Chapter 5 - DANIEL COMES HOME
I let Daniel into the house Tuesday.
Emma was at school.
I had already packed a small suitcase for him.
He saw it immediately.
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Claire.”
“Sit.”
He sat.
I placed the transfer documents between us.
His face changed.
“How much did you know?”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“Not this much.”
“That is not a number.”
“I signed the forty.”
“I know.”
“Karen said Chloe’s tuition was behind and Scott had a receivable coming.”
“Did you tell me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You already hated how much my family asked.”
I stared.
“That is not an explanation for hiding it.”
“I thought it was my money.”
“Then why hide it?”
He looked down.
There.
“Because you knew I would tell you no.”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
I moved to the next document.
“Sixty-five thousand.”
“I didn’t sign.”
“Seventy-four six.”
“No.”
“Ninety-one.”
“No.”
“Did you know they happened?”
His silence.
“Daniel.”
“Dad asked me about the second one.”
“When?”
“About a year ago.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him I didn’t remember signing it.”
My whole body went cold.
“And?”
“He said he’d check.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did you tell me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Karen was going through a lot.”
I laughed.
“Of course.”
“She and Scott were separating for a while.”
“They’re still married.”
“They reconciled.”
“So?”
“Mom was worried.”
“About Karen.”
“Yes.”
“Were you worried somebody forged your signature?”
“Yes.”
“Were you worried enough to tell your wife?”
He closed his eyes.
“No.”
“Why?”
He whispered:
“I didn’t want another war.”
There it was.
The exact sentence that explained Thanksgiving.
Not another war.
Who had been at war?
Apparently everyone except me.
I leaned forward.
“Karen hit your daughter.”
“I know.”
“And you sat there.”
“I froze.”
“No.”
He looked up.
“You calculated.”
“What?”
“You looked at Karen. Then your mother. Then me.”
His eyes filled.
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to stop my family from exploding.”
“And yesterday you did it by asking the smallest person at the table to absorb the explosion.”
He flinched.
“That’s not fair.”
“No.”
May you like
I stood.
“It isn’t.”
