Chapter 1 - The Boot Behind the ChairGrace knocked the fruit plate from her hand and watched the slices scatter across the hardwood floor.
“You’ll eat when I say you can.”
Evelyn Bennett reached toward an apple slice, but her trembling fingers fell short. Grace stepped behind the wheelchair and shoved it backward.
“If you want it, crawl for it.”
The chair rolled several feet before striking a polished black military boot.
Daniel Bennett stood behind his mother in dress uniform, home two days earlier than expected.
He secured the wheelchair, picked up the empty plate, and threw it onto the floor before Grace’s feet. Porcelain shattered harmlessly across the wood.
Then he turned away from her, knelt beside Evelyn, and offered her fresh fruit.
“Pack your things and get out of my mother’s house.”
Grace went pale.
Evelyn caught Daniel’s sleeve before he stood.
“Don’t let her take the blue folder.”
May you like
Grace’s eyes moved toward the staircase.
Daniel understood immediately that the cruelty he had witnessed was not the only reason his wife feared being forced to leave.
