Chapter 16 - The Last Cole Secret
Nathan hated the feeling immediately.
Another secret.
Another name.
Another hidden branch.
Grace looked at him.
“Do not spiral.”
“I’m not spiraling.”
“You have your spiral face.”
“I have no spiral face.”
“You do.”
Adam arrived twenty minutes later.
Nathan showed him the photograph.
Adam frowned.
“Rachel Cole.”
“You know her?”
“No.”
Catherine did.
When Nathan called, she went silent.
“Rachel was Richard’s sister.”
Nathan stood.
“My father had a sister?”
“Half sister.”
“Your grandfather’s daughter from before his marriage.”
Nathan laughed.
“Of course.”
Catherine continued.
“She wanted nothing to do with the family.”
“Changed her name.”
“Moved to Maine.”
“Why did she photograph Lily?”
“I don’t know.”
They traced the envelope.
Maine postmark.
Grace said.
“We’re not dragging Lily across the country because another mysterious relative sends a photo.”
Nathan nodded.
“Agreed.”
Grace stared.
“What?”
“You expected argument?”
“A little.”
Nathan was improving.
They called instead.
Rachel Cole—now Rachel Avery—answered.
Seventy-two.
Retired pediatrician.
She confirmed everything.
“I knew Grace’s grandmother.”
Grace stopped.
“Everybody knew my grandmother.”
Rachel laughed.
“Helen was hard not to know.”
Rachel had worked briefly at the hospital where Lily was born.
She recognized Grace’s surname.
She saw Marianne Voss altering documents.
She took a photograph of Lily because she feared records might later disappear.
Then Charles had her removed from the hospital.
She stayed silent.
Years.
Grace’s face hardened.
“Why?”
Rachel answered honestly.
“Cowardice.”
Again.
The word that had built empires of silence.
Rachel mailed the photograph now because the criminal case was public and she finally realized evidence mattered.
No new conspiracy.
No hidden killer.
Just another person who failed to speak when speaking might have helped.
Nathan almost felt relieved.
Life did not need another mastermind.
Grace asked.
“Did you know Nathan?”
“As a child.”
“Does he really have weird eyebrows?”
Rachel laughed.
Nathan hung up.
Grace nearly fell over laughing.
The photograph joined the blue box.
The box had changed.
Once it held proof of loss.
Now Grace deliberately filled it with truth.
Nathan’s stolen letter.
Lily’s hospital bracelet.
The DNA report.
Richard’s tapes.
Helen Bennett’s photograph.
Victoria’s proxy note.
A copy of Adam’s first family dinner picture.
The purple star sticker Nathan had saved.
Grace found that ridiculous.
Nathan refused to discuss it.
Then came Lily’s birthday.
Backyard.
Normal.
Almost aggressively normal.
Kids screamed.
Purple Door stole hot dogs.
Adam burned hamburgers.
The magician lost a rabbit for eleven minutes.
Nathan considered firing him.
Grace reminded him magicians were not employees.
Lily wore a paper crown.
Five candles.
Nathan stood behind her.
Four birthdays missing.
One here.
Grace touched his back.
“You’re here.”
Nathan nodded.
Lily closed her eyes.
Made a wish.
Blew.
Everyone cheered.
Later Nathan helped carry sleeping children to cars.
When the house quieted, Lily lay half asleep on the sofa.
Nathan sat beside her.
She opened one eye.
“Daddy?”
“Yes.”
“I wished something.”
“You’re not supposed to tell me.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t.”
She whispered anyway.
“I wished you and Mommy would stop being weird.”
Nathan stared.
Grace heard from the kitchen.
She laughed.
“What does weird mean?”
Lily yawned.
“You kiss sometimes.”
“Then pretend you don’t.”
Grace covered her face.
Nathan looked at his daughter.
“That is a very specific complaint.”
Lily’s eyes closed.
“Fix it.”
Then she fell asleep.
Grace came into the room.
“Our daughter is becoming controlling.”
Nathan nodded.
“Terrifying.”
Grace sat beside him.
Nathan looked at Lily.
Then Grace.
“I don’t want to rush us because she wants a neat family.”
“Good.”
“But?”
Nathan took Grace’s hand.
“I do want more.”
Grace’s eyes softened.
“So do I.”
Nathan swallowed.
“Move in?”
Grace immediately said.
“No.”
Nathan nodded.
“Worth asking.”
Grace laughed.
“Date me another year.”
“Another year?”
“You survived one year without controlling my life.”
“Mostly.”
“Exactly.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“One year.”
Grace kissed him.
This time not brief.
Lily’s sleepy voice came from the sofa.
May you like
“Still weird.”
They burst out laughing.
