Free Desperate by Daniel Palmer Page A

to her face, blindsided by Lily’s reaction. Anna had wanted this discussion to be a slow build, but Lily had just slammed her foot down on the accelerator.
    “No, no, that’s not it at all,” said Anna.
    Lily did not seem convinced. Her eyes glanced toward her bedroom where she would need only minutes to pack that one small suitcase.
    Anna continued, “We just have a question, that’s all.”
    “What question?” Lily asked. “I told you I feel horrible about it. I don’t know what else I can say.”
    Anna’s expression begged me to facilitate the discussion. This was my doing and therefore my responsibility. I cleared my throat, prepping it for words I wasn’t sure would come out.
    “I just want to ask you some questions about it,” I said. “I’m not angry, I’m just a little confused about something.”
    Lily gazed at me as though I were speaking in a foreign tongue. More sweat on the back of my neck. My heart fluttered with anxious little spasms. Was I making a bigger deal out of this for nothing? Was it all just an improbable set of unrelated coincidences?
    “What?” Lily asked, looking to Anna for the answer. She didn’t trust me, and I hadn’t given her reason to. I was the one hurt by the present, so her allegiance naturally went over to Anna, where she felt safe. Couldn’t blame her. “What do you want to ask?”
    “Where was the yard sale where you bought the rocket? Do you remember?”
    Lily shrugged.
    “I don’t know. I’m not even sure what town it was in. I was just driving around in my friend’s car, doing some errands and I saw a big yard sale, so I stopped, and that’s where I found the rocket.”
    “Did you Google my name before you came to see us?”
    “Did I what?”
    “Google, or do some other web search. Did you look into my past before you came to us about adopting your baby?”
    Lily’s top lip curled in disgust. I was calling into question her motives and true intent.
    “I told you guys, I found you on that ParentHorizon website and I recognized you from that day you saw me crying at the bus stop. That’s all.”
    “So you never checked into my past. You didn’t see the picture of me and Max?”
    “What picture?” Lily directed her question to Anna.
    “There is a photograph in a local newspaper that shows Gage and Max building the same model rocket that you bought for him,” Anna explained.
    Looking utterly bewildered, Lily bolted from her seat. Her body shook with outrage.
    “You think I found that picture and intentionally bought you that rocket as a gift? Why would I do that?”
    “I don’t know, Lily,” I said. “I just want to understand. It’s not a commonly sold rocket and it was unused.”
    “It was a freakin’ accident! A mistake! Look, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I’m sorry I brought up the past. But it wasn’t intentional. I feel horrible about what happened. But I don’t need this. I can’t live here knowing you guys think so little of me. I’m . . . I’m sorry.”
    Lily lowered her head as she raced out of the living room. Seconds later I heard the door to her bedroom slam shut.
    Panic overcame Anna. She gave me a distressed, heartbroken look.
    “Go speak with her,” she said. “Make this right. You fix this, Gage.”
    Her words left no room for compromise. Anna would never forgive me if Lily walked out of our lives. Hell, I’d never forgive myself. I got out of my chair, my stomach in knots. I had forced this confrontation. But was I misguided? Everything about Lily’s reaction told me that I had thrown a grenade into the middle of a peaceful gathering. Strange things do happen. Maybe these coincidences were a sign from the universe, or Max, or something, that this was meant to be. Maybe the signs were there but I was reading them all wrong.
    I rapped my knuckles softly against Lily’s bedroom door.
    “Lily, please, can we talk about this?”
    I heard noises coming from the room. Drawers opening. I knocked again and