She looked frightened.
Not annoyed.
Not angry.
Frightened.
Before I could ask another question, Lily had walked into the kitchen asking for water, and Clara immediately changed the subject.
I never got the chance to ask her again.
Now, standing beside her coffin, I suddenly remembered every word.
I looked at Derek.
He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Derek,” I said.
His head lifted.
“What?”
“What did Clara mean?”
My mother immediately interrupted.
“Alex, this is not the time.”
I turned toward her.
“Then when is the time?”
“Your wife is dead.”
“I know that!”
My voice echoed through the living room.
Lily flinched.
I immediately lowered my voice.
Then I crouched beside my daughter.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Lily wiped her cheeks.
She looked toward Derek.
Then toward my mother.
Then she leaned closer to me.
“Daddy…”
Her voice was barely a whisper.
I took her hand.
“What is it?”
She looked around the room before speaking.
It was the kind of nervous glance I had seen adults make when they were afraid someone might overhear them.
“Mommy told me not to tell Grandma.”
My stomach tightened.
“Tell Grandma what?”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“About Uncle Derek.”
Across the room, Derek suddenly moved.
“That’s enough.”
I stood.
“Why?”
He shook his head.
“She’s a child. She doesn’t understand what she’s saying.”
Lily immediately grabbed my shirt.
“Yes, I do!”
Derek stopped.
My daughter looked directly at him.
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
“Mommy was scared of you.”
The room went completely silent.
My father began hitting his wheelchair armrest again.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
He pointed upstairs.
This time, I understood.
He wasn’t simply upset.
He was trying to tell me something.
Something that had happened upstairs.
Something my family didn’t want me to see.
I looked toward the staircase.
My mother stepped directly into my path.
“Alex, please.”
I stared at her.
“Move.”
“Your father is confused.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Alex—”
“Move.”
She didn’t.
Then Lily whispered from behind me:
“Daddy… Mommy hid something in her room.”
My heart began pounding.
I looked at my mother’s face.
Then at Derek.
Neither of them spoke.
And suddenly, I understood why everyone had been so desperate to get Clara buried before I came home.
Whatever Clara had hidden upstairs, they were terrified I would find it.
