Chapter 24 - Gareth and Maude
Gareth saw Maude monthly.
Without Elspeth.
For nearly a year.
Coffee.
Lunch.
No cabana discussion.
If she started:
He ended.
One lunch:
“Your father used Elspeth to punish me.”
Gareth said:
“Maybe part of him wanted to make a point.”
Maude leaned forward.
“Then you agree.”
“No.”
He continued:
“That doesn’t make the transfer invalid, and it doesn’t make Elspeth responsible.”
Maude went quiet.
Then:
“I hate that she got the place where I raised you.”
Gareth said:
“I understand.”
That phrase once meant surrender.
Now he added:
“And the answer is still no.”
There.
Empathy plus boundary.
He had finally learned both could fit in one sentence.
Then Maude asked:
“Will she ever see me?”
“If she wants.”
“Do you want?”
“Yes.”
He admitted.
“I want my mother in my daughter’s life safely.”
That hurt Maude.
Because daughter.
Not stepchild.
Not Tavia’s child.
His daughter.
May you like
She nodded.
Eventually.
