Chapter 14 - The Question Ellie Was Afraid to AskEllie stopped wearing her pink princess dress after the baby shower.
Naomi first noticed it when she was folding laundry.
The dress lay neatly on the bottom shelf of Ellie's closet.
Its satin waistband was still clean.
Its layers of tulle were barely wrinkled.
Before the party, Ellie had wanted to wear it every day.
Now she wouldn't touch it.
“Do you want to wear your princess dress to your friend's birthday party?” Naomi asked one Saturday morning.
Ellie shook her head.
“Why not?”
“I don't like it.”
Naomi studied her daughter's face.
Ellie was looking at her socks.
Her fingers twisted the edge of her shirt.
“Does it remind you of Mommy and Daddy arguing?”
Ellie nodded.
Naomi sat on the floor beside her.
“Can we talk about that?”
Ellie was quiet for a long moment.
Then she whispered, “I made Daddy scared.”
Naomi's chest tightened.
“No, baby.”
“He looked scared when I showed him the key.”
“That was because of something he knew, not because you did something wrong.”
Ellie's lip trembled.
“Grandma said little girls shouldn't make trouble.”
Naomi felt anger flash through her.
She forced herself to breathe before speaking.
“Finding something doesn't make you trouble.”
“But everybody stopped smiling.”
Naomi opened her arms.
Ellie climbed into them.
For several minutes, Naomi simply held her.
She wished she could remove the memory of that afternoon.
The staring guests.
Daniel's harsh voice.
Lorraine's cold expression.
Her own shouted demand for an answer.
Naomi had been so focused on the packet that she'd barely noticed Ellie standing in the middle of the confrontation.
That realization hurt.
She couldn't change what the adults had done.
But she could take responsibility for her own reaction.
“Sweetheart, Mommy should have moved you somewhere quiet before asking all those questions.”
Ellie looked up.
“Why?”
“Because those were grown-up problems, and you shouldn't have had to stand there while we argued.”
“Were you mad at me?”
“Never.”
Ellie's eyes filled.
“Promise?”
Naomi kissed her forehead.
“I promise.”
A week earlier, Naomi had arranged an appointment with a child therapist experienced in helping children through family conflict.
She hadn't asked Ellie to describe the property documents again.
She hadn't practiced questions with her.
She wanted her daughter to have a place where she could express feelings without believing she was responsible for the outcome of a legal case.
At the appointment, Ellie initially sat silently.
Then she began drawing.
She drew a pink dress.
A blue door.
A man with a dark suit.
And a little girl holding something in her hand.
The therapist asked what the little girl felt.
Ellie thought about it.
“Small.”
Naomi heard the word from the adjoining discussion room afterward.
It stayed with her.
The whole family had been fighting over property, money, and control.
Yet the smallest person in the room had carried the weight of making everyone angry.
Naomi made a decision.
She would never ask Ellie to serve as her messenger.
She would never make her repeat conversations to prove which adult was right.
And whatever happened between Naomi and Daniel, Ellie would be allowed to love her father without defending him.
Later that afternoon, Daniel came for an arranged visit.
Naomi met him on the porch.
Ellie remained inside, choosing whether she wanted to go to the park.
Daniel glanced toward the living room.
“She doesn't seem excited.”
“She's been anxious.”
He swallowed.
“Because of what happened?”
“Yes.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I didn't mean to scare her.”
“Then you need to acknowledge it without asking her to make you feel better.”
Daniel nodded.
When Ellie appeared, she stopped near the doorway.
Her pink bow was slightly crooked.
Daniel knelt.
“Hey, pumpkin.”
“Hi, Daddy.”
He waited.
Then said, “I'm sorry I spoke sharply to you at the party.”
Ellie studied him.
“Were you mad because I found the key?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“Because I had done something wrong, and I was afraid Mommy would find out.”
Ellie looked at Naomi.
Naomi remained silent.
This was Daniel's responsibility.
“You didn't do anything wrong,” he continued.
Ellie considered that.
Then she asked, “Are you still going to lie?”
Daniel lowered his head.
“I don't want to.”
Naomi felt a sharp ache.
That wasn't the promise Ellie deserved.
But it was more truthful than an effortless assurance he had not yet earned.
Ellie finally stepped outside.
“I want to go to the park,” she said. “But Mommy said I can call her if I want to come home.”
Daniel nodded.
“Of course.”
As they walked toward his car, Ellie took his hand.
Naomi watched from the porch.
She felt grief.
Anger.
A little relief.
And an unfamiliar kind of hope.
Not that everything would return to the way it had been.
But that the adults might finally stop requiring a child to pretend nothing had happened.
When Naomi turned back toward the house, her phone rang.
It was Mara.
“The court has approved a schedule for exchanging records,” she said. “We've also received the first set of financial disclosures voluntarily produced by the development company's lender.”
Naomi leaned against the doorframe.
“Anything important?”
“Yes.”
Mara paused.
“The project's financing was contingent on acquiring your property. Someone had represented that the necessary authority was already secured.”
Naomi closed her eyes.
“Who?”
“We need the underlying correspondence to answer that.”
May you like
The immediate danger was contained.
But the question of who had knowingly set the entire plan in motion was finally approaching an answer.
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