Chapter 7
Marcus heard Pearl’s voice and came out of the fort.
“Where would she go?” he asked.
Pearl had already checked Diane’s favorite café and the pharmacy. I looked toward the living room, where Ava and Eli were still laughing.
“The school is closed,” I said. “Lena’s house?”
“I’m calling her,” Marcus said.
He called Lena while I stayed on with Pearl. Lena answered immediately. Diane had not been there. Pearl remembered that Diane still had a key to the old apartment above Lena’s garage. It had been empty since the latest tenant moved out.
“I gave her that key years ago so she could let in a repairman,” Pearl said.
Lena lived nearby now, though she no longer owned the apartment. She offered to drive past. I told her to stay at home with the doors locked.
Marcus called the local police nonemergency number. He described Diane’s message, the school call, and Pearl’s note. The person on the line said an officer could come by to speak with us.
Before the officer arrived, Diane’s car pulled into our driveway.
I saw it from the window. My pulse hammered. Marcus stepped beside me.
“Stay with the kids,” he said.
“We’ll go out together.”
We left June asleep inside and told Ava to stay with Eli in the living room. I did not want my children watching another fight at our door. Marcus and I stepped onto the porch as Diane got out of her car.
She carried a small gift bag.
“I only wanted to bring Ava her birthday present,” she said.
“Ava’s birthday is next month,” Marcus answered.
“I saw something she would love.”
Pearl pulled up behind her. She had followed when Diane returned to the house for the bag and driven a few minutes behind her. Diane looked at her sister with open anger.
“You called them.”
“You left a note that frightened me,” Pearl said.
Diane turned back to Marcus. “I didn’t come to upset anyone. I wanted to see my grandchildren.”
“We told you not to come,” I said.
“You can’t keep them from me forever.”
“I’m asking you to leave today.”
Diane held up the gift bag. “At least let me give Ava this.”
“No,” Marcus said.
She lowered it. For a second she looked lost. Then her face hardened.
“You’ll let Nia make every decision until she’s worn you down.”
Marcus stepped forward. “I’m making this one.”
A car stopped at the curb. An officer got out and approached us. Diane stared as Marcus explained why we had called.
“I haven’t threatened anyone,” she said.
The officer listened to each of us. He told Diane that she needed to leave the property when asked. He also gave us a report number for the visit. There was no dramatic moment, only Diane’s trembling hands as she put the gift bag back in her car.
Before she left, she looked at me.
“I loved those children from the day they were born.”
“I know you did,” I said. “Ava cried last night because she thought you were leaving because of her.”
Diane’s face changed. She gripped the car door.
“I never meant for Ava to hear any of it.”
“She heard you at the porch. She heard you tell her that Marcus didn’t expect her. Love has to include caring what those words did to her.”
Diane got into the car. Pearl followed her home.
The officer stayed long enough to make sure she had gone. Inside, Ava waited by the living room window. She had seen the cars, though she had not heard the conversation.
“Grandma was here,” she said.
“Yes.”
“Did she ask for me?”
“She did.”
Ava’s face held hope and fear together. “Are you mad at me because I want to see her?”
I knelt beside her. “Never. You can love Grandma and be upset with her. Both can be true.”
“She used to make pancakes shaped like stars.”
“I remember.”
“Why did she lie?”
I thought of all the explanations Diane had given. None of them would help Ava.
“She wanted something to happen, and she tried to make it happen by telling people different stories. That was wrong. She needs to take responsibility for it.”
Ava considered this. “Can she learn?”
“I hope so.”
She put her arms around me. I held her, looking over her shoulder at the gift bag Diane had carried back to her car.
Later, Marcus found me in the kitchen. “Pearl says Mom is home. She’ll stay with her tonight.”
I nodded.
“I’d like us to talk with someone,” he said. “A counselor. You and me, and someone for the kids if they need it.”
“I’d like that.”
He took a slow breath. “I also want to ask Aunt Pearl to be with us if Mom ever comes to apologize. I don’t want another conversation where she can change what was said later.”
I looked at the folder on the table. We had kept copies of the papers, messages, and school voicemail. For once, I hoped we would never need to open it again.
“First,” I said, “she has to decide she’s ready to tell the truth.”
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That evening, Pearl sent Marcus a photograph of the note Diane had left on her table. Beneath the line about seeing the children, Diane had written one more sentence.
“I need to tell Marcus what I did with the money.”
