Chapter 2 – The Silver Watch

“You’re leaving?” The boarding pass slipped from my fingers, fluttering onto the hardwood floor like a dead leaf.

Daniel scrambled to pick it up, his face pale. “It’s not what you think. It’s a business trip. An emergency.”

“On a one-way ticket?” I asked, my voice rising just enough to shake, but keeping it low so the kids wouldn’t wake. “The day after your mother assaults our child, you’re secretly flying across the country?”

“My mother is exactly why I have to go,” he whispered fiercely, stepping closer. “You think this is just about her being mean? She cut me off, Sarah. I found out yesterday morning. The business, the accounts, the trust. She froze everything.”

I stared at the man I had married. Eleven years, and I suddenly felt like I was standing in a room with a stranger. “What does that have to do with Seattle?”

“Uncle Arthur,” Daniel said, looking down at his hands. “He’s the only one who can override her control of the family estate. He lives in Seattle. If I don’t go, we lose everything.”

“So you were going to sneak out in the middle of the night without telling me?”

“I wanted to protect you from the financial stress!”

“Protect me?” I laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. “You let her hit Chloe to protect my finances?”

Daniel flinched. Before he could answer, the soft squeak of the stairs made us both turn. Tyler was standing on the bottom step, holding the worn silver pocket watch my father had given him before he passed. Tyler only held that watch when he was terrified.

“Tyler, honey, go back to bed,” Daniel said, forcing a gentle tone.

Tyler didn’t look at his father. He looked at me. He walked over, his little bare feet silent on the floor, and pressed the cold silver watch into my palm.

“He’s lying, Mommy,” Tyler said quietly. “Grandma didn’t freeze his money. I heard them talking in the hallway before dinner. He asked Grandma for money to go away, and she said she’d only give it to him if she could have me.”