Chapter 17: The Lobby

Holly's POV

The lobby of Ellery Mutual has a marble floor and a staircase that curves up to a balcony.

At ten on Thursday morning, two hundred people stood on that balcony and on the stairs with their coffees.

Everyone had seen the photo.

I walked in through the revolving door in my navy coat and my work flats, and the sound in the room changed.

A photographer had set up a white backdrop at the foot of the stairs.

Derek stood in front of it in a blue tie.

Gwen stood beside him in a blue dress, with Eli's hand in hers.

Eli wore a tiny blue blazer, and he saw me first.

"Hi, June's mommy," he said, and waved.

I waved back.

It cost me something, and I did it anyway.

None of this was his fault.

I walked to the front desk.

The receptionist, a young man with a lanyard, stared at me.

"Holly Kane," I said. "I'm here to see Ross Ellery."

I said it loudly enough for the balcony.

"Holly." Derek had crossed the floor to me with his hands out. "Honey. This isn't the place."

"I know," I said. "I wanted a bigger one, but this is what you left me."

"Let's go home and talk."

"Which one? You changed the locks."

A woman on the stairs laughed, and then stopped herself.

Derek smiled for the room, and his voice went very kind.

"She's been under a lot of strain," he told them. "We're working through it as a family."

"We're not," I said.

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