Claire stopped.
“What did you just say?”
Diane lowered her voice.
“You heard me.”
The patio door opened.
Luke walked inside carrying a tray of hamburgers.
His smile disappeared instantly.
He looked at Ellie.
At Claire.
At the destroyed cake.
At his mother.
“What happened?”
Ellie began crying again.
“Daddy.”
Luke put the tray down so quickly that one hamburger slid onto the counter.
He crossed the room.
“What happened to her?”
Claire’s eyes remained on Diane.
“Ask your mother.”
Luke looked over.
“Mom?”
Diane gave an exhausted sigh.
“I pushed her into the cake.”
Luke stared.
“You what?”
“It was a joke.”
His expression changed.
“Are you serious?”
“Everyone is behaving as though I threw her down the stairs.”
Luke walked toward Ellie.
“Baby, are you hurt?”
Ellie shook her head, though she kept crying.
Luke touched her hair carefully.
“Can Daddy see?”
She turned her face.
Frosting still clung to one eyebrow.
Luke’s jaw tightened.
He looked toward the cake.
Then back toward his mother.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
Diane’s eyes widened.
“Do not speak to me like that.”
“Then don’t shove my daughter’s face into things.”
“I did it to you.”
“And apparently that was stupid too.”
Claire looked at him.
Diane looked stunned.
For once, Luke did not retreat.
His mother pointed toward Claire.
“There it is.”
Luke frowned.
“There what is?”
“This.”
She gestured between them.
“She has been waiting for an excuse.”
Claire almost laughed.
“To do what?”
“To create another problem between my son and his family.”
Luke shook his head.
“No. Don’t do that.”
“I knew this party was a mistake.”
Claire stared at her.
“You insisted on hosting it.”
“Because my granddaughter deserves a proper birthday.”
Claire looked around the enormous kitchen.
The balloon arch Diane had ordered without asking.
The matching table settings.
The caterer Claire had said they did not need.
The professional photographer Diane invited despite Ellie hating strangers taking her picture.
The pink-and-gold decorations Diane chose even though Ellie had asked for dinosaurs until Diane convinced her dinosaurs were “a little boyish.”