Chương 9
Daniel watched her grip the glass.
Jonathan continued, less steadily. “I wanted the dinner to stop being difficult. I wanted Celeste to stop crying, Grandma to stop telling everyone what to do, Milo to stop throwing things, and you to come back to the table without me choosing a side.”
“But you did choose.”
“Yes.”
“Not mine.”
Jonathan nodded.
Lucy looked away.
He reached toward her, then stopped before touching her hand.
“I am sorry.”
She did not forgive him. Daniel was grateful for that. Quick forgiveness would have served the adults.
Lucy slid off the stool.
“I have to get ready for school.”
“It’s delayed,” Jonathan said.
“I know.”
She left the room.
Jonathan remained seated.
Daniel closed his notebook.
“You lied to me.”
“I lied to myself first.”
“That does not improve it.”
“No.”
Jonathan stared at the doorway through which Lucy had gone. “I saw the plate. I told myself she had put it there.”
“Why would she?”
“Because she was angry. Because she wanted us to feel guilty. Because that was easier than standing up in front of everyone.”
Daniel’s anger returned, but it had changed. It was no longer clean enough to enjoy.
“What happens now?” Jonathan asked.
“You arrange a therapist for Lucy.”
“She had one after Rebecca died.”
“Someone new. Someone she chooses with help from her pediatrician.”
Jonathan nodded.
“You and Celeste do not speak to her about the recording.”
Jonathan’s jaw tightened. “You are setting rules for my daughter.”
“I’m setting conditions for living in this house while we determine whether she is emotionally safe.”
“There’s the deed again.”
“The deed isn’t the point.”
“It is whenever you need power.”
Daniel looked at his brother.
Jonathan continued. “You own the house. You control Lucy’s trust. You chair the foundation where I sit on the board. You can call one attorney and turn a family failure into a case file.”
“I haven’t threatened your board seat.”
“You don’t have to.”
Daniel sat back.
The accusation was not irrelevant. Money had entered the room whether he invited it or not.
“What would you propose?” he asked.
Jonathan seemed surprised.
“Not as my younger brother,” Daniel said. “As Lucy’s father. Tell me what you will do today.”
Jonathan rubbed both hands over his face.
“I’ll call Dr. Shah. I’ll ask for referrals. I’ll tell Celeste we need counseling.”
“For the marriage?”
“For all of us.”
“Will Celeste agree?”
“I don’t know.”
“Will you proceed if she doesn’t?”
Jonathan looked toward the windows.
“That is the question,” Daniel said.
“I heard you.”
“Then answer.”
Jonathan stood. “I said I don’t know.”
He left the room.
At ten, Mara returned to collect the coat and shoes she had left in the staff room. Daniel met her in the small office beside the service corridor.
She remained standing.
“I’m not firing you,” he said.
“I assumed I was fired last night.”
“I told you to go home.”
“In front of Mrs. Mercer.”
“You work for the household, not my mother individually.”
Mara gave him a tired look. “That is not how it feels.”
Daniel gestured toward the chair. “Sit, please.”
She did, placing her handbag on her lap.
“How long have instructions concerning Lucy been a problem?”
Mara pressed her lips together.
“You can speak freely.”
“No one can speak freely in a house where everyone is related.”
“That is fair.”
She looked toward the closed door.
“Mrs. Evelyn controls the schedule when you travel,” she said. “Mr. Jonathan controls Lucy’s school arrangements. Mrs. Celeste controls meals and events. They often disagree.”
“And you follow whoever is in the room.”
“I follow whoever can make me lose my job.”
Daniel absorbed that.
“Has Lucy been excluded from meals before?”
“Not like last night.”
“Has she been sent away from family events?”
“Sometimes she leaves on her own.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Mara’s fingers tightened around her handbag strap.
“At Thanksgiving, Mrs. Celeste asked me to take down a place card with Rebecca’s name. Lucy had made it. When she saw it was gone, she cried. Mrs. Evelyn told me to bring her dessert upstairs.”
“Was Jonathan there?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He said everyone needed space.”
“Any other time?”
“At a summer dinner, Lucy asked why Milo’s baby pictures were in the drawing room and hers were not. Mrs. Celeste said her pictures were in her bedroom because the drawing room needed a consistent look.”
Daniel stared at her.
“I moved one of Lucy’s pictures into the drawing room the next day,” Mara added. “Mrs. Evelyn moved it back.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Mara laughed once, quietly.
Daniel understood before she answered.
“You were gone,” she said. “And when you were here, everyone was pleasant.”
He looked down at his notes.
“Mara, did you ever believe Lucy was in immediate danger?”
“No.”
“Did you see anyone physically hurt her?”
“No.”
“Deny her necessary care?”
“No.”
“Humiliate her?”
Mara’s eyes lifted.
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know how to count it.”
Daniel wrote that down, then hated himself for doing so.
Mara watched him. “You like records.”
“I do.”
“Records make people think something happened only if there is a date beside it.”
He put down the pen.
“That’s also fair.”
She softened slightly.
“I’m not innocent,” she said. “Last night I carried the plate.”
“Why?”
“Because Mrs. Evelyn told me to, and because I had a car payment due Friday, and because my mother’s prescription changed last month, and because I thought Lucy would sit there for five minutes and then come back.”
Daniel nodded.
“I’m sorry,” Mara said.
“You should apologize to Lucy, not me.”
“I will.”
He looked at her handbag, worn along one edge despite the polished uniform and careful hair.
“Would you be willing to describe what you’ve seen to a child therapist or attorney if necessary?”
Fear moved across her face.
“I need this job.”
May you like
“I’m not asking you to risk it casually.”
“It won’t feel casual when the family decides I betrayed them.”
