At Six, Lucas Threw a Boot at the Housekeeper Everyone Wanted Gone—But When He Begged Her Not to Leave, His Father Began to Question Everything His Family Had Told Him / Chapter 6 / 25

Chapter 6 - The Mother at the GateAnna Whitmore arrived at Hawthorne House on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

She stood outside the iron gates holding a small blue gift bag.

Her hair was wet.

She had called twice and received no answer.

The guard had been instructed not to admit her without authorization from Margaret Whitmore.

For ten minutes, Anna waited.

Then Daniel's car appeared on the curved driveway.

He had been returning from a meeting with the company's outside counsel when he saw her.

He stepped out beneath the rain.

"Anna?"

She turned.

The sight of him brought anger to her face.

"Is Lucas here?"

Daniel glanced at the bag.

"Why are you here?"

She stared at him.

"Because it's Saturday."

"Your visits were canceled."

"Not by me."

He felt the familiar ground shift beneath his feet.

"Anna, I have messages."

"So do I."

She opened her phone.

The screen displayed a message from the court-approved visitation coordinator.

Whitmore family requests suspension of this week's visit due to child's illness.

Below it was Anna's reply.

I can reschedule immediately. Please let me know when Lucas is better.

Daniel read it twice.

"Lucas wasn't ill."

Anna looked at him.

"Of course he wasn't."

She scrolled farther.

Another message.

Child distressed. Family requests no contact until therapist advises.

Then another.

Mr. Whitmore traveling. Visit cannot be accommodated.

"I came to the visitation center for the first four Saturdays," Anna said. "Three times, no one brought him. The fourth time, I was told your attorney had requested a temporary change."

Daniel could barely hear her over the rain.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"I did."

He looked up.

"You blocked my number."

"I never blocked you."

Anna gave a bitter laugh.

"Daniel, I called your office, your home, your cell phone. I sent letters through my attorney. Your mother told me you wouldn't discuss Lucas until I stopped making accusations about the family."

He remembered the screenshots.

The supposed refusals.

The messages expressing Anna's indifference.

"Why didn't you challenge the arrangement in court?" he asked.

"I did. My attorney filed requests. Your lawyer asked for continuances while an evaluator reviewed the allegations against me."

Her voice trembled.

"I spent months trying to prove I wasn't imagining things."

Daniel said nothing.

At last, Anna held out the gift bag.

"Please give him this."

He looked inside.

A children's book about a little fox looking for its way home.

Lucas had loved foxes when he was younger.

"He thinks you don't want him," Daniel said.

Anna's expression crumpled.

For a moment, she seemed unable to breathe.

Then she whispered, "What?"

"Lucas thinks you stopped visiting because he misbehaved."

Anna stepped backward.

"No."

"I'm sorry."

"No, Daniel."

She looked beyond the gates toward the mansion.

"Who told him that?"

He couldn't answer.

Anna wiped rain from her cheek.

"I didn't abandon my son."

"I know that now."

"Do you?"

She looked him directly in the eye.

"Because if you know it, you're going to have to do something."

Daniel pressed the gate release.

The iron barriers opened.

"Come inside."

Anna hesitated.

"The temporary order specifies supervised visits."

"I know. I won't pretend it doesn't exist. I'll call the coordinator and our attorneys. But we can at least discuss what happened without you standing in the rain."

Anna studied him.

For the first time, he wasn't ordering her to leave.

She followed him into the house.

Evelyn was arranging flowers in the entrance hall when they entered.

The two women exchanged a look.

Daniel saw it.

"You know each other," he said.

Anna nodded.

"We've met."

"When?"

"At a community family-support center," Evelyn answered. "Before I started working here."

Daniel remembered Grant's photograph.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Evelyn set down the flowers.

"Because I wasn't sure what Anna wanted you to know about her circumstances. But I should have disclosed that I knew her. I'm sorry."

"Did she send you here?"

"No," Anna said.

Evelyn looked at her.

"Anna didn't know I was working at Hawthorne House until I told her."

Daniel frowned.

"Then why did you meet three weeks ago?"

Anna answered.

"Because Evelyn contacted me."

A terrible silence followed.

Daniel looked between them.

"About Lucas?"

"Yes," Evelyn said. "I believed someone was making him afraid that people would leave. I wanted to know whether his mother had really stopped trying to see him."

"Why not tell me first?"

"I tried to speak with you about his fears. Your mother repeatedly stopped me."

Daniel had no answer.

Anna set the gift bag on the hall table.

"Daniel, I need to tell you what happened the night everyone decided I was unstable."

He stared at her.

She lowered her voice.

"I wasn't searching the house because I was paranoid."

"What were you searching for?"

"A document."

Daniel waited.

Anna looked toward the locked greenhouse beyond the windows.