Chapter 20 - Learning to Feel Safe AgainSix months after Daniel found Lucy locked in the playhouse, she asked to go home.
Not to the hotel.
Not to the temporary rental house where they had been staying.
Home.
The villa overlooking the Florida coast.
The house with the enormous glass windows, the green lawn, and the yellow flowers Rebecca had planted.
Daniel was preparing breakfast when Lucy climbed onto a kitchen stool.
“Daddy?”
He looked up from the frying pan.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Can we go see Mommy's garden?”
Daniel turned down the heat.
“Of course.”
Lucy twisted Snow's long ear between her fingers.
“Will Aunt Claudia be there?”
“No.”
“Grandma?”
“No.”
“Miles?”
“No.”
She thought about that.
“Will the silver lock be there?”
Daniel hesitated.
The playhouse had remained undisturbed while investigators completed their documentation.
Now that the relevant evidence had been preserved and authorities had released the structure, the dangerous latch could be removed.
But Daniel hadn't rushed to change anything.
He wanted Lucy involved in deciding what happened to the place.
“The lock is still there right now,” he said. “But we can have it removed before you go near the playhouse.”
Lucy looked down.
“Can I watch somebody take it off?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“Then I want to go.”
Daniel set down the spatula.
“Okay.”
He didn't turn it into a celebration.
He knew returning home might be difficult.
He knew familiar spaces could trigger memories, even when the people who caused the fear were gone.
So they planned the visit with Lucy's therapist.
Lucy decided she wanted to arrive in the morning.
She wanted the patio doors open.
She wanted to bring Snow and her yellow rain boots.
And she wanted Daniel to hold her hand when they entered the backyard.
Every choice was small.
Every choice belonged to her.
On the morning of the visit, Daniel drove slowly through the villa's entrance.
Lucy sat in the back seat, watching through the window.
The palm trees were still there.
The hedges were still green.
The house looked exactly as she remembered.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, “It didn't go away.”
Daniel swallowed.
“No, sweetheart.”
He parked.
Lucy stepped out wearing her yellow boots and carrying Snow.
She stood beside the car, looking toward the windows.
Daniel waited.
He didn't tell her to hurry.
He didn't point out how beautiful the weather was.
He didn't insist that everything was fine.
Finally, Lucy reached for his hand.
“Let's go.”
They walked through the house together.
Lucy examined the living room.
The kitchen.
The photographs on the hallway wall.
She stopped beside one showing Rebecca holding her as a baby.
“Mommy was happy there,” she said.
Daniel looked at the picture.
“Yes.”
“Were you happy too?”
“Very.”
Lucy considered this.
“Maybe we can be happy here again.”
Daniel's eyes filled.
“I'd like that.”
They stepped onto the patio.
A contractor was waiting beside the playhouse.
He had been instructed to explain every step to Lucy before beginning and to work only if she felt comfortable watching.
The silver latch was still mounted outside.
It looked smaller than Daniel remembered.
Just a piece of metal.
Four screws.
A sliding bolt.
Such an ordinary object.
Lucy stopped several yards away.
Her breathing changed.
Daniel crouched.
“We don't have to do this today.”
She squeezed his hand.
“I want to.”
“Okay.”
The contractor showed her the screwdriver.
“I'm going to remove the screws,” he explained. “Then the whole latch will come off.”
Lucy nodded.
“Will the door open?”
“Yes.”
“From inside?”
“From inside and outside.”
She looked at Daniel.
He nodded.
“We'll check together.”
The first screw loosened.
Then the second.
Lucy watched without speaking.
The contractor removed the third.
The fourth.
Then he lifted the silver latch away from the wood.
A small rectangle of darker wood remained where the metal had covered the paint.
Lucy stared at it.
“It's gone?”
“The latch is gone,” Daniel said.
She took one tentative step forward.
The contractor demonstrated the new child-safe handle, which could be operated freely from either side.
Lucy watched him open the door from inside.
Then she asked to try.
Daniel stood nearby.
She stepped into the playhouse.
Only one foot at first.
Then the other.
She didn't sit down.
She didn't touch the walls.
She reached for the handle.
Pressed it.
And pushed the door open.
Sunlight flooded the little room.
Lucy tried again.
This time, she smiled.
“I can do it.”
Daniel felt tears running down his face.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
She stepped outside and looked at the marks on the interior wall.
The twelve scratches remained.
Daniel had wondered whether they should be sanded away.
Lucy approached them slowly.
She touched the first group.
Then the second.
Then the third.
“Those are mine,” she whispered.
Daniel crouched beside her.
“Yes.”
“Can we leave them?”
He looked surprised.
“You want to?”
Lucy nodded.
“So people remember I was telling the truth.”
Daniel felt his throat close.
“Then we'll leave them.”
Lucy looked around the small wooden room.
Then she made one more decision.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can we paint the door yellow?”
May you like
He smiled through his tears.
“Absolutely.”
