The baby looked like a question.
A tiny, beautiful question I had no idea how to answer.
A knock sounded at the door.
I quickly slid the photo back into the envelope.
Celia Caldwell stood in the hallway.
“May I come in?”
I almost said no.
Then I saw the strained dignity in her face and stepped aside.
She entered the room as if seeing it for the first time, though she owned the house. Her eyes moved over the narrow bed, the radiator, the sloped ceiling, the single small window facing the alley.
“I did not realize it was this small,” she said.
I gave a tired smile. “Most people don’t notice rooms they never have to sleep in.”
She accepted that quietly.
For several seconds, she stood with gloved hands clasped in front of her.
“What happened at the cemetery,” she said, “should not have happened.”
“No.”
“I won’t excuse Vanessa.”
I looked at her. “But you’ll protect her.”
Celia’s lips pressed together.
There was honesty in her silence.
“She is carrying a great deal of fear,” she said finally.
“So am I.”
Her gaze dropped to my stomach.
Something in her face softened, then closed again.
“Does Caleb know?” she asked.
“The baby isn’t Caleb’s.”
“I know.”
The words stunned me.
Celia looked toward the small window. “Caleb told me weeks ago that Vanessa had become convinced of something that wasn’t true. He said you barely spoke to him unless it concerned household work. He tried to reassure her, but she would not listen.”
I sank slowly onto the edge of the bed.
“Then why didn’t anyone stop her?”
Celia’s face tightened with shame.
“Because in families like mine, we are trained to avoid scenes more than we are trained to prevent harm.”
It was not enough.
But it was true enough to hurt.
She reached into her handbag and removed an envelope.
“This is the remainder of your wages for the month, plus severance. Proper severance,” she added when she saw my expression. “Not charity.”
“I don’t want hush money.”
“It isn’t.”
“How do I know that?”
She placed the envelope on the small desk.
“Because silence would serve no one anymore.”
I studied her.