When I opened the door, she stood on the porch holding a large envelope against her chest.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
“Nora?”
She tried to speak, but her voice broke.
“Claire, I don’t know how to tell you this.”
Panic rushed through me.
“What happened? Is Ellie okay?”
“She’s fine. She’s with Tom.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
She stepped inside and followed me into the kitchen.
Instead of sitting down, she stood beside the table, smoothing the envelope with trembling fingers.
I pulled out a chair.
“Nora, please. You’re scaring me.”
She sat.
Then she looked directly at me.
“Remember what the adoption agency told us about Ellie’s background?”
I nodded.
“That she’d entered care as a baby and nobody knew who her parents were?”
“Yes.”
“What about it?”
Nora swallowed.
“They’ve discovered that information might not be true.”
I stared at her.
