She Saw the Birthmark and Dropped to Her Knees

CHAPTER 2 - WHAT THE DEAD WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP

Emma had never fainted in her life, but for one wild second she thought she might.

Instead, she gripped the counter until the wood bit into her palms.

The flower shop smelled like roses, wet stems, and panic.

Margaret let out a broken sob. "No. No, it wasn't. I kept mine. I never let it go."

The man beside her turned to Emma. "I'm Daniel Hart. Margaret is my wife."

Not her father, then. Emma felt oddly relieved by that.

Daniel helped Margaret into the small chair near the window display. Emma brought her water with unsteady hands. Customers slowed outside, glancing in, but no one entered. It was as if the whole street had stepped back to let this moment happen.

Margaret held her own locket tightly. "Twenty-six years ago, I gave birth to a little girl. We named her Rose."

Emma sat down across from her without meaning to. Rose. The name landed somewhere deep.

"She was born with that same mark," Margaret whispered, looking at Emma's wrist. "A tiny heart. Exactly there."

Daniel's face was strained. "There was a fire at the private maternity home. We were told the records were destroyed. We were told our daughter died before she could be transferred."

Emma swallowed. "Who told you?"

"A nurse named Linda Voss," Margaret said. "She brought us a blanket and this." She touched the locket. "One half had been on the baby. One half was mine."

Emma shook her head slowly. "I was adopted at three months. My parents told me I was left through a church agency. No details. Just that I came with this locket."

She wanted to stop talking. She wanted all of them to leave.

Because one thought had already entered the room and would not leave with them.

If Margaret was telling the truth, then someone had lied to everybody.

Daniel glanced toward the shop door. "Emma... is there anyone who can close up for you?"

Before she could answer, the bell above the door rang.

An older woman in a raincoat stepped inside, saw the lockets in their hands, and went white.

Emma's breath caught.

It was Linda Voss.