Chương 3
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“When they got bored?”
She flinched.
Daniel saw it.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. You’re right.”
He stood and crossed to the window.
Claire watched his reflection rather than his face.
“When did it start?”
She considered lying again.
The habit was surprisingly difficult to break.
“About three weeks after you left.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother started coming over every day.”
Daniel turned. “Coming over?”
Claire looked at him.
He understood.
“They weren’t living here yet.”
“No.”
“When did they move in?”
“Two months later.”
He gave a small shake of his head. “Dad told me their air-conditioning system had failed.”
“It did.”
“For two months?”
Claire said nothing.
Daniel laughed once, without humor.
“They never left.”
“No.”
“And Kyle?”
“He came after he lost the apartment.”
“He told me he was staying with a friend in Arlington.”
“That friend is your mother.”
Daniel looked down at the carpet.
“They lied to me.”
Claire wanted to say yes.
Instead she said, “I let them.”
His head lifted.
“You didn’t make them lie.”
“I made it easy.”
“Why?”
Because your mother cried the first time I tried to tell you.
Because your father said you had enough to worry about overseas.
Because Kyle told me I would destroy the family if I complained.
Because I was pregnant, tired, scared, and ashamed that three adults could make me feel like a guest in the house where my name was on every utility bill.
Because I thought being strong meant being quiet.
Claire opened her mouth.
What came out was, “I didn’t want you distracted.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That’s a terrible reason.”
“I know.”
“I could have handled a phone call.”
“I didn’t know what you were doing when the phone rang.”
“I told you when I could.”
“You also told me not to worry if you went dark for a few days.”
“That was different.”
“To you.”
He looked away.
That landed.
Claire watched him absorb it.
His shoulders dropped slightly.
“I’m not mad at you,” he said.
“You are.”
“I’m mad that you didn’t tell me.”
“That’s being mad at me.”
“I guess it is.”
She nodded.
That answer helped more than denial would have.
Downstairs, a cabinet closed.
Daniel looked toward the hall.
“We need to go back down.”
Claire didn’t move.
He waited.
She said, “Don’t make them leave tonight because you’re angry.”
He stared at her.
“They assaulted you.”
“Your mother slapped me.”
“That is assault.”
“I know.”
“And they were throwing you out.”
“I know.”
“Of my house.”
Claire looked up at him.
“Our house.”
His expression changed.
She wished she had not said it.
Then he nodded.
“Our house.”
He picked up her phone and handed it to her.
“Then you get a vote.”
Downstairs, Evelyn had made coffee.
The smell reached them before they entered the kitchen.
Claire almost stopped walking.
Evelyn made coffee when she wanted normality to return.
She had done it after arguments about the nursery. After taking Claire’s keys. After telling Claire that Daniel might eventually regret “raising another man’s blood.”
Always coffee.
As if a pot of coffee could reduce the size of whatever she had done.
Richard sat at the kitchen table.
Kyle stood by the sink.
The black suitcase was still in the foyer.
Evelyn poured five cups.
Daniel looked at them.
“Why are you making coffee?”
“Because people think better when they calm down.”
“I’m calm.”
“I can see that.”
“No. You can see that I’m not yelling.”
Evelyn pushed a cup toward him.
He did not take it.
Claire sat.
Her legs felt weak.
Kyle slid a chair out for her, then seemed to realize the gesture might be unwelcome and let go.
She ignored him.
Daniel remained standing.
“Start from the beginning.”
Richard exhaled. “This is a family disagreement.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“My wife was hit in front of me.”
Evelyn looked irritated. “I lost my temper.”
“You hit a pregnant woman.”
“She insulted me.”
Claire stared at her.
“I told you I wasn’t leaving.”
Evelyn gestured as if that proved the point.
Daniel’s voice dropped. “You were trying to remove her from the house?”
“For a few days.”
“You packed her suitcase.”
“She needed space.”
Claire laughed.
Everyone looked at her.
She covered her mouth.
“I’m sorry,” she said, though she wasn’t. “That’s just not what you said.”
Evelyn’s eyes hardened.
Daniel pulled out the chair beside Claire and sat.
“What did she say?”
Claire looked at Evelyn.
The old instinct returned.
Do not escalate.
Do not embarrass them.
Do not make Daniel choose.
Then her baby moved.
A small rolling pressure under her ribs.
Claire put her palm there.
“She said I had until six to get out.”
Daniel’s face remained still.
“Why six?”
“Because Richard was going to change the alarm code.”
Richard looked down.
Daniel turned to him.
“Were you?”
Richard rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Your mother was upset.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Yes.”
Daniel nodded once.
“Kyle?”
Kyle’s chair creaked.
“Yeah.”
“You knew?”
“Yeah.”
“Were you going to help?”
Kyle stared at the table.
“I was supposed to drive Claire to a hotel.”
Claire looked at him.
That part was new.
“You told me you were taking me to my sister’s.”
Kyle looked miserable. “Mom said hotel.”
“My sister lives twenty minutes away.”
“I know.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Why not her sister?”
Nobody answered.
Claire understood before they said it.
“She would have called Daniel,” she whispered.
Evelyn’s nostrils flared.
Daniel looked at his mother.
“You were isolating her.”
“That is ridiculous.”
“You took her phone.”
“For one morning.”
“You hid her car keys.”
“She should not have been driving.”
“You changed the plan so she couldn’t go to her sister.”
Richard pushed his chair back. “You’re making this sound sinister.”
“What would you call it?”
“A family trying to manage a difficult situation.”
Claire felt strangely detached.
“Was I the difficult situation?”
Richard hesitated.
That was worse than yes.
Daniel stood.
May you like
“Pack.”
Evelyn stared at him.
