Chapter 8 - The Phone Call From Oregon)
Emma waited until Vanessa left the house the following afternoon.
Then she called the phone number from Olivia's oldest letter.
She expected it to be disconnected.
It rang twice.
A woman answered.
"Hello?"
Emma forgot every sentence she had rehearsed.
"Is this Olivia Marsh?"
Silence.
"Who's asking?"
"My name is Emma Carter."
Another silence.
Longer.
Then the woman's breathing changed.
"Sarah's daughter?"
Emma closed her eyes.
"Yes."
"Oh my God."
Emma sat on the edge of her bed.
"You remember me?"
"I held you when you were born."
Emma's throat tightened.
She put the call on speaker.
Charles stood across the room.
He looked terrified.
Lily sat beside Emma, clutching the stuffed rabbit they had found behind the wall.
Olivia's voice came through the phone.
"Is Charles alive?"
Emma looked at him.
"Yes."
"Is Vanessa there?"
"No."
"Where are you?"
"Grandpa's house."
Olivia stopped breathing.
Then she asked the question Emma had known was coming.
"Is Lily there?"
Emma looked at the little girl.
Lily's eyes filled immediately.
"Yes."
Olivia made a sound somewhere between a sob and a gasp.
Emma handed Lily the phone.
For several seconds Lily only stared at it.
"Say hello," Emma whispered.
Lily lifted it.
"Hello?"
Olivia began crying.
"Hi, sweetheart."
Lily's lower lip trembled.
"Are you Liv?"
"Yes."
"My first mommy?"
Charles turned away.
Olivia struggled to speak.
"Yes."
"Did you leave me?"
"No."
The answer came instantly.
"No, Lily. I never wanted to leave you."
Lily began crying.
"Mom said you threw me away."
Olivia inhaled sharply.
"I didn't."
"Did you want me?"
"Every day."
Lily covered her mouth.
Emma put an arm around her.
Olivia continued.
"I have wanted you every day of your life."
"Then why didn't you come?"
That question broke everyone in the room.
Charles sat heavily in the desk chair.
Olivia's voice became unsteady.
"I tried."
Lily looked toward Charles.
"He sent you away."
There was silence on the phone.
"Is Charles listening?"
Emma answered.
"Yes."
Olivia's tone changed.
"Dad?"
Charles closed his eyes.
"Hello, Liv."
Six years of separation seemed to fill the room.
Olivia said, "You don't get to call me that."
Charles flinched.
"You're right."
"You let her keep my daughter."
"Yes."
"You testified that I was unstable."
"Yes."
"You knew I was in treatment."
"Yes."
"You knew I came back."
"Yes."
Emma had never heard Charles sound so defeated.
Olivia continued.
"And when I told you Vanessa forged my signature?"
Charles covered his eyes.
"I didn't believe you."
"Until you did."
"Yes."
"When?"
"Five years ago."
Olivia laughed once.
It was a broken sound.
"You've known for five years."
"I was afraid."
"So was I."
"I know."
"No. You don't."
Lily listened with wide eyes.
Emma gently took the phone.
"Olivia, I found your letters."
The anger vanished from Olivia's voice.
"What letters?"
"The ones you sent Grandpa."
"He got them?"
"Vanessa hid most of them."
Olivia was silent.
Emma continued.
"We also found the letter from your lawyer."
"Which one?"
"The one about the forged consent."
Olivia exhaled.
"Do you still have it?"
"Yes."
"Keep it away from Vanessa."
"We are."
Charles said, "It's in my lawyer's office now."
Olivia went silent again.
"You have a lawyer?"
"I called one."
"Why?"
Charles looked at Lily.
"Because I'm finally going to tell the truth."
Olivia did not respond.
Emma heard a door close faintly through the phone.
Then Olivia said, "There's more."
Emma's skin prickled.
"What?"
"The forged signature isn't the worst thing Vanessa did."
Charles looked up.
"What are you talking about?"
"When I challenged the adoption, Vanessa gave my attorney photographs."
"What photographs?"
"Pictures of bruises on Lily."
Emma looked at the faint mark on Lily's upper arm.
Olivia continued.
"Vanessa claimed I caused them before treatment."
Charles stood.
"That's impossible. Lily was only weeks old when Olivia entered treatment."
"I know."
Olivia's voice hardened.
"Those photographs were taken months later."
Emma understood.
"Vanessa hurt Lily?"
"I could never prove it."
Charles looked sick.
Olivia continued.
"She used those pictures to tell me that if I fought her, she would accuse me of abusing Lily."
Emma looked at Charles.
"Did you know?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"There's something else," Olivia said.
"What?"
"Matthew didn't just disappear."
Charles went still.
Olivia continued.
"Vanessa was paying him."
Emma frowned.
"For what?"
"To threaten me."
Charles gripped the desk.
"No."
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"Because he contacted me two years ago when the money stopped."
Emma could barely process it.
"What did he say?"
"He apologized."
Charles laughed bitterly.
"Matthew apologized?"
"He was dying."
The room fell quiet.
"Cancer," Olivia said. "He sent me copies of messages between him and Vanessa."
Emma looked at Charles.
"Do you still have them?"
"Every one."
"Can you send them?"
"I already sent them to three lawyers over the years."
"Why didn't anyone reopen the case?"
"Because custody cases get complicated after years. Because Lily believed Vanessa was her mother. Because I was terrified Vanessa would disappear with her if she realized I was close."
Lily whispered, "Disappear where?"
Olivia heard her.
"Lily, I'm sorry."
"Did Mom know where you live?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't she bring me?"
Nobody answered.
Lily looked at Emma.
"Because she didn't want me to know."
Emma squeezed her hand.
Olivia said, "I have spent six years trying not to make things worse for you."
Lily wiped her face.
"Are you coming now?"
Olivia went silent.
Then she said, "If you want me to."
Lily looked at Charles.
Then Emma.
Then the phone.
"Yes."
Olivia started crying again.
"I'll come."
Charles stood.
"When?"
"As soon as I can get a flight."
"No."
Everyone froze.
The voice had come from the bedroom doorway.
Vanessa stood there.
She held Emma's charger cable in one hand.
Her eyes were fixed on the phone.
"You will not bring that woman into this house."
Lily moved closer to Emma.
Charles stepped between Vanessa and the bed.
"It's my house."
Vanessa looked at him.
Then she smiled.
"Not for long."
Charles frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Vanessa lifted a folded document from her pocket.
"I filed the petition this morning."
"What petition?"
"To have you declared incompetent."
Charles stared at her.
Vanessa looked at Emma.
"If the court agrees, I become his legal decision maker."
May you like
Then she looked at Lily.
"And nobody is taking my daughter anywhere."
