Chương 9
Nora listened to the rain.
Part of her wanted to tell him about the guest room. That impulse frightened her. Compassion had always been the door through which Wesley’s problems entered her life and became her responsibilities.
“Call an apartment agent,” she said. “Use your salary.”
“I don’t know whether I still have a job.”
“You resigned from the foundation.”
“That was my job.”
Nora closed her eyes.
She had known, abstractly, that Wesley worked for the family foundation. She had not understood that no independent employer existed beneath the title, no professional ground untouched by Margaret.
“What are you qualified to do?” she asked.
There was a long silence.
“That’s a brutal question.”
“It wasn’t meant to be.”
“I know. That’s why it’s brutal.”
June began fussing. Nora lifted her to her shoulder.
Wesley said, “Can I see her tomorrow?”
“Yes. Same conditions.”
“Thank you.”
“Wesley.”
“Yes?”
“You do not get credit for telling the truth after approving a lie.”
“I know.”
“But resigning mattered.”
He did not answer for several seconds.
“Thank you,” he said again.
The board meeting changed the public story. Wesley’s admission that he had approved the family statement damaged him as much as it damaged Margaret, which made it harder to dismiss as performance. The foundation announced an independent review of its governance and communications. Reporters uncovered old complaints from former employees about Margaret’s management style, though none involved babies or collars.
Nora declined every interview.
She released one statement through Marisol.
My daughter is safe. I am cooperating with appropriate legal and professional advisers. I will not use her distress as entertainment or discuss private custody matters publicly.
The statement disappointed everyone who wanted a battle.
That was one reason Nora liked it.
Elise lost her job the following Monday.
The house manager claimed she had violated guest confidentiality. Marisol helped her contact an employment attorney but made no promise about the outcome. Nora felt responsible even though Elise insisted she had planned to quit.
“I hated that job,” Elise said when they met again. “The tips were good, though.”
Nora offered money.
Elise refused.
“You’re not buying my statement.”
“I’m not trying to.”
“It would feel like it.”
Nora accepted the refusal. A week later, Thomas mentioned that the café near his townhouse needed a shift supervisor. Elise applied and was hired based on her own experience.
Thomas pretended not to be pleased with himself.
Nora moved out of the Eastover house before the end of the month.
She returned with Marisol’s paralegal, two movers, and a written inventory. Wesley met them there. He had changed the locks as promised. The rooms smelled faintly of lavender cleaner and unopened windows.
Margaret’s white roses had died in a vase on the dining table.
Nora packed clothes, military papers, June’s medical records, family photographs, and the chipped yellow bowl her mother had used for pancake batter. She left the furniture purchased by the Pembroke decorator.
In the nursery, Wesley stood beside the crib while Nora folded onesies into a box.
“I found an apartment,” he said.
“Good.”
“It has brown carpet.”
“That sounds difficult.”
“I think it was installed during the first Bush administration.”
Nora looked at him.
He almost smiled.
For a minute they were themselves again, or the version of themselves that had existed in grocery stores and airport lines, away from both families.
Wesley picked up a stuffed rabbit from the changing table.
“Do you remember buying this?”
“You bought it.”
“No. You did. At the museum shop.”
“I bought the bear.”
He turned the rabbit over. A price tag remained beneath one foot.
“Huh.”
The harmless uncertainty hurt more than an argument.
He placed the rabbit in the box.
“I’ve started therapy,” he said.
Nora continued folding.
“I know saying that sounds like I want a prize.”
“It does.”
“I’m going anyway.”
“Good.”
“My therapist asked me what happens when I disappoint my mother.”
Nora waited.
“I told him she becomes cold. He asked what cold means. I couldn’t explain it without sounding eight years old.”
“You don’t have to explain it to me.”
“I think I do.”
“Not today.”
He nodded.
At the bedroom door, Nora found a framed photograph from their wedding. Margaret stood between them, one arm around Wesley, one hand resting on Nora’s waist. At the time, Nora had thought the gesture affectionate.
Now she noticed Margaret’s fingers pressing into the fabric of her dress.
She put the photograph facedown in a box, then removed it.
Wesley watched from the hallway.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving it.”
“You don’t want it?”
“No.”
He looked at the picture for a long moment.
Then he turned it facedown again.
Nora rented a two-bedroom apartment near her base. The building had beige walls, noisy plumbing, and a balcony overlooking a grocery store parking lot. Thomas complained about the stairs until Nora reminded him that he exercised every morning voluntarily.
The first night, she ate cereal from the yellow bowl because she had not unpacked the dishes. June slept in a portable crib beside the sofa.
At three in the morning, the upstairs neighbor dropped something heavy. Nora woke with her heart racing and one hand reaching for the baby before she was fully conscious.
June remained asleep.
Nora stood in the dark apartment and listened to pipes knocking in the wall.
No one had entered.
No one was watching.
The quiet did not feel peaceful yet. It felt unoccupied.
She sat on the floor beside the crib until morning.
The temporary parenting arrangement allowed Wesley three visits each week, initially supervised by Nora or a mutually approved third party. Margaret was to have no contact with June. Wesley agreed in writing not to share photographs, schedules, medical information, or Nora’s location with his mother.
May you like
He followed every condition.
During visits, he changed diapers, warmed bottles, and read June news articles because he had not bought children’s books for his apartment. His voice became solemn over reports about zoning disputes and college basketball.
