I shook my head, barely noticing the bright hallway and the walls covered in children’s drawings. “Can we… just go to the classroom?”
She nodded and led me in.
The room hummed softly with the sounds of crayons and whispered conversations. On the memory board, taped between pet pictures and smiling grandparents, was the photo: Ava and Mia in pajamas, their faces sticky with ice cream, Demi standing between them holding Mia’s wrist.
I stepped closer, staring.
“Where did this come from?”
Ms. Edwards lowered her voice.
“I don’t know how much I can tell you, Taylor. But Demi said those were her sisters. She talks about them sometimes. Her mother, Macy, brought the photo. She said it was from their last ice cream trip.”
I pressed my palm against the wall to steady myself. “Macy gave it to you?”
“Yes. She said the loss was very hard on Demi. I didn’t ask questions—how could I?”
I nodded, my throat tight. “Thank you. Really.”
She squeezed my hand gently. “If you want it taken down, just say so.”
I shook my head, my voice thick. “No. Let Demi keep her memory.”
At home, I finally gathered the courage to call Macy. The phone rang four times before her thin, uneasy voice answered.
“Taylor?”
“I need to talk.”
A pause. “All right.”
Macy’s house was smaller than I remembered, the front garden scattered with Demi’s toys. She opened the door with trembling hands.
“Taylor, I’m so sorry. Demi misses them… I kept meaning to reach out—”
I interrupted her. “Why did you still have a photo from that night? I recognized the girls’ pajamas.”
Her jaw tightened, shame flickering across her face.
I tried again. “That photo—was it taken that night? I just need to hear you say it.”
Macy’s shoulders sagged.
“Yes, it was. Listen, Taylor, I… I haven’t told you everything.”
“Then tell me now. All of it.”
Her hands twisted together as she looked anywhere but at me.
“That night, I was supposed to pick Demi up from my mother’s house and bring her back to your place. The twins were in the car with me.”
I thought back to that evening, how my girls had helped me choose which dress to wear for the gala.
“They started begging for ice cream,” Macy continued. “And I just wanted to make them happy. I kept thinking, it’ll be 10 minutes, what’s the harm?”
“But you told the police there was an emergency with Demi?”
Macy’s face crumpled. “I lied. There was no emergency. I just wanted to include Demi. I’m so sorry, Taylor.”
Silence settled heavily between us.
I forced myself to speak. “Did Stuart know? Did you tell him?”
She nodded, tears sliding down her cheeks.
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