Chapter 3 – The Call
Jessica knelt in front of Emma before she let herself look at anyone else.
"Sweetheart."
Emma's tiny hands clutched the layers of her blue princess dress.
"Did I do something wrong?"
The question cut deeper than anything Vanessa had done.
Jessica cupped her daughter's face.
"No."
Her voice was steady.
"You did absolutely nothing wrong."
Emma glanced toward the castle backdrop where another little girl was sitting in her throne.
"But... everyone forgot."
Jessica swallowed the anger rising in her chest.
"No, baby."
She brushed away a tear from Emma's cheek.
"They forgot how to behave."
Emma nodded, trying so hard to be brave that Jessica's heart nearly broke.
"Can I wait over there?"
She pointed toward a quiet bench beneath an old oak tree.
Jessica kissed her forehead.
"I'll come get you in just a few minutes."
Emma walked away alone.
Not one member of Jessica's family followed her.
Not one.
Instead, her mother approached with an irritated sigh.
"For heaven's sake, Jessica."
She lowered her voice as if Jessica were the one causing a scene.
"You're making everyone uncomfortable."
Jessica looked at her.
"My daughter is crying."
"She's seven. She'll get over it."
Jessica couldn't believe what she had heard.
"Mom..."
"This is Vanessa's moment."
Jessica laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
Because it was the only thing stopping her from crying.
"My daughter's birthday is Vanessa's moment?"
"You've always been so dramatic."
Vanessa stepped beside their mother, casually sipping sparkling lemonade.
"Honestly, Jess."
She shrugged.
"I'm thirty-four."
"I've never had a party this beautiful."
"You already paid for everything."
"So why let it go to waste?"
Several relatives nodded.
Aunt Carol folded her arms.
"She's right."
Jake avoided Jessica's eyes.
His wife stared at the ground.
Jessica realized something terrifying.
Nobody thought this was stealing.
They thought she should simply accept it.
Vanessa smiled sweetly.
"You can always have another birthday next year for Emma."
Jessica looked across the pavilion.
Emma was sitting alone on the bench, hugging her scrapbook to her chest.
She hadn't opened it.
She just held it like something precious that had already been broken.
Jessica reached into her purse.
Pulled out her phone.
And dialed one number.
She spoke only one sentence.
"Hi, David."
A brief pause.
"I need you to come to Riverside Park."
She listened.
"Yes."
Another pause.
"No."
She looked directly at Vanessa.
"I don't need the police."
"I need the owner."
Then she hung up.
Vanessa laughed.
"The owner?"
Jessica slipped the phone back into her purse.
May you like
Without another word.
She simply waited.
