For the first time in weeks, Margaret looked afraid.
And that fear told Daniel more than any confession could have.
“Mom,” he said quietly.
Margaret blinked.
“What?”
“What happened to her?”
Margaret immediately looked offended.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like I did something.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
A small sound escaped her.
A sound Daniel had never heard from her before.
Not sadness.
Not anger.
Fear.
“Rachel,” he said softly, turning back toward her. “Tell me.”
She shook her head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Her fingers tightened around the blue quilt.
“Because she told me you would hate me.”
Daniel froze.
“Who?”
Rachel looked toward Margaret.
“Your mother.”
The room became completely silent.
Margaret stepped forward.
“That is ridiculous.”
Rachel flinched.
Daniel noticed.
And that was when the last piece of doubt inside him disappeared.
Because Rachel was not reacting like someone caught in a lie.
She was reacting like someone trapped.
