“Just you, me, and your grandmother.”

He set the cup down with a sharp click against the saucer.

“Let’s sign the papers, and we can put the past behind us.”

He pulled a silver pen from his breast pocket and clicked it.

The sound was incredibly loud in the quiet living room.

I looked at the hallway.

The old grandfather clock chimed the hour.

We were waiting for someone.

Rebecca had promised she would arrive by eight o’clock.

She had told me on the phone that she had the evidence we needed to see who Thomas really was.

My heart hammered against my ribs as the clock finished its strikes.

“I think we should wait,” I said.

Thomas frowned, his pen poised over the signature line.

“Wait for what, Mother?”

“There’s no reason to delay.”

“The lawyers in Richmond are expecting these documents by tomorrow morning.”

“We need to get ahead of the court schedule.”

Caroline leaned back in her chair.

“I’m not signing anything yet, Dad,” she said.

Her voice had lost its soft, vulnerable edge.

It was cold now, and precise.