It was almost nine at night.
Dad was upstairs.
Grandpa looked unusually serious.
“Emily,” he said quietly, “can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
He looked toward the staircase before stepping closer.
“Will you sleep beside me tonight?”
I stared at him.
I honestly thought I had misunderstood.
“What?”
“Tonight,” he repeated. “At my house.”
My stomach tightened.
Then he said something that made it worse.
“Please don’t tell your father yet.”
I took one step backward.
“Grandpa… why?”
His eyes suddenly filled with something I couldn’t understand.
Fear.
“Because if he knows,” Grandpa whispered, “he won’t let you come.
At that exact moment, we heard Dad walking downstairs.
Grandpa immediately stepped away from me.
Dad entered the room.
He looked at Grandpa.
Then at me.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I said.
But Dad clearly didn’t believe me.
And for the first time in my life, I remembered every warning he had ever given me.
