Chapter 12: School Assembly

Melinda kept the folder pressed against her ribs and the shoebox on the floor where it was.

"I'm in my father's study," she said. "At one in the morning. In my own house."

"It's not your house, Mindy. You signed it away."

"Then you can show me the page again."

Leland's eyes went to her waistband and came back up.

He didn't ask what she was holding. That told her more than the folder had.

"Maddox," he said pleasantly. "You're trespassing. The sheriff is two minutes down the road, and he likes me."

"He's my guest," Melinda said.

"Is he?"

"Yes."

Leland studied her for a moment, then Zachary, then the box of letters on the floor.

"The car comes at nine," he said. "Get some sleep, both of you."

He turned and walked back upstairs. His slippers made no sound at all.

Zachary was already moving.

"Del, we can't stay in this house."

"I'm not leaving it. I'm leaving it in the morning." She pushed the box into his arms. "Take these to the gatehouse. Take this too."

She gave him the folder.

"Bianca wrote that. All of it. I'll want my mother to see it."

He looked at her for a long moment.

"What are you planning?"

"Posy has a spring concert at nine," Melinda said. "Mom told me at lunch. I intend to be in the front row."

At a quarter to eight a white van with a green logo pulled up to the front door.

Two attendants in grey jackets waited on the porch with a clipboard.

Leland answered the bell in his shirtsleeves, and checked his watch, and frowned.

"Mindy?" he called up the stairs. "Darling, the car is here."

Nobody answered.

The sewing room was empty. The bed was made. A white plate sat in the middle of the pillow.

The kitchen door was unlocked, and a girl's school jacket was gone from its hook.

Melinda had her daughter's hand in hers by then.

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