Chapter 6 - THE LITTLE GIRL WITH THE GRAY RABBIT
Emma loved the greenhouse.
Claire took her there on rainy afternoons because the glass walls made the raindrops look like tiny rivers.
The gardeners let her water the smallest plants.
She called every flower “baby.”
On Saturday morning, I found Emma sitting on a wooden bench beside a row of orchids.
Her rabbit was beside her.
She looked up.
“Mr. Roman!”
I smiled.
“Hello, Emma.”
She held up a yellow flower.
“Baby flower.”
“Very nice.”
She studied me.
“Are you sad?”
The question surprised me.
“Why do you ask?”
She pointed at my face.
“Your eyebrows.”
I laughed.
Apparently, my eyebrows were betraying me.
I sat beside her.
“I'm thinking about something.”
She nodded seriously.
“Mommy says thinking is hard.”
“Your mommy is right.”
Emma leaned against my arm.
For a moment, we sat quietly.
Then she whispered:
“Aunt Vivien said Bunny is ugly.”
I looked at the rabbit.
Its gray fur was worn.
One ear had been repaired with mismatched thread.
But Emma held it like treasure.
“Bunny looks very brave to me,” I said.
She smiled.
“He is.”
Then she looked toward the greenhouse door.
“Mr. Roman?”
“Yes?”
“Will Aunt Vivien make Mommy go away?”
I felt something tighten in my chest.
“No.”
Emma stared.
“Promise?”
I looked at her.
I had made promises to powerful men that meant less than the one she was asking for.
“I promise.”
She held out her pinkie.
I hooked mine around it.
May you like
A contract.
More important than anything in my safe.
