Chapter 6
The next two weeks were the longest of my life.
We spent every day getting ready for the trial.
Nathaniel’s lawyer, Ms. Bennett, was a sharp, no-nonsense woman in her fifties with silver hair and a stare that could cut steel. She came to the estate every other day to go over our statements. To prepare us for what Victoria’s lawyer would try to do.
“He’s going to attack Lila,” she said, sitting across from us at the kitchen table one afternoon. “He’s going to say she’s a confused child. That she has an overactive imagination. That you, Clara, put her up to this to get money from Nathaniel. He’s going to try to make you both look like liars and gold diggers.”
Lila, who was coloring at the other end of the table, looked up.
“But I’m not lying,” she said, her little face serious.
Ms. Bennett smiled at her.
“I know you’re not, honey,” she said. “And we’re going to make sure the jury knows it too. But you have to be brave. Can you do that for me?”
Lila nodded so hard her pigtails bounced.
“I can be brave,” she said.
Eleanor was released from the hospital a week before the trial. She was in a wheelchair now, still weak, her left arm still in a cast. But she was determined to be in the courtroom every single day.
She moved back into the estate. The west wing, right down the hall from Lila and me.
She and Lila became inseparable.
Every morning, Lila would climb into Eleanor’s lap and they’d read books together. Every afternoon, they’d draw pictures in the sunroom. Eleanor would tell Lila stories about when Nathaniel was little. About how he used to sneak cookies out of the jar and blame it on the dog.
Lila laughed so hard at those stories she could barely breathe.
Watching them, I felt my heart get a little bigger every day.
This was what family felt like. I’d never had that. Not really. My parents had died when I was young. I’d bounced from foster home to foster home until I aged out. I’d raised Lila alone, working two, sometimes three jobs just to keep us afloat.
I’d never known what it was like to have people who cared. Who had your back no matter what.
But I was starting to learn.
Three days before the trial, I was folding laundry in Lila’s room when Nathaniel knocked on the door.
He leaned against the frame, watching me for a second.
“Can I talk to you?” he said.
I nodded, putting down the shirt in my hands.
He walked in and closed the door behind him. He took my hands in his.
“Clara,” he said, his voice soft. “I need you to know something. Whatever happens in that courtroom. Whatever that lawyer says about you. About Lila. None of it matters to me. I know the truth. I know who you are. You’re the bravest, kindest, most amazing woman I’ve ever met. And Lila… she’s the daughter I never had. I love both of you. More than anything.”
My breath caught. Tears stung my eyes.
“Nathaniel,” I whispered.
He brushed a tear off my cheek with his thumb.
“I don’t want you to go back to that tiny apartment after this is over,” he said. “I want you to stay here. With me. With Mom. This is your home now. If you want it to be.”
I stared at him, my heart racing.
“Are you sure?” I said. “I’m just the maid. I don’t—”
“Stop,” he said, cutting me off. “You were never just the maid. Not to me. Not to Mom. Not to Lila. You’re family.”
He leaned down and kissed me.
Soft. Gentle. Perfect.
I kissed him back, my arms wrapping around his neck.
For a second, all the fear. All the stress. All the pain of the last few weeks melted away.
It was just us.
Then Lila burst through the door, her unicorn under her arm.
“Mama! Grandma Eleanor wants to know if—”
She stopped. Her eyes went wide. Then she grinned, a big, gap-toothed grin.
“Ewwww,” she said, giggling. “You’re kissing!”
Nathaniel and I pulled apart, laughing.
He picked Lila up and swung her around.
“Guilty,” he said, tickling her until she screamed with laughter.
That night, I lay in bed, Lila sleeping beside me, a smile on my face.
May you like
Whatever happened in that trial, I thought. We had each other.
And that was enough.
