The First Reunion
Chapter 10 - The First Reunion
Rose met Lucy in a family room at a child-support center, with a specialist nearby and Adrian waiting in the next room. I was there because Lucy had asked me to stay until she felt ready.
Rose wore a soft green cardigan. She'd brought a book of animal stories, not a pile of expensive gifts. When Lucy entered, both of them stopped. The girl looked at the woman she'd seen on a screen and in old photographs.
“Are you my mama?” Lucy asked.
Rose knelt. “Yes. And you can take all the time you need.”
Lucy looked toward me. I nodded gently. She stepped forward and touched the swallow pendant around Rose's neck.
“You have the same bird.”
“Your daddy gave me this one when we were young.”
Lucy stared at her for another moment. Then she asked, “Did you go away because I was bad?”
Rose's face collapsed. “No, darling. Never. People kept us apart. You didn't cause it.”
Lucy leaned against her. Rose held her carefully, and both began to cry. Adrian, watching from the doorway, turned away and pressed a hand against his mouth.
The reunion was not a magical cure. Lucy struggled with separation afterward and asked repetitive questions about where adults were going. Rose sometimes became overwhelmed by grief and needed quiet breaks. They worked with professionals, kept routines predictable, and learned to say where they would be and when they would return.
After the visit, Adrian approached me outside. “You brought her back to us.”
“I found the door. Lucy did the brave part.”
He looked toward the building. “I almost sent you away without listening.”
“You did grab my wrist.”
“I know. I was wrong.”
I appreciated that he didn't invent an excuse.
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That evening investigators told Adrian that Vivian had been located and was being questioned through counsel. But a new discovery raised questions about the night of the crash itself.
**The car had been serviced two days earlier by a company Leon Price secretly controlled.**
