Chương 5
“What happened with the bathroom light?” he asked.
She blinked.
“What?”
“Three weeks ago. You said Sophie lied about leaving it on.”
“She did.”
“How do you know?”
“I watched her come out.”
“And then?”
“She denied it.”
“Could you have turned it off?”
“What?”
“You told me she needed consequences because she denied leaving it on. Did you ask her to turn it off?”
“Of course.”
“Did she?”
Victoria frowned.
“Yes.”
“So the problem wasn’t the light.”
“It was the lying.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“The cookies?”
“What about them?”
“You said she took two.”
“She did.”
“You saw her?”
“I counted.”
“How many were there?”
Victoria’s impatience showed.
“I don’t remember.”
“Did she eat two?”
“I found crumbs upstairs.”
“Sophie eats like a raccoon. There are crumbs everywhere.”
Victoria almost smiled despite herself.
For one strange second they were the couple they had been a day earlier.
Then neither of them knew what to do with that.
Daniel leaned forward.
“How many times have you told me she lied when you didn’t actually see what happened?”
“That is a manipulative question.”
“No. It’s a question I should have asked months ago.”
Victoria’s face closed.
The train stopped.
Not gradually.
The brakes caught hard enough that the tea slid across the table and Daniel put out one hand to keep it from falling.
Somewhere farther forward, a door slammed.
The lights flickered.
Then steadied.
A conductor’s voice came through the ceiling speakers.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been instructed to hold our position while maintenance crews assess snow and debris across the line ahead. There is no immediate danger to the train. Please remain inside the passenger cars. Our crew will provide updates as soon as we receive them.”
Victoria looked toward the speaker.
“You have got to be kidding.”
Daniel stood.
“I’m going back to Sophie.”
“Daniel.”
He stopped.
“You cannot punish me by refusing to talk.”
“I’m not punishing you.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Making sure she isn’t alone.”
“You left her with staff.”
“Yes.”
“Because you don’t trust me.”
He looked at her.
“I don’t.”
Victoria’s face changed.
Not dramatically.
Her shoulders lowered perhaps half an inch.
Daniel had never said those words to her.
During their worst arguments, he had said he disagreed. He had said he needed time. He had said they were talking past each other.
He had never said he did not trust her.
“You mean tonight.”
“I don’t know what I mean yet.”
“That’s cruel.”
“I know.”
“Six weeks before our wedding.”
“I know.”
“My parents have flights. Your family has flights. We have eighty-four people coming.”
“I know.”
“You told Sophie I was going to be family.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“I did.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re about to do to her if you make another person disappear?”
His eyes returned to Victoria.
She knew instantly she had gone too far.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Don’t.”
“Daniel.”
“Don’t use Claire.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“I’m trying to get you to think.”
“I am thinking.”
“You’re angry.”
“Those are not opposites.”
Victoria looked at him for several seconds.
Then she sat.
Her hands had begun trembling.
She tucked them beneath the table.
Daniel saw that too.
He left.
Sophie was losing badly at Go Fish when he returned.
Mia had apparently decided mercy was disrespectful.
“You have any threes?” she asked.
Sophie narrowed her eyes.
“No.”
“Go fish.”
“That means you don’t have them.”
“I’m not required to disclose my holdings.”
Sophie looked at Daniel.
“What are holdings?”
“Cards, apparently.”
Mia smiled.
“I’ve been corrupted by business class.”
Daniel almost told her this was a private car, not business class, then realized that would make him unbearable.
Sophie pointed at him.
“You came back.”
He sat beside her.
“I said I would.”
She studied his face.
“Did she get mad?”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Did anybody scream?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
That seemed to matter.
Mia quietly gathered her things.
“I’ll let you two have some time.”
Sophie handed her the cards.
“You were cheating.”
“I was absolutely not.”
“You had two sixes.”
“You asked for threes.”
Sophie considered the rules.
“Oh.”
Mia grinned.
“Strong accusation, though.”
After she left, Daniel locked the door again.
Sophie noticed.
He sat down.
“I need to ask you something, and you’re not in trouble.”
Sophie groaned.
Adults always said that immediately before questions children did not enjoy.
“Have you ever told me something about Victoria that wasn’t true?”
Sophie looked wary.
“Like what?”
“Anything.”
“I don’t know.”
“Think about it.”
She frowned.
Daniel waited.
Finally she said, “The sweater.”
“What sweater?”
“The yellow one.”
Memory came slowly.
In October, Victoria had donated a bag of Sophie’s old clothes. Sophie claimed Victoria had given away her favorite yellow sweater without asking. Daniel confronted Victoria. Victoria said Sophie herself had put it in the donation bag because the sleeves were too short.
Later the sweater turned up beneath the back seat of Daniel’s SUV.
He had forgotten about it.
Apparently Sophie had not.
“You said Victoria gave it away.”
Sophie nodded.
“But it was in my car.”
“I know.”
“Why did you say she gave it away?”
Sophie picked at the blanket.
“I wanted you to be mad at her.”
Daniel let the answer sit.
“Why?”
“Because she was mad at me.”
“For what?”
“I called her Vicky.”
He nearly smiled.
Victoria hated being called Vicky.
“Did you know the sweater was in the car?”
“Yes.”
“So you lied.”
Sophie’s mouth tightened.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“You said I wasn’t in trouble.”
“You’re not.”
She looked suspicious.
“You’re not,” he repeated.
“Are you going to tell her?”
“I don’t know.”
“She’ll say see.”
Daniel knew exactly what she meant.
“You think she’ll use it to say you’re lying tonight.”
Sophie nodded.
He rubbed his palms together.
“What happened tonight can still be true even if you lied about the sweater.”
Children deserved moral complexity too.
May you like
That was another thing he had been avoiding.
“You shouldn’t have lied about the sweater.”
