Chương 5
Cynthia closed her eyes briefly.
Jeffrey turned toward the boy.
"Austin, enough."
"No."
The word came from Grandmother.
This time there was no hesitation in it.
Jeffrey stared at her.
She stepped away from the table and rested one hand against its edge, as though the room had shifted under her feet.
"Don't tell him to stop."
"Mom, you don't understand what happened."
"I was here."
That silenced him.
Claire looked at her.
The older woman's eyes remained on Jeffrey.
"I was here when you moved the chair."
Jeffrey's mouth opened.
She continued before he could speak.
"You said he kept opening the door."
Cynthia's arms dropped to her sides.
"Marilyn."
Claire finally had a name for the grandmother because Cynthia said it like a warning.
Marilyn looked at her.
"No."
Cynthia's face hardened.
"No what?"
"No, I'm not going to help you pretend anymore."
Liam shifted against Claire's shoulder.
Claire rubbed his back automatically.
She could feel his body beginning to sag with exhaustion now that nobody was reaching for him.
Jeffrey laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"Fantastic."
He looked around the dining room.
"Everyone gets to turn on me now."
Claire nearly answered, then stopped herself.
That was the old trap.
Jeffrey turned every accusation into abandonment until somebody reassured him.
She had spent years doing it.
Not today.
Marilyn's fingers trembled against the table.
"You told me it was discipline."
"It was."
"You told me he needed to calm down."
"He did."
"You told me not to interfere."
Jeffrey's voice rose.
"Because every time someone intervenes, he learns he can do whatever he wants."
Liam flinched at the volume.
Claire moved toward the front door.
Jeffrey noticed.
His voice dropped immediately.
"Claire, I'm talking."
"Not to him like that."
"I wasn't talking to him."
"He doesn't know the difference."
Jeffrey pressed his lips together.
Mara's car horn sounded once outside.
Claire had never loved that obnoxious horn more.
She shifted Liam higher and bent toward his bag.
Marilyn moved.
Claire almost refused.
Then she looked at Liam.
His eyelids were heavy.
"Okay."
Marilyn picked up the bag.
The gesture seemed to cost her something.
Cynthia watched her with open contempt.
"You're encouraging this."
Marilyn walked past her.
"I think I've encouraged enough."
Jeffrey swore under his breath.
Claire opened the front door.
Mara was already halfway up the walkway.
She wore black leggings, a sweatshirt inside out at one cuff, and the expression of someone who had left home without checking whether the stove was off.
Then she saw Liam.
She stopped.
Her entire face changed.
"Oh my God."
Claire shook her head once.
Not here.
Mara understood.
Her eyes moved over Liam, the bag in Marilyn's hand, Jeffrey behind Claire, and Cynthia farther back.
She pulled out her phone.
Jeffrey saw that too.
"Jesus Christ, is everybody recording now?"
Mara lifted one eyebrow.
"Should I be?"
Claire almost smiled.
Almost.
"Take the bag."
Mara stepped forward and accepted it from Marilyn.
Her eyes lingered on the older woman.
Neither spoke.
Claire walked down the steps.
Jeffrey followed her to the doorway.
"Claire."
She kept moving.
"You cannot just leave."
She stopped beside her car.
Mara stood near the passenger side with the bag.
Claire turned.
"Watch me."
The words came out sharper than she intended.
She regretted them immediately, not because Jeffrey deserved gentleness, but because they sounded like victory.
Nothing about this felt like winning.
Jeffrey descended one step.
"You know this is my weekend."
Claire unlocked the car.
"You can call your lawyer."
"Okay."
"You think that video means you can do whatever you want?"
"No."
Claire opened the back door.
"I think Liam needs to be examined."
Jeffrey's face changed.
"For what?"
"For whatever a doctor thinks he needs to be examined for."
"Claire, come on."
She stopped.
There it was again.
Not fear for Liam.
Fear of what a doctor might document.
Mara saw it too.
Her jaw tightened.
Jeffrey came down another step.
"He isn't injured."
Claire looked at the scratches on Liam's ankle.
"Then the doctor can tell me that."
"He hasn't been abused."
"I didn't use that word."
"You were thinking it."
Claire stared at him.
"You should probably stop telling me what I'm thinking."
Cynthia appeared behind him.
"If you take him to some emergency room and make a huge scene, that's on you."
Mara laughed under her breath.
Claire looked at her sister.
"Don't."
"I'm sorry."
Mara lifted both hands.
"That one got away from me."
Cynthia's eyes narrowed.
Claire turned back to the car.
She set Liam carefully into his seat.
He resisted the moment she tried to loosen his arms.
"No."
"I'm right here."
"No, Mommy."
"I know."
His fingers clung to her jacket.
Claire crouched beside the open door.
"We have to buckle you."
His breathing sped up.
"Don't shut it."
Claire froze.
Behind her, everybody went quiet.
She lowered herself until their faces were level.
"I won't shut you in."
His eyes searched hers.
"You come too?"
"I'm sitting right there."
She pointed to the seat beside him.
"Mara's driving."
Mara nodded immediately.
"I am an excellent driver."
Claire looked at her.
Mara shrugged.
"That was maybe not the time."
A tiny crease appeared between Liam's brows.
Not a smile.
But he had heard her.
Claire touched the buckle.
"Can I do this?"
After a few seconds, he nodded.
She fastened him in without taking her body away from the doorway.
Then she climbed into the back seat from the opposite side.
Liam reached for her before she had fully settled.
Claire held his hand.
Mara put the bag in the trunk and got behind the wheel.
Jeffrey approached the car.
Claire lowered the window halfway.
He stopped outside it.
"Where are you going?"
"Urgent care."
"You don't need urgent care."
"Then this will be quick."
"Claire."
She looked at him.
For the first time all afternoon, his anger had gone.
May you like
What replaced it looked almost like panic.
"Don't do this."
