“So he sent someone to stop you?”
“Yes.”
Meredith’s eyes filled.
“I panicked. I hid the ring behind some candy before Frank could see it. He made me leave, but I convinced him to let me go back inside for my purse.”
“And that’s when Ellie found it?”
She nodded.
“I couldn’t believe it.”
I remembered how frightened she’d looked when her phone rang.
“That call you received?”
“My father. He was furious.”
I folded my arms.
“You told Ellie she’d saved your life.”
Meredith wiped her eyes.
“She saved the one thing my mother wanted Claire’s child to have.”
I looked away.
Meredith continued.
“I already failed Claire once. I couldn’t bear failing her daughter too.”
“What do you mean?”
“A year before Claire died, she wrote me a letter. She wanted to reconnect.”
“And?”
“I never answered.”
“Why not?”
Meredith stared at her coffee.
