Page 36 of The Widower
“Hanna, right?” I remembered her name after a few seconds.
“Mm-hmm. You’re my mommy’s boss, right? I forgot your name.”
I smiled again.
“My name’s Colin.”
“Oh, okay. And what about her?”
“Her?” I asked, startled.
“Yeah. The girl in the picture you’re holding.”
I froze. I hadn’t even realized I was still holding my daughter’s photo.
For the third time, I couldn’t find my voice right away.Finally, I managed to say, “Her name’s Maddison.”
“Is she your daughter?” she asked curiously as we walked toward the bathroom.
“Yes.”
“Oh. I’ve never seen her here before. Maybe if I find her in this big house, we can play together?”
How could I possibly explain to her that Maddison wasn’t here anymore? That I was one of the people responsible for her death?
I stopped walking, and Hanna immediately turned her attention to me, her expression puzzled. I crouched down until I was at her level.
“My daughter… she died after an accident.”
That was all I managed to say. I had to fight hard not to fall apart after those words left my mouth.
“Oh. I’m sorry, mister.”
Before I knew it, the little girl reached up and patted my head gently, as if trying to comfort me.
What the hell was happening right now?
“Y-you’re… it’s okay,” I stammered, too embarrassed to say anything else—or to figure out how to handle the situation.
I had no idea how to act around a child. So I said the only thing I could think of to escape the awkwardness I’d landed myself in.
“How about we go find your mom?” I said, standing up and breaking that small, unexpected moment between us.
“Uh-huh.”
I took her tiny hand again, and we started walking to look for Isabelle—but the whole time, something inside me felt… off. Unsettled.
ISABELLE CAMPBELL
I blinked, and somehow Hanna was gone—lost somewhere in that endless maze people call a mansion. And this after I’d explicitly told her not to leave my side.
I stopped what I was doing and went looking for her. Oh, she was in for it when I found her—no doubt about that.
I searched the entire house, but there was no sign of her.Panic started to creep in for one simple reason...
If Hanna hadn’t left the mansion, there was only one place she could be.
Oh, no.
