Something inside me twisted, a mix of fear and anger. “Not to say what? Honey, you can tell me anything.”
She bit her lip, looking between me and the bear like she was picking sides. Then, in a tiny shaky voice, she whispered, “Daddy said if you knew, you’d leave us. I don’t want that!”
My throat closed up. The room blurred as I knelt down, trying to keep my voice steady. “Leave you? I will never leave you! Why would Daddy say that? What is it, sweetheart?”
Her next words turned my world upside down.
She leaned closer, her little hands shaking.
“Last week I wasn’t in kindergarten the whole week,” she said quiet.
I looked at her with big eyes. I didn’t know that. Her teacher never called, and I never saw a note. What was she talking about?
But the guilty look on her face told me there was more. Her eyes darted away like she had a big secret.
“Where have you been, sweetie?” I asked.
She played with Teddy’s paw and whispered, “Daddy told kindergarten I was sick. But… I wasn’t. Daddy took me places.”
My chest tightened. “What places?”
Her eyes went down. “We went to the movies. The amusement park. Out to eat. And… we went with Miss Tessa.”
That name made my heart stop. Tessa. Who was Tessa?