Page 59 of The Keeper

She gasped and held up a delicate silver bracelet adorned with charms. I spotted a miniature horse, a tulip, and a heart engraved with the initials S.A. “This is so pretty!”

“That belonged to your mother,” Elizabeth said. “It was her favorite piece of jewelry. She lost it before she…left for college, but our housekeeper found it a few months later. We’ve held on to it this entire time, but we thought you’d be the perfect person to pass it on to. I hope you like it.”

“I do. Thank you.” Evie stared at the bracelet, transfixed. She loved gifts and jewelry, but I had a feeling her fascination stemmed more from its connection to her mother.

The tightness in my chest cinched harder.

“Here. Let me put it on for you.” Oswald helped her clasp the bracelet around her wrist. It was a little big, but Evie beamed with excitement.

Her initial wariness gradually thawed as the Andersons engaged her in conversation about her school and hobbies. They were surprisingly good with her, attentive and even humorous at times. I couldn’t believe they were the same people who’d dropped a custody bombshell on me the same night they met me.

I let them take over and settled into the role of background observer. Tonight wasn’t about me, but I felt like I was watching a documentary about my potential irrelevance. The entire scene had a surreal, dream-like quality about it.

Was this what it would be like if the Andersons got shared custody? Would I be relegated to the fringes of Evie’s life? If she split her time between us, would she realize what she’d been missing all these years and hate me for not being present enough?

It was a horribly selfish thought, rooted in my insecurities more than anything else. It was also uncharitable toward Evie, thinking her love for me was so fragile. But self-awareness and logic alone couldn’t quiet the nagging voices in my head.

I gulped down my water and wished it were the off-season so I could take solace in a proper beer. Hell, throw in some Scotch as well. Anything that would soften the constant churn of my anxiety.

“What was my mum like?” Evie suddenly asked as our servers cleared our salad plates.

I froze while the Andersons exchanged long looks.

Elizabeth spoke first. “She was incredibly spirited,” she said with a soft smile. “She loved horseback riding and summers at the lake.”

“Don’t forget arguing with us,” Oswald added. “She loved that too.”

“Oh, yes.” Elizabeth laughed. “She was a natural-born debater, your mother. She captained her school’s debate team. Won almost every competition. Anything she set her mind to, she accomplished.”

“Got into every Ivy League school she applied to, too. Could’ve had her pick of pre-law programs, but she chose to study philosophy in Michigan.” Oswald’s mustache bristled. “Alas. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

Elizabeth shot her husband a sharp look before she faced Evie again. “Your mother had a horse named Trixie. Do you want to see? I have some pictures of her on my phone.”

Evie brightened. “Yes! I love horses. They’re so pretty.”

I listened as the Andersons shared more stories about Sarah. Some things I already knew, but others were revelations. Like how she broke her arm trying to do a somersault when she was ten, or how she’d spent the summer after her junior year of high school at a horse camp in Germany. It underscored how little we really knew about each other.

Evie’s curiosity overrode her usual reticence when it came to her mother. She soaked up all the details and anecdotes, peppering the Andersons with questions that they answered readily.

I was so absorbed in studying their dynamic that I forgot about Carina’s fake emergency call until my phone rang halfway through the main course.

I checked on Evie. She was listening raptly to Oswald’s recounting of Sarah’s sweet sixteen party. She didn’t need me hovering, and I wasn’t contributing much to the conversation anyway, so I excused myself and took the call outside.

“What’s the verdict?” Carina asked when I picked up. “Are you staying, or do you have a friend who desperately needs your help bailing them out of jail?”

“I don’t think having friends who are in jail would help my case, Vu,” I said wryly. I leaned against the restaurant’s exterior wall, heat sinking deep into my skin as Carina’s laughter tinkled over the line.

“Valid point. In that case, I can pretend to be your agent calling with a super urgent work problem.”

“I appreciate it, but I don’t need a fake emergency after all. Evie is getting along well with the Andersons.” The words scraped up my throat like razor blades.

“That’s good.” A brief pause sagged beneath the weight of my silence. “Right?”

“Right.” I meant to leave it at that. But as was always the case with Carina, my mouth kept moving while my brain tried desperately to slam on the brakes. “It’s strange, that’s all. It’s only been the two of us for almost her entire life. There were my parents and Tabitha, but I never felt like…”

They were trying to replace me.

“Like they were trying to take your place,” she surmised with uncanny insight.