Twelve Stolen Years
Chapter 04 - Twelve Stolen Years
Daniel did not shout at Thomas in front of Lily.
That took every ounce of restraint he possessed.
Instead, he asked Lily whether she wanted to go somewhere warm.
They ended up at a small diner near the cemetery, sitting in a corner booth beneath yellow lights while rain streaked the windows.
Lily ordered hot chocolate but barely touched it.
Daniel sat across from her.
Thomas occupied the end of the booth like a man awaiting sentencing.
Lily studied Daniel.
“Mom said you liked pancakes.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“She remembered that?”
“She remembered everything.”
That hurt more than anger.
Daniel looked at Thomas.
“Tell me exactly what you did.”
Thomas stared down at his coffee.
“I thought I was protecting her.”
“From me?”
“You were leaving town every week. You had no money. Your company could have failed.”
“So you decided that made me unfit to know my own child existed?”
Thomas flinched.
Lily looked down.
Daniel immediately softened his voice.
“This is not your fault, Lily.”
She nodded but did not look up.
Thomas finally admitted the rest.
He had intercepted Daniel’s messages.
He had told Emily Daniel wanted freedom.
Later, when Daniel came to the Carter house looking for her, Thomas told him Emily had moved away with someone else.
Every lie had reinforced another lie.
By the time Emily discovered what her father had done, Lily was already three.
“She wanted to tell you then,” Thomas said. “But she saw an article about your company. You were engaged.”
Daniel remembered.
That engagement lasted six months.
Emily had interpreted his new life as proof that she had waited too long.
Daniel pushed back from the table.
“You took the choice from both of us.”
Thomas nodded.
“I know.”
“No. You know now because she’s dead and you finally have to look at what you did.”
Lily suddenly whispered, “Grandpa raised me too.”
Daniel stopped.
She looked frightened.
Not of him.
Of losing another person.
That changed the shape of his anger.
Daniel understood then that justice would not be as simple as punishing Thomas.
May you like
Because the man who had stolen twelve years from Daniel was also the grandfather Lily loved.
And Lily had already buried one parent that morning.
