Chương 8
“I’m sorry.”
Anna was quiet.
“For which part?”
Laura appreciated the question.
“All of it.”
“You didn’t tell us there might be a dispute.”
“I didn’t know there would be.”
“But you knew your in-laws lived there.”
“Yes.”
“And that they thought of it as theirs?”
Laura hesitated.
“Yes.”
Anna exhaled.
“That would’ve been useful.”
Laura could have defended herself.
The title was clear.
Richard had no recorded ownership.
Margaret and Richard had been given notice.
The sale was legal.
All true.
Still.
Anna was pregnant and had expected to move into a home, not litigation.
“You’re right.”
The words hurt.
“I should have told you more about the family situation.”
Anna softened slightly.
“Thank you.”
It did not fix anything.
That was another thing Laura learned.
A sincere apology did not create an obligation for the injured person to make you feel better.
The Pierces stayed with Michael’s sister while the dispute continued.
Laura offered to cover temporary housing costs beyond what their arrangements addressed.
Nora warned her not to make admissions.
“I’m not admitting liability.”
“It can be characterized that way.”
“Then characterize this: they’re paying because my family is a mess.”
“Laura.”
“I sold them a house they can’t comfortably enter.”
“You sold them a legally conveyed property.”
“And they can’t live there.”
Nora watched her.
“You understand that paying voluntarily may be money you never recover.”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
That decision cost Laura thousands.
Richard called it proof of guilt.
Margaret called it a stunt.
Anna called and said thank you.
None of those reactions changed the decision.
Jason stayed in the apartment one night.
Then three.
On the fourth morning, Laura found him eating cereal from a mixing bowl.
“You have to leave.”
He looked up.
“I bought milk.”
“That isn’t rent.”
“You said I didn’t have to pay.”
“I said one night.”
“You extended.”
“I failed to remove you.”
“Semantics.”
“Jason.”
He set down the spoon.
The joking disappeared.
“Yeah. I know.”
“Where are you going?”
“Friend’s place.”
“Which friend?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m asking.”
He gave her a look.
She heard herself.
Margaret.
The realization made her skin crawl.
“Never mind.”
Jason looked at her for another second.
“Eddie.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“I know.”
He carried the bowl to the sink.
Then left it there.
Laura stared at it.
“Seriously?”
He returned.
“What?”
“The bowl.”
“Oh.”
He washed it.
Growth, Laura thought, had low standards in this family.
Before leaving, Jason stood by the door.
“Dad called.”
“What did he want?”
“For me to retract the statement.”
“Will you?”
“No.”
Laura nodded.
“He cut me off.”
“Financially?”
“Everything.”
She almost said, You’re thirty-nine.
She stopped.
Jason smiled without humor.
“You can say it.”
“I was going to.”
“I know.”
“What will you do?”
“Work.”
“You say that like you invented it.”
“There she is.”
Laura rolled her eyes.
Then Jason surprised her.
“I should’ve helped you before.”
She looked at him.
He shoved his hands into his pockets.
“When Mom was... you know.”
“Cruel?”
“Yeah.”
“You can say words now. You’re employed.”
He accepted the jab.
“I saw it.”
Laura waited.
“I told myself it was between you two. Or you could handle it. Or Daniel wouldn’t want me fighting with Mom. Whatever worked that day.”
Laura’s anger returned, but it had changed shape.
Less fire.
More weight.
“You should have.”
“I know.”
“I needed someone to say it wasn’t normal.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get points for knowing now.”
“I know that too.”
She looked away.
A garbage truck groaned in the alley.
Sophie had left one pink flip-flop beneath the couch.
Laura bent and picked it up.
When she straightened, Jason was still there.
“I’m not forgiving you today.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“Good.”
“Maybe Thursday?”
She almost smiled.
“Get out.”
He left.
Three weeks after the driveway confrontation, Margaret asked to see Sophie.
This time she did it through an email.
No accusations.
No demands.
I would like to see my granddaughter. I understand you may not want to see me. I am willing to meet in a public place and follow whatever reasonable boundaries you set.
Laura read it suspiciously.
Then she read it again.
Nora told her the family lawsuit and Sophie’s relationship with her grandparents were separate issues unless behavior made them relevant.
Laura knew that.
She still wanted to say no.
Not because Margaret was dangerous to Sophie.
Because Laura wanted Margaret to lose something.
The admission embarrassed her.
She sat with it.
Human ugly, Daniel used to call moments like that.
He had once confessed that he secretly enjoyed seeing a successful neighbor’s expensive grill catch fire.
“Human ugly,” he said.
“You’re a terrible person.”
“Tiny terrible.”
Laura smiled at the memory.
Then she called a family therapist recommended by Sophie’s pediatrician.
Not because therapy produced instant wisdom.
It did not.
The therapist asked questions Laura disliked.
Was Sophie attached to Margaret?
Yes.
Had Margaret mistreated Sophie directly?
Not usually.
Had Sophie witnessed Margaret mistreating Laura?
Yes.
Did Sophie want contact?
Laura did not know.
So she asked.
Sophie was coloring at the kitchen table.
“Do you want to see Grandma?”
Sophie did not look up.
“Are you mad if I do?”
Laura’s stomach dropped.
“No.”
“You look mad.”
“I’m trying not to make a face.”
“You’re making one.”
Laura rubbed her cheeks.
“Okay. I have feelings about Grandma. Those are mine. You don’t have to copy them.”
Sophie colored a blue section of a dragon.
“Can I see her without Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
“Can you come?”
“Yes.”
“Then okay.”
Margaret met them at a park.
She brought no gifts because Laura had specifically asked her not to use presents to smooth things over.
For the first ten minutes Margaret talked almost exclusively about ducks.
Laura sat at the opposite end of a bench.
Sophie fed approved pellets from a dispenser.
A toddler nearby chased pigeons.
Margaret looked smaller outside the mansion.
That observation felt cruel.
May you like
Laura kept it to herself.
After Sophie ran toward the playground, Margaret said, “Richard says you turned Jason against him.”
