PART 3: TWO TRUTHS, ONE DAUGHTER
I covered my mouth.
“Maisie.”
She began coming down slowly.
Callum shot to his feet.
“Maisie, go upstairs!”
“Don’t,” I warned him.
I knelt near the bottom step.
“Sweetheart, it’s me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Are you really my mommy?”
“Yes, baby.”
“You didn’t leave?”
I shook my head.
“I’ve been looking for you every day.”
She started to cry.
Then she ran into my arms.
I held her so tightly I never wanted to let go.
“Mommy, I thought you didn’t want me.”
My heart broke.
“Never, sweetheart.”
“Daddy said you left us.”
“He wasn’t telling you the truth.”
She buried her face against my shoulder.
“Please don’t disappear again.”
I kissed her forehead.
“I won’t.”
But when Callum spoke behind us, Maisie’s body went rigid.
She was afraid of him.
And I realized that bringing her home would be far more complicated than finding her.
Callum moved toward the front door.
“This is Maisie’s home,” he announced.
“She has a home with me,” I replied.
“I’ve raised her for four years.”
“You took her away from her mother.”
His expression hardened.
“You can’t walk in here and destroy everything.”
I held Maisie closer.
“What do you want, Callum?”
He looked straight at me.
“I want my family back.”
I couldn’t believe him.
“You mean you want us to pretend these four years never happened?”
“We could tell people she was found.”
I stared at him.
“You expect me to lie?”
“Think about Maisie. Do you really want her to lose another parent?”
Finally, I understood.
He wasn’t asking for forgiveness.
He was trying to control what happened next.
Then Maisie whispered something important.
She remembered my phone number.
Even after four years, she had kept those digits in her memory.
She also remembered the campfire.
The lake.
And my promise that we would return the following summer.
Callum admitted she had begun asking questions about her early childhood.
He had hoped she would eventually forget me.
When she didn’t, he told her I had abandoned them.
Maisie looked toward him.
“You said Mommy didn’t love me.”
He tried to explain.
But she shook her head.
“You said she didn’t want me anymore.”
I felt tears burning my eyes.
Callum had taken our daughter and then convinced her that I had chosen to leave.
“Why did you keep her away for so long?” I demanded.
He looked exhausted.
“I never meant for it to last four years.”
I froze.
“What?”
“I only wanted you to understand what losing her felt like. I thought I’d take her away for a few weeks.”
My stomach turned.
“Then why didn’t you bring her home?”
“Because the police started searching. The story got huge. I couldn’t suddenly come back with her.”
“You could have told the truth.”
“And gone to prison?”
There it was.
He had let our daughter stay missing because he was afraid of the consequences of admitting what he’d done.
“You chose yourself over her every single time,” I whispered.
He stepped closer.
Maisie instantly hid behind me.
Callum noticed.
“Sweetheart, are you afraid of me?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she gripped my hand.
His face crumpled.
I looked toward the door.
“Move aside. Maisie’s coming with me.”
“No.”
“Callum.”
“You’re not taking my daughter!”
Maisie began to cry.
Then headlights swept across the windows.
A vehicle pulled into the lane.
Another followed.
Callum went pale.
“You called the police.”
“I came here alone,” I answered.
Outside, a voice called:
“Callum Mercer, this is the police. Open the door.”
He glanced toward the back of the house.
I tightened my grip on Maisie’s hand.
“Don’t make this worse.”
He stared at me.
“You’ve ruined everything.”
I looked down at our frightened daughter.
“No, Callum. You did.”
He ordered Maisie to tell me she wanted to stay.
She edged closer to my side.
“I want Mommy,” she whispered.
At last, Callum stepped away from the door.
I opened it.
Detective Harris came in with other officers.
After years of investigating Maisie’s disappearance, he looked visibly moved when he saw her.
“This is Maisie,” I whispered.
He crouched a short distance away.
“Hello, sweetheart. I’m Detective Harris. I’m here to help.”
Maisie hid behind me.
As officers escorted Callum outside, he stopped.
“Miriam, please don’t let her hate me.”
I stared at him.
“Whatever she feels is hers. You don’t get to control that too.”
He lowered his head.
Then the officers led him away.
Maisie tugged at my sleeve.
“Mommy, will they make me go back?”
