CHAPTER 6 — The Question He Couldn't Answer
Daniel stood beside the driver's door, his hand still resting on the handle.
Emily's question lingered in the air.
"Why doesn't Grandma love me?"
He closed his eyes for a brief moment.
Of every insult his mother had thrown at him over the years...
none had hurt like that single sentence from his six-year-old daughter.
He climbed into the driver's seat without starting the engine.
The birthday house remained visible through the windshield.
Pink balloons still danced in the breeze.
Children were supposed to be laughing inside.
Instead, he could still hear echoes of raised voices in his mind.
Emily looked at him patiently.
She wasn't crying.
She simply wanted an answer.
Children always believed adults knew everything.
Daniel wished that were true.
He reached across the console and gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
"Sweetheart..."
"This isn't because of you."
Emily frowned.
"Then... is Grandma mad at you?"
Daniel smiled sadly.
"Sometimes grown-ups carry anger for so long that they forget who they're hurting."
Emily thought about that.
"So..."
"It's not because I was naughty?"
"No."
"Not because Rosie is old?"
She lifted her worn teddy bear.
Daniel laughed softly despite the ache in his chest.
"No."
Emily looked down at the faded bear.
"I thought maybe Grandma didn't like Rosie."
Daniel reached over and squeezed the teddy bear's tiny paw.
"I think Rosie is perfect."
Emily smiled faintly.
"But Grandma didn't even look at her."
The innocence of the comment nearly broke him again.
He leaned back in his seat.
"You know something your mommy used to tell me?"
Emily's eyes immediately brightened.
"What?"
"She said..."
He paused, remembering the woman whose smile had once filled every room she entered.
"...she said that some people only know how to see what shines."
Emily tilted her head.
"I don't understand."
"They notice fancy houses."
"Big cars."
"Pretty clothes."
"They think those things tell them who a person is."
Emily looked around the old pickup truck.
"Our truck isn't fancy."
Daniel smiled.
"No."
"But do you know what your mommy believed?"
Emily shook her head.
"She believed the richest people are the ones who have the biggest hearts."
Emily looked at her teddy bear.
Then at the friendship bracelet Lily had given her.
She smiled.
"I think Lily has a big heart."
"I think so too."
"What about you?"
Daniel laughed quietly.
"I try."
Emily reached over and hugged him across the center console.
"I think you have the biggest heart."
For the first time that day...
Daniel felt tears sting his eyes.
He quickly blinked them away before Emily could notice.
After a few moments, he finally started the truck.
As they pulled away from the house, Emily looked back through the rear window.
The balloons grew smaller.
The mansion slowly disappeared behind a row of trees.
Then she whispered,
"I'm glad we left."
Daniel glanced at her.
"Really?"
She nodded.
"I didn't like how everyone looked at you."
His grip tightened on the steering wheel.
"I don't want people to be mean to my daddy."
For several miles, neither of them spoke.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
It was peaceful.
Something they hadn't felt since arriving at the party.
Eventually, they passed a small neighborhood park.
Emily suddenly sat upright.
"Daddy!"
"What is it?"
"Can we eat pizza there?"
He smiled.
"I thought you wanted ice cream."
"I do."
She grinned.
"But pizza first."
Daniel laughed.
"That sounds like a pretty good plan."
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting on a wooden picnic table beneath a large oak tree.
No crystal chandeliers.
No expensive decorations.
No perfectly arranged flower displays.
Just warm pizza in cardboard boxes...
melting chocolate ice cream...
and birds singing overhead.
Emily swung her little legs beneath the bench.
"This birthday is better."
Daniel raised an eyebrow.
"It isn't even your birthday."
"I know."
She smiled.
"But it's happier."
Those two words stayed with him.
It's happier.
Not bigger.
Not fancier.
Happier.
Across the park, children chased bubbles while parents laughed beside them.
No one cared what anyone was wearing.
No one measured each other's success.
No one judged a little girl because of who her father was.
Emily finished her slice of pizza and suddenly remembered something.
"Daddy..."
"Hmm?"
"What happens if Lily gets in trouble because she hugged me?"
Daniel's smile faded.
He had been wondering the same thing.
Back at the mansion...
Lily had openly defied both her grandmother and her mother.
Children often paid the price for adults' pride.
Daniel looked toward the sky.
"I hope she won't."
But deep inside...
he wasn't sure.
Because he knew his family.
And he knew Eleanor Carter rarely let anyone embarrass her without demanding something in return.
At that very moment...
back inside the mansion...
the birthday candles had already been blown out.
The guests were leaving.
The decorations suddenly felt meaningless.
And in the middle of the living room, Eleanor was staring at the handmade birthday card Emily had drawn.
Her hands were trembling with anger.
Then she turned slowly toward Sophia.
Her voice was cold enough to freeze the room.
"That child is never coming into this house again."
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No one noticed that Lily was standing in the hallway...
quietly listening to every word.
