Chapter 6 - Eleven Days Early
"She wrote this before the accident," I said.
Daniel stared at the document as if he could change the date by looking hard enough.
"Maybe the attorney used an old template."
"It has Evie's name. My name. The pool house address. And a paragraph about unsafe supervision near water."
He sat down. "I don't know what to say."
"Say you believe me."
"I believe you're telling me what happened."
"Daniel. That's not the same thing."
He rubbed his face. "She's my mother."
"And Evie's our daughter."
We sat on opposite sides of the hospital bed while Evie slept. I remembered the tiny ways Margaret had undermined me: second-guessing medicine, correcting me in front of teachers, calling our house to ask whether Evie had eaten enough. I'd mistaken control for worry because she always wrapped it in expensive presents.
That afternoon, I met a family lawyer named Julia Chen. She explained that Margaret couldn't become Evie's guardian just by making me sign something in panic. But paperwork could still be used to start a fight I didn't want to have.
"Don't argue with her over the phone," Julia said. "Save every message."
I showed her the agreement. She read the preparation date, then looked at me.
"This is not how a concerned grandmother usually acts."
Back at the hospital, a social worker asked to speak with me. Someone had reported that I'd repeatedly left Evie unsupervised and had ignored warnings about the pool. The report described three incidents I had never heard of.
One included a photo of Evie standing beside the water, crying.
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I recognized her yellow sandals.
The picture had been taken at Margaret's house two weeks earlier, on a day Margaret told me Evie had enjoyed a wonderful afternoon.
