Such pretty green eyes. Lily smiled through the window. She picked up the rose and the subpoena. Going to the door, she couldn't stop gazing at her happy daughter. Eyes are the window to the soul, she thought, smiling at Rose's. They revealed what a person had inside, and what Rose had was beautiful.

This can't be happening, Lily thought. She felt wild, overwhelmed, as if she'd just gotten off a dangerous flight. Her feet were on solid ground, but her body was still rattling, from all the fear and bumps. From the minute she had decided to return to Hubbard's Point, she had known in her heart that this day would come. That didn't lessen the impact of now confronting the reality of a no-holds-barred battle with Edward—with Rose, precious Rose, in the center of it all.

Opening the door, she felt her daughter charge into her arms.

“Do we have any old bread?” Rose asked. “The swans are swimming by, and I want to feed them.”

“Sure,” Lily said. She rummaged through the bread box.

“Want to come down on the rocks?” Rose asked. “And feed them with us?”

Lily started to say no. She had to call a lawyer, she had to research Connecticut law, she had to pack all their bags and get ready to go into hiding again, slip out of Hubbard's Point, Black Hall, Connecticut, the United States. Her veins were flooded with adrenaline, literally compelling her with fight-or-flight instincts. But Rose was staring up at her, eyes sparkling, chest rising and falling from the everyday exertion of being nine years old.

“Of course,” Lily said. She grabbed the bread, and Rose's hand. Rose led her down the hill beside the cottage, past the cement medallion embedded with shells and a sand dollar that Lily had made when she was a young girl. Liam stood on the rocks. Rose scrambled down to him, bread in hand. The swans were swimming out of the silver mist, around the Point. Liam stared at Lily, and she knew that he knew something was wrong.

The swans glided up, graceful white birds with orange bills. They looked so lovely and serene. The babies they had had at the beginning of the summer had grown; their feathers were still dark, but getting whiter.

“Mom,” Rose said. “Dr. Neill told me swans are like belugas. They're born dark, as a way of staying camouflaged from predators. Then they get lighter as they grow up, until they turn pure white when they're adults.”

Lily nodded, unable to speak.

“Aren't they beautiful?” Rose asked. She held out her hand, and the mother swan got close enough to almost nip her fingers. Lily cried out as she lunged forward to grab Rose and hold her tight. They lost their balance slightly, and Lily scraped her bare foot on the barnacles.

“Mommy!” Rose said, alarmed.