Emma's Secret: A Novel

her head. “Why would she respond to being called Emmie and not her real name? It’s not like the two names are completely different. Plus, I thought she would have been more settled and happier by now.” Megan sighed. Was it all her fault? Was she failing her daughter somehow?
    Kathy leaned on the armrest. “She still needs time, Megan. This could be Emma’s way of keeping the memory of that life alive.”Kathy gave a small smile. “Let’s talk about how she’s adjusting. Is she talking more?”
    “A bit. She offers more to a conversation now if she’s involved in some way. But…” Megan hesitated.
    “Is she talking about things from the farmhouse?”
    Maybe it was the way Kathy asked, or the tone of her voice when she asked it, but tears welled up in Megan’s eyes. All she could do was nod.
    “Remember, we talked about that. It’s completely normal—healthy even. She’s trying to find ways to involve herself with you. For her, sharing memories still fresh in her mind is one way of doing that. It’s good, Megan.” Kathy leaned forward. “Really, it’s a good sign. She’s engaging more.”
    Megan’s brow rose. “So am I being oversensitive? Am I making the whole name thing more than it is?”
    The way Kathy crossed her legs and took another sip of her coffee angered Megan. She wasn’t sure what it was—maybe it was how relaxed she appeared or the look in her eye, like she was only appeasing Megan.
    “Why would she respond to Emmie and not Emma?” she blurted out. That was the real question, the one that bothered her the most.
    Kathy cocked her head and reached for the pad of paper on the small table beside her. “Maybe she was responding to the first few letters of her name, the Em part. It’s possible that’s all she heard.”
    Megan shook her head. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. She knotted her fingers together. “No. I called her name repeatedly, but she didn’t hear me. The moment I called her that other name, she did.”
    Kathy scribbled some notes down on her sheet, and Megan couldn’t help but wonder whether she was going to suggest thatMegan go on some type of drug again. Just like before. She was not crazy. She knew something was wrong.
    “What was she doing before all this happened?”
    “Excuse me?”
    Kathy set her pad back down on the table and folded her hands together. “Was Emma in the middle of something when you called her name?”
    Megan recalled the quiet conversation she’d overheard between Emma and Daisy.
    “She was talking about how much she missed
them
. The others.”
    She didn’t tell Karen about the fairy lights. She didn’t need to. The way Emma’s eyes lit up when Megan said she could have some in her room confirmed that had been the right thing to say.
    “Kathy, she’s been with us now long enough that she should remember what it was like to be part of our family. How much we loved her. I’ve done everything you suggested, and I’m very aware of when Emma’s had enough. I don’t force her to interact with us; I give her as much time as she needs while still accepting her feelings. But…” She hesitated, unwilling to say what she’d feared all along.
    Kathy waited.
    “It was as if she had been waiting all this time to be called Emmie again.”

CHAPTER SIX
    P eter stood at the back door and whistled. Where was that dog? He was ready to relax, maybe start a new book or watch a movie that didn’t contain animated creatures, but he couldn’t do that until everyone was tucked into bed, including Daisy. He had no idea what Megan was doing. How long did she need to take? He wasn’t upset—but a text or phone call would be nice.
    He’d already said good night to Hannah and Alexis, but Emma refused to sleep without Daisy, and that was a battle Peter wasn’t willing to fight. Megan was the one who did the kids’ night routine, so he wasn’t sure about Megan’s habits with Emma. But if having the dog by her side meant less hassle for him, he considered that a win-win situation.
    His phone vibrated in his pants pocket as Daisy scampered up onto the deck and sat, waiting for Peter to let her in. He pulled out the phone and absentmindedly opened the door for the dog.
    He expected it to be a text from Megan letting him know she was on her way home, so he was a bit surprised when he saw it was from Sam.
    Still up?
    His fingers danced over the keyboard on his phone as he followed Daisy through the house and up the