Chương 2
One of the relatives, Daniel’s cousin Melissa, started to speak. Her husband touched her elbow.
Victor said, “This is my home.”
“And that is my son standing beside a broken glass because you locked a woman in your study.”
“I did not harm her.”
“That is not the defense you think it is.”
The six guests filed toward the foyer, quiet and awkward, carrying glasses they no longer wanted. Melissa paused long enough to retrieve her phone from the edge of the table. Elena noticed the dark screen in her hand and wondered whether it had always been dark.
Margaret did not leave.
Victor watched his relatives go with an expression more offended than ashamed. When the front door closed, the house seemed to expand around the remaining people. The music from the hidden speakers continued for several seconds, a bright piano arrangement chosen for the party, until Margaret crossed the room and shut it off.
The silence afterward was worse.
Elena crouched in front of Noah. “You’re going upstairs with me.”
“No.”
His answer surprised her.
“I need to know who she is.”
“You don’t need to know anything else tonight.”
“I found her.”
“You did the right thing by telling me. Now you’re coming upstairs.”
Victor said, “Elena, there is no need to dramatize this.”
She looked over her shoulder at him.
“I am taking my six-year-old away from the man who just blamed him for discovering a locked door.”
Victor’s face changed only slightly. It was enough.
Daniel stepped between them.
“Go with Mom,” he told Noah.
“Are you mad at me?”
Daniel’s anger collapsed so quickly that Elena almost reached for him.
He knelt, his knees touching the floor where Margaret’s wine had splashed. “No. Never for this.”
“Grandpa said she was sick.”
Victor looked away.
Noah continued, “He said she needed to sit down, but she said she wanted to leave. Then he took her bag, and she tried to get it back.”
Leah covered her mouth.
Daniel’s voice remained controlled. “Did Grandpa touch you?”
“No.”
“Did anyone tell you not to say anything?”
Noah glanced at Victor. “Grandpa said grown-up things can sound scary when kids don’t understand.”
Daniel stood.
“Upstairs,” Elena said gently.
Noah allowed her to guide him from the room. At the foot of the staircase he turned, searching for his father. Daniel was still watching Victor.
Elena took Noah into the guest room that had been prepared for them. A small tuxedo jacket lay across the bed where he had thrown it earlier. His toy astronaut had been tucked beneath one pillow, a private embarrassment he had begged her not to mention to his cousins.
She helped him change into his pajamas.
“Who is she?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet.”
“Is Dad in trouble?”
“I don’t know that either.”
“Did I make trouble?”
“No.”
“They were happy before I said it.”
Elena sat beside him. “They were acting happy.”
He considered the difference.
Downstairs, a door closed. A man’s voice rose and stopped.
Noah climbed beneath the blanket but remained sitting upright. “Grandpa’s going to hate me.”
“Grandpa is responsible for how Grandpa behaves.”
“That sounds like something Ms. Carter says when Ben throws pencils.”
“It works for grandfathers too.”
A reluctant breath escaped him. Not quite a laugh.
Elena pressed her palm against his chest until his breathing slowed. He asked whether Daniel would come say good night. She said yes even though she did not know.
When Noah finally lay down, Elena called her sister and asked her to come get him. She did not explain much. Sofia heard enough in her voice to say she was already looking for her shoes.
By the time Elena returned downstairs, Leah was seated in the blue armchair. Daniel stood near the desk with the copied check and several other documents spread before him. Margaret had found a towel and was pressing it against the wine stain on the floor, an absurd domestic act that no one had requested.
Victor remained standing.
“Where’s Noah?” Daniel asked.
“My sister is taking him home.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No. You need to finish this.”
His eyes searched hers. “Elena—”
“Finish it.”
She entered the study and picked up the silver bracelet from the threshold. Up close, she saw tiny engraved leaves on each link. One link had split where the clasp had torn free.
Leah lowered her hand from her wrist.
“This is yours?”
“It was my mother’s.”
Margaret stopped blotting the floor.
Elena noticed. “What?”
Margaret stared at the bracelet. “I haven’t seen that in thirty-four years.”
Victor spoke without turning. “Margaret.”
She folded the towel once, carefully, though it was soaked through with wine.
“Our mother owned a set,” she said. “A ring, a necklace, and a bracelet. Victor gave the bracelet away.”
Leah looked at the blue stone on Margaret’s hand.
Margaret covered it with her other palm.
Daniel said, “To Ruth?”
Margaret’s silence was softer than Victor’s, but it performed the same work.
Leah reached into her bag and removed a thin bundle of envelopes held together by a rubber band. The paper had yellowed along the folds. She placed them on the desk without looking at anyone.
“My mother died in March,” she said. “She left these in a safe-deposit box. I didn’t know the box existed until the bank contacted me.”
“I’m sorry,” Elena said.
Leah gave a small nod, as though accepting condolences required energy she needed elsewhere.
“She told me my father was dead. Then, when I was sixteen, she said he was alive but couldn’t be part of our lives. I asked whether he had other children. She said there was a son, and that the son knew about me.”
Daniel stared at the envelopes.
“My mother wrote to you twice.”
“I never received anything from Ruth Mercer.”
May you like
Leah pushed one envelope toward him.
It was addressed to Daniel at his apartment in Boston, fifteen years earlier. The seal had been opened. A postal stamp showed it had been delivered. On the front, in dark ink, someone had written RETURNED TO V.H.
