Chapter 6 - The Missing Piece Of Her Family
Luca took the drawing from Eleanor's hands.
For a long moment, he studied its uneven edge.
Then he looked at Lily.
“Do you remember where you made this?”
“At school.”
“With your teacher?”
Lily nodded.
“We had to draw our favorite family dinner.”
She pointed to my painted apron.
“Sophie made spaghetti that night. Daddy came home early.”
I remembered that evening.
Luca had arrived unexpectedly while Lily was helping me set the kitchen table.
He'd taken off his suit jacket and stayed to eat.
Lily had talked for nearly an hour.
Nothing extraordinary had happened.
And that was probably why she remembered it so clearly.
Luca traced the edge of the drawing.
“Vanessa removed me?”
Lily nodded.
“She said the picture looked messy.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“I thought you weren't there.”
Luca turned toward her.
“You believed a piece of paper over your granddaughter?”
“I believed what I already feared.”
That answer hurt because it was honest.
Eleanor had wanted proof that Luca was failing.
Vanessa had provided it.
And neither woman had stopped to ask Lily what the picture actually meant.
I watched Luca fold the drawing carefully.
“We're taking this with us.”
Eleanor looked frightened.
“Are you going to keep Lily away from me again?”
Luca paused.
“I'm not making that decision today.”
“Luca—”
“But you're going to stop deciding what she needs without listening to her.”
Eleanor lowered her head.
He turned toward Lily.
“Would you like to go home?”
She nodded.
Then she held up the locket.
“Can I keep this?”
“Always.”
On the drive back, Lily sat beside me, opening and closing the necklace.
She studied the photograph of her father holding her as a baby.
“Daddy looks younger.”
I smiled.
“He was younger.”
“His hair was funny.”
Luca laughed from the front seat.
“I'm hearing everything, princess.”
“Sorry, Daddy.”
“Don't be. You're right.”
But his laughter faded when Lily asked another question.
“Why wasn't he in the picture Grandma saw?”
I squeezed her hand.
“Because someone changed it.”
“Can you put him back?”
I looked toward Luca.
“I think we can find a way.”
That afternoon, he went with us to Lily's elementary school.
He'd canceled two meetings to do it.
The school office was quiet when we arrived.
Lily's teacher, Mrs. Ortiz, greeted us with surprise.
“Mr. Moretti. It's good to see you.”
Luca shook her hand.
“I'm sorry it hasn't been more often.”
Mrs. Ortiz looked at Lily.
“Would you like to show your father the classroom?”
Lily brightened.
“Can I?”
“Of course.”
She led him past colorful posters and rows of small desks.
I followed with Mrs. Ortiz.
On one wall hung drawings labeled MY FAVORITE FAMILY MEMORY.
Lily pointed to an empty space.
“Mine used to be there.”
Mrs. Ortiz nodded.
“Vanessa asked to take it home last week.”
Luca stopped.
“She removed it?”
“She said you wanted to frame it.”
He glanced at me.
I knew exactly what he was thinking.
Vanessa had taken a happy memory and turned it into evidence against him.
Mrs. Ortiz looked concerned.
“Is something wrong?”
Luca explained what had happened.
Not the details about the engagement.
Only that someone had arranged to send Lily away without his knowledge.
The teacher's expression changed.
“I thought you knew.”
“Why?”
“Vanessa told us Lily would be transferring to another school after your wedding.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Did anyone confirm that with me?”
“We contacted the household office.”
“Not me personally?”
Mrs. Ortiz hesitated.
“No.”
Luca looked away.
For years, he had allowed other people to handle his daughter's schedule.
He had believed that meant Lily was cared for.
Now he was discovering how easily someone could speak in his name.
“Is Lily still enrolled here?”
“Absolutely. We haven't processed any transfer.”
He exhaled.
“Good.”
Mrs. Ortiz studied him.
“Mr. Moretti, there's something else you should know.”
She told him about the school recital he'd missed in the spring.
And the parent conference he'd canceled.
Then she explained that Vanessa had repeatedly told the school not to bother Luca with routine concerns.
“Was Lily having problems?” he asked.
“Mostly sadness. She missed her mother. And sometimes she worried about disappointing you.”
Luca looked across the room.
Lily was showing me a model of the solar system.
He watched her carefully.
“I didn't know.”
Mrs. Ortiz spoke gently.
“Children don't always tell us when they feel they're asking for too much.”
Those words stayed with me.
Because I'd heard Lily apologize for wanting her father at bedtime.
I'd seen her put drawings away when he was working.
And I had sometimes told her that Daddy was very busy.
I suddenly wondered how much I'd helped her learn to stay quiet.
Later, Mrs. Ortiz brought out a folder containing Lily's recent classwork.
“There's one particular assignment that concerned me.”
She placed a sheet of paper on the desk.
Across the top, in Lily's handwriting, was her name.
Except it wasn't the name I'd seen on her homework for fourteen months.
Luca leaned forward.
The page showed the same unfamiliar words written five times.
Lily Hart.
Lily Hart.
Lily Hart.
Luca looked at his daughter.
“Princess, why were you practicing Grandma's last name?”
Lily stared at the floor.
“Because I thought I wasn't going to be a Moretti anymore.”
“Who told you that?”
She rubbed her teddy bear's ear between her fingers.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Grandma said nobody at my new house would call me by your name.”
