental consent.
Margaret became angry.
Then left.
"Did you contact me?"
"I called the number Margaret gave me."
Rachel looked up.
"It was disconnected."
Of course.
Naomi's notes included one more thing.
Sophie had drawn a family picture.
Rachel.
Sophie.
Daniel.
Lily.
Margaret stood outside the house.
Above Margaret, Sophie had drawn an eye.
Rachel stared.
Naomi said, "I asked what that meant."
"What did she say?"
"'Grandma knows things even when she's not there.'"
Rachel closed her eyes.
The recorder had already been inside Bunny.
At Daniel's house, the confrontation was different.
Margaret sat at the dining table.
Daniel stood.
He had not invited Rachel.
He called afterward and told her exactly what happened.
"Did you take Sophie to a therapist?"
Margaret did not deny it.
"I was trying to protect Lily."
"By lying about guardianship?"
"By getting information."
"About an eight-year-old."
"About a child entering Lily's home."
Daniel stared at his mother.
"Our home."
"Claire's home."
There.
Daniel finally heard it.
The word beneath everything.
Claire.
His dead wife.
Margaret still referred to Daniel's house as Claire's home.
Lily as Claire's child.
Rachel and Sophie as entrants.
Daniel said, "Rachel is my wife."
Margaret laughed bitterly.
"For eleven months."
"That isn't temporary."
"It was supposed to be."
Daniel went still.
Margaret realized what she had said.
Too late.
"What does that mean?"
She stood.
"Nothing."
"No."
Daniel stepped between her and the door.
"Not physically. I'm not stopping you. But you're answering before you leave."
Margaret looked at him.
"I knew Rachel wouldn't last."
"Why?"
"Because nobody could replace Claire."
"Nobody asked her to."
"You did."
Daniel's voice rose.
"I married Rachel. I did not erase Claire."
Margaret's face cracked.
"You moved on."
"Yes."
The word landed brutally.
Necessary.
Margaret started crying.
Daniel did not retract it.
Then she said, "Claire asked me to protect Lily."
Daniel went still.
"When?"
"In the hospital."
Daniel's eyes filled.
His wife had been dying from complications after an infection that spread rapidly.
Margaret had spent her final night there.
Daniel had always believed Claire was too sedated to speak clearly.
"What exactly did she say?"
Margaret whispered, "Don't let Lily lose me."
Daniel stared.
"That's not the same as don't let me love anyone else."
Margaret looked away.
It was not.
Later, when Daniel told Rachel, she listened without sympathy for the interpretation.
Grief explained Margaret.
It did not excuse Sophie.
Then Daniel said, "There's one more thing."
Rachel closed her eyes.
"What now?"
"I found a notebook in Mom's car."
He sent photographs.
Pages of dates.
TOY CONFLICT - RABBIT.
BEDTIME - SEE IF RACHEL CHOOSES SOPHIE FIRST.
POOL - LILY CRYING / TIME TO RESPONSE.
DINNER - MOVE SOPHIE'S CUP TO LILY'S PLACE.
Each conflict logged.
Some provoked.
Some merely observed.
Then one page stopped Rachel.
SOPHIE STILL DEFENDS LILY WHEN UPSET. NEED STRONGER SEPARATION.
Rachel whispered, "She knew they cared about each other."
Daniel said nothing.
Rachel continued down the page.
Last line:
BIRTHDAY MAY BE BEST OPPORTUNITY. PUBLIC INCIDENT. FAMILY PRESENT.
Date:
Next Saturday.
Sophie's ninth birthday.
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