Chapter 16: Thursday at Harbor

The Ardmore Family Wing opened at seven, and by ten to seven we were standing in its lobby.

Eli wore a clean jacket, and I wore my sister's navy coat.

The plaque was on the wall by the elevators, polished brass, with the foundation's name on it and no one else's.

Two women sat in the waiting area holding clipboards and their husbands' hands.

I had been one of those women, in a different building, with a different clipboard.

"Ready?" Eli asked.

"No."

"Good. Neither am I."

The revolving door turned at seven exactly.

Greer came in first, in the pale cardigan, with her hair pinned flat.

She was pushing Otto's stroller, and a young woman in a gray coat walked a pace behind her.

Chase came next, shaved and rested.

Constance came last, and she was the only one of them who smiled when she saw me.

"Ms. Farraday," she said. "You came to watch. I'm touched."

"I came for Greer."

"She doesn't need you." She stopped in front of me. "Greer, dear, sign in at the desk. The nurse is waiting upstairs."

Greer didn't move.

The stroller rocked under her hands.

Otto was awake, in a hat with ears, and he looked straight at me and held up his arms.

My chest went tight.

"Greer," I said. "Look at me, not at them."

She looked.

"You don't have to," I said. "Whatever she's told you, you can walk back out that door."