Emma began crying harder.
“She did.”
Adrian stared at the bowl.
Then at Lauren.
“Did you tell my daughter to eat dog food?”
“No.”
Emma pointed.
“Yes!”
Lauren stepped toward them.
“Emma.”
Adrian stood so quickly that Emma tightened both arms around him.
Lauren reached toward the child.
Adrian caught her wrist.
Not violently.
But firmly enough to stop her.
Lauren stared at his hand.
“Let go of me.”
“Do not touch her.”
Her expression changed.
“You’re hurting me.”
Adrian immediately released her.
Jonathan moved farther into the kitchen.
“Lauren, maybe you should step back.”
She looked at him.
“This is a family matter.”
Jonathan nodded.
“Then I wish I hadn’t walked into it.”
“Leave.”
“No,” Adrian said.
Lauren turned.
“What?”
“Jonathan stays.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
“Because I want someone else to remember exactly what this room looked like when I walked in.”
The color drained from her face.
For the first time, Adrian saw fear.
Not outrage.
Fear.
Emma began whispering against him.
“Blue box.”
Adrian looked down.
“What?”
Lauren went completely still.
Emma pointed toward her.
“She wanted Mommy’s blue box.”
Adrian felt the room tilt.
Lauren’s voice became sharp.
“Emma, stop.”
Adrian turned.
“What blue box?”
Emma buried her face against his shoulder again.
Lauren spoke quickly.
“She found something in the attic. I told her not to play with old belongings, and she started screaming.”
Adrian looked at his wife.
“What did she find?”
“Nothing important.”
“Then why was she sitting beside the dog bowl?”
Lauren threw up both hands.
“Oh my God, Adrian. I lost my patience.”
“You lost your patience.”
“Yes.”
“With a six-year-old.”
“Yes.”
“And your response was to put her on the floor beside Ranger’s food.”
“She kept saying she was a dog because she was crawling away from me.”
Emma lifted her head.
“No!”
“Emma.”
Adrian’s voice was gentle.
“Tell me.”
Emma looked frightened.
Lauren interrupted.
“She is exhausted and confused.”
Adrian did not take his eyes from his daughter.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Emma wiped one cheek.
“I found Mommy’s box.”
“Where?”
“In the room upstairs.”
The attic.
Hannah’s things were there.
Adrian’s first wife had died four years earlier after an aggressive form of ovarian cancer.