Chapter 2: The Name on the Paper
The envelope had my name on it.
SARAH BENNETT.
Not Sarah Miller, my married name.
My maiden name.
The handwriting wasn’t Jason’s.
“What is this?””
Jason stood three feet away, staring at the envelope like it contained a loaded gun.
“Sarah, give it to me.””
“No.””
“Please.””
“You’ve had seven years to tell me whatever this is.””
Lily clung to my side.
I suddenly remembered she was listening.
I crouched.
“Sweetheart, go sit with Aunt Melissa.””
“No.””
Her fingers tightened around mine.
“I want you.””
My anger cracked.
I kissed her forehead.
“I’m not going anywhere.””
Melissa knelt beside her.
“Come inside with me. We’ll clean your hands.””
Lily stared suspiciously at Diane.
Diane had retreated toward the patio.
“Grandma can’t touch you,” I said.
“I promise.””
Only then did Lily let Melissa take her.
When the door closed behind them, I opened the envelope.
Inside was a folded hospital document.
The paper had faded along the edges.
I recognized the hospital name immediately.
St. Matthew’s Medical Center.
The place where Lily was born.
My eyes moved down the page.
Mother: Sarah Bennett.
Infant: Female.
Then another line.
Acknowledgment of Paternity.
My hands began shaking.
A man’s name appeared beneath it.
Ethan Cole.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
“Who is Ethan Cole?””
Jason said nothing.
I looked at Diane.
She folded her arms.
“Ask your husband.””
“Who is he?””
Jason rubbed both hands over his face.
“It’s complicated.””
“No, complicated is refinancing a mortgage. There’s another man’s name on my daughter’s hospital paperwork.””
I thrust the document toward him.
“Who is Ethan Cole?””
Jason lowered his hands.
“He was at the hospital that night.””
“Why?””
“Because I wasn’t.””
The words landed like stones.
I stared at him.
“You told me you were there.””
“I got there later.””
“You told me you held Lily while the doctors were working on me.””
“I know.””
“You described it.””
My voice broke.
“You told me she wrapped her hand around your finger.””
Jason looked away.
Seven years of memories suddenly felt contaminated.
I had heard that story dozens of times.
At birthdays.
At Christmas.
Whenever Lily asked about the day she was born.
Daddy held you first.
Daddy never left your side.
“How much of it was a lie?””
“Sarah—”
“How much?””
“Most of it.””
My stomach twisted.
I slapped the paper against his chest.
“Why?””
Diane stepped forward.
“Because Ethan Cole was your boyfriend.””
I turned.
“What?””
“Mom,” Jason warned.
“You want the truth? There it is.””
“I never had a boyfriend named Ethan.””
Diane gave a humorless laugh.
“That’s what Jason chose to believe.””
I stared at her.
Then at him.
“Chose to believe?””
Jason sank into a patio chair.
For the first time, he didn’t look defensive.
He looked defeated.
“The hospital called me,” he said quietly.
“You were unconscious. There had been complications. They said another man was there claiming he needed to see you.””
“Who?””
“Ethan.””
“I don’t know an Ethan Cole.””
“I thought you were lying.””
“While I was unconscious?””
His eyes closed.
I felt physically sick.
Jason continued.
“When I arrived, Ethan was holding Lily.””
My knees nearly gave way.
“He said he had a right to be there.””
“What right?””
“He wouldn't tell me.””
Diane interrupted.
“He didn't need to. It was obvious.””
I rounded on her.
“Nothing about this is obvious.””
“He was holding your newborn.””
“So you decided she wasn’t Jason’s?””
Diane’s face hardened.
“We had questions.””
“You had questions, so today you dragged a seven-year-old child toward a trash can?””
For the first time, Diane looked away.
Jason stood.
“I had a DNA test done.””
Silence.
I slowly turned back.
“You what?””
“When Lily was six weeks old.””
“You tested my baby without telling me?””
“I needed to know.””
My voice dropped.
“And?””
Jason swallowed.
“She’s mine.””
The rage inside me became something colder.
“So you have known for seven years that Lily is biologically yours.””
“Yes.””
“And your mother knows?””
“Yes.””
“Your father?””
Jason hesitated.
“Yes.””
“Melissa?””
“Yes.””
I looked through the kitchen window.
Lily sat at the table while Melissa cleaned her scraped palms.
My beautiful little girl.
Surrounded by people who had apparently discussed her bloodline behind my back for years.
I turned to Diane.
“You knew she was Jason’s, and you still told her she wasn’t his real daughter?””
Diane’s lips tightened.
“The DNA test answered one question. Not the others.””
“What others?””
Before she could answer, Melissa came back outside.
She was holding something else now.
A photograph.
“I found this inside the envelope too.””
Jason went rigid.
Melissa handed it to me.
The photograph had been taken in a hospital room.
I was visible in the background, unconscious in bed.
In the foreground stood a tall man I had never seen before.
Ethan Cole.
He was holding newborn Lily.
But it wasn’t Ethan’s face that made my blood run cold.
It was the woman standing beside him.
She looked older now.
But I recognized her immediately.
May you like
It was my mother.
The woman who had told me she was hundreds of miles away the night Lily was born.
