“Watching?”
She nodded.
“Like he was waiting for something.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“What happened after?”
“He called Mom first.”
That surprised me.
“Not emergency services?”
“No.”
She wiped her eyes.
“He called Mom and told her I slipped. He told her not to panic before anyone even knew if I was okay.”
I sat there silently.
Because that detail mattered.
A person who watched someone fall into freezing water should call for help.
Not build a story.
My phone suddenly buzzed.
A message.
From Claire.
My ex-wife.
I opened it.
Please don’t make this worse. Ryan is already upset. Lily probably misunderstood what happened.
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
She’s always had a difficult relationship with him. Maybe she’s blaming him because she’s scared.
I looked at my daughter.
The girl who had called me at 2:47 in the morning because she was afraid nobody would believe her.
