Her eyes shifted toward the bassinet beside my chair.
“Because your mother said if I embarrassed the family, she would tell you I wasn’t capable of taking care of Liam.”
I stared at her.
“She said what?”
Maya’s voice grew quieter.
“She said you were already under pressure at work, and that if I called you home, you might lose the German contract. She told me you had warned her I could be emotional after the surgery.”
“I never said that.”
“I know that now.”
“Maya, I never said anything remotely like that.”
“I know.”
The pain in her voice stopped me. I sat beside the bed and took her hand.
Her wedding ring hung loosely around her finger.
“I should have told you,” she said. “But every time I tried, she was nearby. Or Chloe was. They kept saying you had enough to worry about.”
“Why did you believe them?”
Maya looked at me then, and for the first time since I had found her, I saw something sharper than fear in her eyes.
