Her little body shook so violently her teeth clicked together.
Judith let out an irritated sigh. “You’re being hysterical. It’s hair, Bethany. Hair grows back.”
I pressed my cheek against Meadow’s shaved scalp. It felt warm. Too exposed. Too defenseless.
Then Meadow finally found enough voice for three words.
“Daddy said yes.”
I closed my eyes.
She whispered it again, as though repeating it might somehow make it hurt less.
“Daddy said yes.”
The rest of the world disappeared. The house. The rain outside. The woman in pearls. The clippers. The marriage I had spent twelve years protecting by swallowing insults and calling them misunderstandings — all of it faded until there was only my daughter trembling in my arms beneath her grandmother’s roof while her father’s betrayal sat between us like a loaded weapon.
I looked up at Judith.
“Move away from the door.”
“You cannot take her from my house looking like this.”
