Chapter 1 - THE LOCKET
Claire heard Lily scream from upstairs.
Not cry.
Scream.
She dropped the dish towel and ran.
Two-year-old Lily was on the carpet outside the guest room, one hand clutching her arm and the other wrapped around a small silver locket.
Diane stood over her.
Sixty.
Blonde.
Perfect cream blouse.
Face twisted with panic.
“GIVE IT!”
She grabbed Lily’s arm again.
Claire reached them in three strides.
“DON’T TOUCH HER!”
She scooped Lily up and slapped Diane across the face.
Diane staggered.
“What the hell—”
Footsteps thundered from the bedroom.
Ryan rushed in.
Thirty-five.
Light-blue shirt.
Already angry.
He saw:
his mother holding her cheek,
Claire standing over her,
Lily crying.
He did not ask what happened.
He shoved Claire backward.
“DON’T TOUCH MY MOTHER!”
Claire tightened her hold on Lily.
“She HIT Lily!”
Ryan froze.
“What?!”
Diane lunged again.
Not toward Claire.
Toward Lily’s fist.
“Give me that!”
Claire jerked Lily away.
Then looked down.
The locket.
Old.
Scratched.
Heavier than it looked.
Claire snatched it from Lily and flipped it open.
Inside:
a faded photograph.
A baby.
Ryan.
Same eyes.
Same chin.
A young woman held him.
Not Diane.
Ryan stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Claire shoved the locket toward him.
He grabbed it.
“Who is SHE?!”
Diane backed away.
Ryan ripped the small photo free.
Turned it over.
There was handwriting.
Old blue ink.
MY BIRTH MOTHER — LAURA.
Ryan stared.
His anger vanished.
Not gradually.
Collapsed.
He looked at Diane.
“Mom?”
Diane’s face went white.
Ryan’s voice cracked.
“Who is Laura?”
May you like
Diane said nothing.
That silence answered more than words.
