Julian lowered his phone slightly. “You're right, sweetheart.” He looked back at Vanessa. “I heard Zoey ask whether you would send her sister away if she didn't say what you wanted. I heard you tell her to say a sentence. That is not a child speaking freely.”
Vanessa folded her arms. “You're taking a sensitive parenting situation out of context. You weren't here for the months of problems. I have been carrying all of this while you were traveling.”
He could not deny that last part. His absence had made the situation possible. But admitting his failure did not mean accepting her explanation. “I should have been here,” he said. “And because I wasn't, I have to listen even more carefully now.”
Vanessa glanced at Daniel. “Is there a reason we need an audience for this?”
Daniel answered without raising his voice. “Julian asked me to review the school documents. I am here to help make sure no decision about the children is rushed.”
The mention of the documents changed Vanessa's face. “This is ridiculous. Briarwood is an excellent school.”
“An excellent school for whom?” Julian asked. “Did Amara ask to go there? Did Zoey ask to lose her sister? Did the counselor actually recommend it?”
“Amara needs boundaries,” Vanessa snapped. “She has never accepted me. She turns everything into a competition with a woman who isn't even alive.”
The room fell still. Vanessa seemed to hear her own words only after she had said them. Amara stared at the floor. Zoey pushed her beads out of her eyes, bewildered by the sudden silence.
Julian took one step toward his wife. “Camille was their mother. Her memory is not an opponent you have to defeat.”
“Easy for you to say,” Vanessa replied, her composure finally cracking. “You go away and come back to photographs and precious stories. I'm the one who has to live with a little girl who looks at me like I'm stealing something every day.”
Amara looked up. “I never said you couldn't live here.”
“No,” Vanessa said bitterly. “You just make sure nobody forgets this will never be my family.”
Julian reached for Amara, then stopped, giving her the choice to move closer. She did, but only by a few inches. Zoey ran to her sister at last and wrapped both arms around her waist. Amara crouched so she could hold her properly. The tiny white beads knocked against Amara's cheek, and she closed her eyes.