Page 43 of The Amendment

Beside me, Ainsley sucked in a sharp breath. Bailey was eleven years old, the same age as Maisy. Not old enough to be sleeping with anyone. And certainly not someone my age.

A protective rage filled my stomach.

Someone needed to report this. I wanted to go forward, to demand they tell me what they were talking about, but I feared if I did, I might never know the truth. Ainsley seemed to be struggling with a similar train of thought.

“Shut up! You have no idea what you’re talking about. You shouldn’t say stuff like that when you obviously don’t know anything,” Maisy said, the anger in her voice palpable. She stood abruptly, dusting her hands across the seat of her shorts.

“Don’t snap at her,” Dylan shouted back defensively.

“I’m sorry. I was just saying what I’d heard—”

“Well, what you’ve heard is shit—”

I’d never heard my daughter curse before, and that alone was a kick to the gut. Before I’d had a chance to recover, Maisy had turned around and stopped short, staring at us in horror.

“Mom? Dad?”

Ainsley met my eyes briefly as we both contemplated what we should say or how we should move forward. It was as if the ground had crumbled beneath us. I could see it on each and every one of our faces. In the end, it was my wife who navigated us through. She dropped her arms in front of her, the basket dangling near her knees.

When she spoke, her voice was soft but shaken.

“Let’s go inside for a bit, Maisy. We… I think we should talk.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

AINSLEY

“You’re not in trouble, sweetheart. You just need to tell us the truth.”

“But Ihavetold you the truth,” Maisy screamed, her cheeks red with frustration and glistening with fresh tears.

“So, you have no idea what Julie’s talking about? Bailey hasn’t mentioned anything about it at all?”

“No,” she whined, swiping her hands across her eyes. “Please just stop! She doesn’t know anything!”

“Okay.” I put my hands up, trying to calm her down. “Let’s just breathe.” I gestured toward the bed and we sat down. Peter was likely lingering just outside the door, but I knew if I had any shot of getting her to open up, talking to her alone was it.

She sat down slowly, her breathing erratic as she sobbed. “Okay, let’s just start with who Julie was talking about in the first place. Who was the man?”

Her face wrinkled. “It’s all just a stupid rumor, Mom. Please don’t make me talk about it. It’s disgusting!”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t just let it go. If it is a rumor, we’ll figure out how to get it stopped. I’m not going to be mad at you, I just want to help Bailey.”

She sniffled, looking up at me. “What will happen to them?”

“Happen to who, baby?”

“To the girls…”

Something in the quiver of her voice had my insides squirming. “So, itistrue, then?”

She placed her face in her palms. “I don’t know.”

“Well, whatdoyou know?”

She was quiet.

“Do you know who Julie was talking about?”

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