Toby was watching closely, so he noticed the subtle stiffening of Reggie’s shoulders and the tightness around her mouth.

“Sometimes she was mean,” he continued, his voice matter-of-fact. “There were a lot of rules, and when I didn’t follow them, she punished me.”

“Did she hit you?” Reggie asked quietly.

“She locked me in a closet under the stairs. There wasn’t a light or anything. She would put me in there and not let me out for a long time.”

Reggie flinched, and tears filled her eyes. She quickly blinked them away.

“That would have scared me a lot,” she whispered. “Were you scared?”

Harrison nodded, then sat on the sofa. “I didn’t know what to do. Lori said if I told Dad, the police would take me away from him. I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew I had to be quiet.”

Reggie looked at Toby, her gaze questioning.

“I had no idea,” he said. “Harrison grew less enthused about Lori, but other than that, I had no reason to think anything was wrong. When I tried to ask him what was going on, he said everything was fine.”

“Dad went away for a few days,” Harrison continued. “He left me with Lori.”

“You must have been so scared.”

He nodded slowly. “I tried to be good. I tried not to break any rules, but I did, and she put me in the closet. Only this time it was a really long time, and she didn’t let me out.” He looked down. “I started screaming and screaming, and she said the more I screamed, the longer I would have to stay there.”

More tears filled Reggie’s eyes, and a few trickled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Harrison.” She pressed her lips together. “May I hug you?”

He nodded and flung himself at her. She held him tight, then kissed the top of his head. Toby felt his tension ease.

“I came home early,” he said, picking up the story. “I didn’t tell her because I wanted it to be a surprise. I walked into the house and Harrison was screaming. I couldn’t believe it.”

He still remembered the horror of that moment. How it had taken him a second to figure out what the sound was and where it had been coming from. He’d freed his son and had held him, knowing whatever Lori had done was his fault. He’d been the one to bring her into their lives. He’d been the one to trust her with his son.

He remembered the body-shaking sobs and how Harrison was crying so hard, he couldn’t catch his breath. He remembered Lori’s defiance. “What’s the big deal? It’s how my mom punished me. It’s not like I beat him or anything.”