Michael intervened and, for the first time, told Vanessa plainly to stop taking her frustrations out on the nanny. Vanessa smiled with a razor-thin mouth and said perhaps he had finally found someone who could take better care of the child than she could.
Later, while tidying Riley’s room, Emma found a stack of drawings hidden under the pillow. In one, a brown-haired woman embraced Riley—that was Emma. In another, a woman in a red dress held a ruler—that was Vanessa. Riley stood between them with huge frightened eyes.
Beneath the image were the words, “I’m scared.” Emma closed the notebook slowly and left it exactly where she had found it, but her heart would not settle after that. At dinner Michael asked Riley about school and piano, and Riley told him she liked practicing more now because Emma taught “more softly.” Michael laughed—really laughed—for the first time in months. Across the table Vanessa gripped her wineglass so tightly her knuckles went white.