The handle would not turn.
“Emily, are you inside that room?”
After a moment of silence, her frightened voice answered.
“Dad, I am here, but she told me not to come out.”
I found the key above the doorframe and opened it.
Emily sat beside a washing machine with her knees pulled to her chest. Her flower basket rested on the floor, and several crushed petals clung to her skirt.
I knelt immediately.
“Why are you sitting here, and who told you to remain inside?”
She twisted the ribbon around her waist until her fingers turned pale.
“Vanessa said I had to stay hidden until the ceremony ended.”
Every sound inside the building seemed to disappear.
“Why would Vanessa tell you something like that?”
Emily glanced toward the doorway as though expecting Vanessa to appear.
“She said today needed to belong to your new family, and people would feel uncomfortable if Mom’s daughter stood beside you.”
