Chapter 2 - The Presents Behind the Furnace
The next morning Lily disappeared before breakfast.
Brianna claimed she was sulking.
Margaret found her in the basement.
The child was dragging a large plastic storage bin across the concrete floor.
“What are you doing?”
“Christmas decorations.”
“That box is too heavy.”
“Brianna said I have to bring all twelve upstairs before lunch.”
Margaret counted.
There were eleven more.
“No.”
Lily looked frightened.
“She’ll get mad.”
“Let her.”
“You don’t know how mad.”
That sentence stayed with Margaret.
She carried the lighter boxes herself and left the heavy ones.
At eleven, Brianna came downstairs.
“Why are these still here?”
“I told Lily they were too heavy.”
Brianna’s face changed.
“I gave her an instruction.”
“She’s a child.”
“She’s lazy.”
Lily whispered, “I’m not.”
Brianna grabbed her wrist.
Margaret stepped forward.
“Let go.”
Brianna stared.
“You’re ordering me?”
“I’m asking you not to hurt her.”
Brianna released Lily with a shove toward the stairs.
“Upstairs. Now.”
Lily ran.
Brianna turned on Margaret.
“You have no idea what that girl is like.”
“I know what I just saw.”
“You saw discipline.”
“I saw an adult lose control.”
Brianna’s smile vanished.
“Be careful, Maggie.”
Margaret had spent decades hearing threats from men with private jets.
Brianna did not impress her.
Still, Margaret kept her voice soft.
“Yes, ma’am.”
That afternoon June showed Margaret a hidden space behind the basement furnace.
Inside were packages.
Dozens.
Every one had Lily’s name.
A red coat Margaret had bought in New York.
A telescope.
Books.
A music box.
A framed photograph of Lily’s late mother, Anna.
Margaret touched the photograph.
Anna had died from cancer when Lily was seven.
“Brianna told her I stopped sending gifts.”
June nodded.
“She sells some online.”
Margaret’s face hardened.
That evening Thomas returned early.
Lily ran toward him carrying the photograph.
“Dad! Look what Maggie found.”
Thomas stopped.
“Where did you get that?”
“Grandma sent it.”
Brianna appeared.
Her face drained.
“I told you not to go through storage.”
Thomas looked at her.
“You said Mom stopped sending things.”
“She did.”
Lily held up the card.
Thomas read Margaret’s handwriting.
His expression changed.
“Brianna?”
“It must be old.”
“The postmark is from October.”
Brianna recovered quickly.
“I was protecting Lily. Your mother sends gifts to buy affection.”
Margaret nearly laughed.
Thomas looked uncertain.
That uncertainty hurt more than anger.
Lily whispered, “Can I keep Mom’s picture?”
Thomas immediately said, “Of course.”
Brianna crossed her arms.
“You’re rewarding disobedience.”
Thomas looked at her.
“It’s a photograph of her mother.”
For once, he did not back down.
Later, Margaret found him alone beside the Christmas tree.
“You love your daughter,” she said.
Thomas glanced at her.
“That obvious?”
“Not always.”
He looked offended.
Margaret continued polishing a brass candlestick.
“Children notice who protects them when protection is inconvenient.”
Thomas stared.
“You speak like my mother.”
“Perhaps she’s brilliant.”
He laughed despite himself.
“She’d agree.”
“Why doesn’t she visit?”
Thomas’s smile faded.
“Brianna says Mom hates her.”
“Do you know that?”
“No.”
“Have you asked your mother?”
Thomas looked toward the fire.
“No.”
Margaret wanted to shake him.
Instead she said, “Interesting.”
That night her attorney, Samuel Grant, called.
“The guardianship papers are real.”
“Has she filed?”
“Not yet.”
“What else?”
“We traced unusual payments from Thomas’s household account to Brianna’s brother, Kyle.”
“How much?”
“Four hundred eighty thousand dollars.”
“For?”
“Consulting.”
“Kyle sells luxury cars.”
“I know.”
Margaret stared at the snow outside.
Then Samuel added, “Brianna requested a medical evaluation of Thomas.”
“For what?”
“Cognitive impairment.”
Margaret almost admired the symmetry.
Brianna wanted the mother declared incompetent.
Then the husband.
Then control of the child.
“Samuel, do not stop her yet.”
“Margaret.”
“I need evidence.”
“You already have enough to confront her.”
“I don’t want a confrontation.”
“What do you want?”
“The truth.”
Upstairs, a crash sounded.
Margaret ran.
Lily stood beside a broken glass ornament.
Brianna towered over her.
“I didn’t touch it!” Lily cried.
Brianna raised her hand.
Margaret caught her wrist.
The room went silent.
Brianna looked at the old maid holding her arm.
“Take your hand off me.”
Margaret did.
Then Brianna smiled.
“You just made the biggest mistake of your life.”
Margaret looked at the shattered ornament between them.
May you like
“No,” she said quietly.
“I think you did.”
