Adrian let her draw on a hotel notepad.
She drew an airplane.
Then herself.
Then me.
Then a very tall stick figure beside us.
“Who’s that?” Adrian asked.
“You.”
His eyebrows rose.
“I’m honored.”
“You have big arms.”
Daniel choked on his coffee.
I covered my face.
Adrian examined the drawing.
“I look remarkably healthy.”
“You carried the stroller.”
“I did.”
Lily added something beside him.
A small square.
“What’s that?”
“Your suitcase.”
“I didn’t have a suitcase.”
She considered this flaw in reality.
Then turned the square into what looked like a dog.
“There.”
“Much better.”
Watching him with her confused me.
Ethan had always loved Lily.
That was part of what made everything so difficult.
People were easier when they were one thing.
Good.
Bad.
Kind.
Cruel.
Faithful.
Dishonest.
But Ethan could be patient with Lily and controlling with me.
He could remember my mother’s birthday and hide financial decisions.
He could lie to me while perhaps believing he was protecting us.
And Adrian could be considerate while still carrying secrets I didn’t understand.
Maybe growing up meant accepting that people rarely arrived in clean categories.
Maybe strength meant learning to see complexity without surrendering your own judgment.
I looked at Lily.
She had syrup on her cheek.
At least some things were simple.
I wiped it away.
“Okay,” I said. “Tell me what you found.”
Daniel opened the laptop.
“Your booking was made nine days ago.”
“I know.”
“Mr. Prescott changed onto your flight yesterday afternoon at 2:14 p.m.”
Adrian nodded.
“And fourteen B?” I asked.
Daniel turned the screen toward me.
“The seat had been occupied.”
My heart began to pound.
“By who?”
“A passenger named Claire Ellison.”
Adrian stopped moving.
I looked at him.
“Claire?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
Daniel did.
“Mr. Prescott’s executive assistant.”
I stared at Adrian.
“You said Claire booked your ticket.”
“She did.”
“And she was supposed to sit beside me?”
“Apparently.”
Lily was drawing beside us.
I lowered my voice.
“Why?”
Adrian looked genuinely shaken.
“I don’t know.”
“Was she traveling to Houston?”
“Yes, but on my original flight.”
“Then why did she have a seat on mine?”
He turned to Daniel.
Daniel clicked through the reservation history.
“Seat fourteen B was booked under Ms. Ellison’s name six days ago. She cancelled it yesterday at 1:51 p.m.”
“Twenty-three minutes before you changed flights,” I said.
