Chapter 2 - THE QUESTION NO ONE COULD ANSWER
Emily opened her mouth, but no words came.
The ballroom had become a place of whispers.
Daniel noticed several guests holding phones.
He turned toward the event coordinator.
“Please clear the area around the piano.”
His voice was quiet, but the coordinator moved immediately.
Lily stared at him.
“Are you going to have us thrown out?”
The question struck him harder than anything else that evening.
“No.”
He swallowed.
“Absolutely not.”
Emily gathered her sheet music.
“We need to leave.”
“Mom, stop.”
Lily's voice trembled.
“Please stop deciding everything without telling me.”
Emily went still.
Daniel looked at the girl.
Fifteen.
His daughter.
He wanted to ask a thousand questions.
What was her favorite subject?
Did she like the snow?
Was she afraid of thunderstorms?
Had she ever wondered why her father wasn't there?
Instead, he said:
“You deserve an explanation.”
Emily looked at him sharply.
“And you deserve one too,” he added.
They moved into a private sitting room beside the ballroom.
Daniel asked the hotel manager to bring water and then leave them alone.
Lily sat on the edge of a sofa.
Emily remained standing.
Daniel took the chair farthest from them.
He did not want Lily to feel trapped.
Finally, Emily spoke.
“Sixteen years ago, I tried to contact you.”
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“After I left Chicago.”
His throat tightened.
“You left without telling me where you were going.”
Emily shook her head.
“I left a letter.”
Daniel stared.
“What letter?”
She closed her eyes.
“I left it at your office. I sent another to your apartment.”
“I never received either.”
Emily's face changed.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Emily, I spent six months looking for you.”
She stared.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You told me you wanted to concentrate on your career.”
Daniel frowned.
“When?”
“The night before I left.”
He shook his head.
“We argued about my job offer in New York. I told you I needed to think.”
Emily's eyes filled.
“You said love wasn't enough.”
Daniel went still.
“I never said that.”
Lily looked between them.
“Then somebody is lying.”
May you like
Neither adult answered.
And for the first time, Daniel wondered whether the worst night of his life had happened exactly the way he remembered it.
