Chapter 2
I asked Emma to sit down with me.
She remained standing for a moment, still holding the money. Then she returned to her chair and placed the bills in a neat stack.
“When did Vanessa say that?” I asked.
“The first week of June.”
It was now September. I remembered that week because I had been away helping my brother after his surgery. I had called home every night.
Emma had told me work was busy. Vanessa had said everything was fine.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” I said.
Emma drew a slow breath.
“Vanessa came into my room. She said you were tired of supporting me and wanted her to bring it up because you didn’t want to hurt my feelings.”
“I never said that.”
“I know now.”
“She told you I’d make you leave?”
“She said the first payment was due at the end of the month. If I couldn’t manage it, I should start looking for an apartment before you had to ask me yourself.”
Emma spoke carefully. I could hear how often she had rehearsed those words alone.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I did.”
I remembered her call on the second night away. It had come while I was speaking to a nurse about my brother. I called back an hour later.
“Vanessa answered your phone,” Emma said. “She told me you were exhausted and that I shouldn’t spoil your trip with a money argument.”
My phone had been charging downstairs while I showered. Vanessa must have picked it up.
“When I called you back, you said everything was okay.”
“Because she was standing beside me.”
I looked at my daughter. She had been a talkative little girl, the kind who asked why the moon followed our car. Now she was choosing each word as though the wrong one might cost her a home.
“I should have noticed,” I said.
“You did ask if I was okay.”
“I let you say yes.”
Emma’s eyes filled again.
Vanessa came downstairs then, carrying her bag.
“I’m going to my sister’s,” she announced.
“We need to talk about the payments,” I said.
“Not while you’re treating me like a criminal.”
“No one called you that.”
“You’ve already decided whatever Emma says is true.”
Emma flinched. I stood between them without thinking.
“I heard what you said about me agreeing to the rent. I didn’t agree.”
Vanessa’s grip tightened on her bag.
“I may have misunderstood you.”
“Then why didn’t you check?”
She looked past me at Emma.
“This is why I wanted to handle it privately. One conversation, and you’ve turned your father against me.”
“I asked for help understanding it,” Emma said.
“You’ve done more than that.”
“Enough,” I said.
Vanessa left. A minute later, her car backed out of the drive.
I stayed in the foyer until the sound faded. When I returned, Emma was gathering her coat.
“Where are you going?”
“To Maya’s for a while.”
Maya was her closest friend. They had known each other since college.
“You can stay here.”
“I know you mean that.” Emma glanced toward the stairs. “I don’t feel ready to sleep here tonight.”
I wanted to promise Vanessa would not come back. I could not make that decision for both of us in one minute. I could decide what Emma needed tonight.
“I’ll help you pack.”
Upstairs, her room looked almost bare. Two boxes stood beside the closet. Her books were gone from the shelf.
“How long have you been packing?”
“Since August.”
I sat on the edge of her bed.
“You were planning to leave?”
“I applied for an apartment. They turned me down because I couldn’t show enough savings after paying rent.”
She tried to say it lightly. The attempt broke my heart.
I carried the boxes to her car. Before she drove off, I asked her to text when she reached Maya’s. She nodded.
Then she said, “Dad, please don’t tell Vanessa what Maya’s address is.”
“I won’t.”
I watched her pull away.
The house felt unfamiliar when I walked back inside. Emma’s shoes were missing from beside the door. I went into the dining room and found the receipt book Vanessa kept for household shopping.
There were three entries written in her hand.
Emma: June, $700. July, $700. August, $700.
September had an empty line waiting for today’s payment.
I photographed the page and checked our household account. Emma’s money had not gone there. We paid the mortgage and utilities from that account, and neither had increased.
Vanessa had taken twenty-one hundred dollars from my daughter and told each of us the other had agreed.
My phone buzzed.
Emma had reached Maya’s safely.
I typed back that I loved her. Then I wrote another message, but did not send it.
I wanted to ask what else Vanessa had said to her. I wanted all the answers at once.
May you like
Emma had just asked for room to breathe.
I put down the phone and opened the drawer where we kept family records. I needed to find out what I could before asking her to carry more.
