"She'll be more calm if she sees you first."
The girl turned the handle.
The door was unlocked.
The apartment was small.
One window.
A kitchenette.
A couch that folded into a bed.
The air smelled like medicine and soup.
Elena was on the couch, a blanket pulled to her chest.
Her face was pale.
Her hair was damp with sweat.
She'd been sleeping — but the sound of the door woke her.
She saw Lily first.
"Lily?
Where have you been?
I told you not to go outside without—"
Then she saw the man behind her daughter.
Her mouth stayed open.
But the words stopped.
Conrad stood in the doorway.
Elena's hand gripped the blanket.
Her knuckles went white.
"No," she whispered.
"Elena."
"No.
No.
You can't be here."
She tried to stand.
Her legs shook.
She fell back onto the couch.
"Lily, come here.
Come to me.
Now."
"Mom, he just wants to—"
"I said come here."
Lily moved to her mother's side.
Elena pulled her close, her arm around the girl's shoulders like a shield.
Conrad took one step inside.
"Don't come closer," Elena said.
He stopped.
"Elena, please.
Just listen to me."
"Listen to you?" Her voice cracked.
"You disappeared.
Seven years.
No call.
No letter.
Nothing.
And now you walk into my home?"
"I didn't know you were here.
I didn't know about—"
"About what?
About her?
About how sick I am?
About the eviction notice on the counter?" She pointed.
"There.
Read it.
That's what you missed."
Conrad looked at the counter.
A folded paper sat next to a bottle of pills.
His jaw tightened.
"I was told you left," he said.
"Who told you that?"
"Margot."
Elena's face changed.
The anger shifted.
Something colder replaced it.
"Margot," she repeated.
"Of course."
"She told me you took Lily and moved.
That you didn't want me to find you."
"And you believed her."
"I had no reason not to."
Elena laughed.
Short.
Bitter.
It turned into a cough.
She pressed her hand to her chest.
"You had every reason," she said.
"I was pregnant when you left.
Did she tell you that?"
Conrad's face went still.
"Pregnant," he repeated.
"Lily was three weeks old when you walked out that door.
I called you.
Every day.
For months.
Your number was disconnected."
"I changed it.
Margot said—"
"Margot said I left.
Margot said I didn't want you.
Margot said, Margot said." Elena's voice was rising.
"And you never once questioned it?"
Conrad didn't answer.
Elena looked at him — really looked at him — for the first time.
"You really didn't know."
"No."
"Seven years.
And you didn't know."
"I thought you were gone."
"I was here.
The whole time.
Raising your daughter alone.
Working two jobs.
Getting sick.
Losing everything." She swallowed.
"And you were where?"
Conrad's voice was barely audible.
"With Margot."
The room went quiet.
Lily looked between them.
Her fingers were still gripping her mother's shirt.
"Mom…
who is he?"
Elena closed her eyes.
"Someone I used to know."
Conrad stepped forward.
"Elena—"
"Don't." She held up her hand.
"Don't say you're sorry.
Not yet.
Not until I understand why you're here."
Conrad reached into his coat.
He pulled out his phone and held it up — the photo of the bike frame, the carved letters, zoomed in.
C + E.
2017.
Elena stared at it.
"You kept it," she whispered.
"I gave it to her.
Before she was born." His voice broke.
"I carved it the night you told me you were pregnant.
I was going to teach her to ride it."
"And then you left."
"And then I left."
Elena's hand was trembling.
"Why are you here now?
What changed?"
"She was selling it.
On the street.
With a sign that said FOR SALE." He paused.
"I almost walked past her."
"You almost walked past your own daughter."
"I didn't know."
"You didn't recognize her?"
"She was three weeks old when I last saw her, Elena."
Elena looked at Lily.
The girl was watching Conrad with wide, careful eyes.
The same eyes.
Elena's hand came up to her mouth.
"Oh God," she breathed.
"She has your eyes."
Conrad's phone buzzed.
He looked down.
A text from Margot: "Where are you?
The board meeting starts in 20 minutes.
Don't do something stupid."
He turned the phone so Elena could see it.
"She's been tracking me," he said.
"She called right after I found the bike.
She said 'She found the bike.
We have a problem.'"
Elena read the text.
Then looked up.
"She's afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of you finding us."
Conrad put the phone back in his coat.
"I'm not leaving."
"You said that before."
"I know."
"And then you disappeared."
"I know."
Elena leaned back.
The coughing started again — deep, wet, painful.
Lily grabbed a glass of water from the table and held it to her mother's lips.