Chapter 14 - The Price of Saying No
I wanted to tear the letter in half. Instead I put it in the folder with everything else. The words mattered because they showed how Linda talked when she thought she could hurt me without witnesses.
Daniel called his sister. Rachel later told me he'd spent an hour listening without interrupting. He hadn't done that for her in fifteen years.
The next day he came to Mara's porch carrying no soup, no gifts, no excuses. "I told Mom she can't come into our house again," he said. "I changed the door code, got the keys back, and asked her not to contact you. I've stopped sharing anything about your appointments."
"You can't undo the chair with a password."
"I know."
He showed me a bank statement. He'd replaced the $6,800 with money from selling the motorcycle he'd restored for years. I felt guilty for a second, then angry at myself for feeling guilty. Returning our emergency savings was not a present.
"I started looking for a counselor," he added. "And I told Mom the baby isn't staying at her house."
"What did she say?"
"She said I was abandoning her."
"And?"
"I told her I'm about to become somebody's father."
I wanted to believe the man standing in front of me. Wanting wasn't proof. I told him he could attend appointments only when I invited him, and that I wasn't moving home before I felt safe. He accepted it.
For nearly two weeks, Linda went quiet. I slept better. Our girl pressed her heels against my ribs. Rachel brought us dinner and argued with Mara about the proper amount of garlic in lasagna. Normal life returned in small pieces.
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Then Becca called. Linda had told the family she was selling the newly furnished nursery, but Becca had stopped by to pick up a borrowed table and seen boxes labeled FOR BABY'S ARRIVAL beside Linda's front door.
One box had my hospital name and estimated due date written across the top.
