Chapter 13 - WHY CECELIA HATED LAURENThe answer was older than Maisie.
Older than the divorce.
Maybe older than Lauren.
Reid found the beginning in a box of family photographs.
His mother, age twenty-six.
Standing beside Reid’s father, Charles Lane.
Perfect clothes.
Perfect posture.
No smile.
Charles had been controlling.
Reid knew that abstractly.
He remembered rules.
Schedules.
Silence at dinner.
His father died when Reid was nineteen.
Cecelia became freer after.
But perhaps she never stopped believing control was love.
Reid asked his aunt Margaret, Cecelia’s younger sister.
Margaret had moved to Oregon decades ago.
She answered reluctantly.
“Your mother hated uncertainty.”
“That’s obvious.”
“No.”
Margaret paused.
“She was trained to hate it.”
Their father, Reid’s grandfather, had been worse.
Children obeyed.
Women maintained appearances.
Problems remained private.
Cecelia married Charles because both families approved.
Then spent twenty-three years surviving inside the exact system she later recreated.
“Did she hate Lauren because Lauren came from a different background?”
“Partly.”
“Why else?”
“Lauren fought.”
Reid frowned.
“Meaning?”
“She argued with Cecelia.”
“That’s normal.”
“Not to Cecelia.”
Margaret almost laughed.
“Lauren was the first person in that house who told your mother no and did not immediately apologize.”
Reid remembered.
Lauren refusing a prenuptial amendment Cecelia wanted.
Lauren insisting on naming Maisie herself.
Lauren choosing a small wedding section for her own family.
Lauren telling Cecelia to stop entering the nursery without knocking.
At the time Reid saw conflict.
Now he saw resistance.
Margaret continued.
“Your mother thought Lauren was destabilizing you.”
“She said that.”
“She also thought Maisie made Lauren permanent.”
Reid went still.
“What?”
“Before the pregnancy, Cecelia assumed the relationship would end.”
“We were engaged.”
“She thought you’d come to your senses.”
Reid laughed bitterly.
“She thought Lauren trapped me.”
“Yes.”
“She told Maisie that.”
Margaret went silent.
“What?”
“She told my daughter her mother got pregnant to trap me.”
“Oh, Reid.”
He closed his eyes.
Margaret continued:
“Cecelia never forgave Lauren for changing the family.”
“She changed nothing.”
“She changed you.”
That was more true.
Reid had become less obedient while married to Lauren.
Then after Lauren left, he moved back toward dependence on Cecelia.
Without realizing it.
“She got me back.”
Margaret did not answer.
Reid felt cold.
Then he remembered something Cecelia said at the gate.
She is Lauren’s daughter.
Not loving.
Accusatory.
He asked Margaret:
“Do you think Mom sees Lauren when she looks at Maisie?”
“Yes.”
Immediate.
“Why?”
“Same eyes.”
Reid stared.
“Same way of asking why.”
“Meaning?”
“Lauren didn’t accept because I said so.”
Reid almost smiled despite himself.
“Neither does Maisie.”
“Exactly.”
That evening he found Cecelia waiting outside his office building.
He almost turned around.
Then decided not to.
“You’re stalking me now?”
“Don’t be dramatic.”
“Interesting phrase.”
Cecelia ignored it.
“You spoke to Margaret.”
“Yes.”
“She always resented me.”
“This isn’t about her.”
“You are collecting grievances from everyone who dislikes me.”
“I’m collecting facts.”
Cecelia’s face hardened.
“Facts?”
“Yes.”
“You want a fact?”
She stepped closer.
“Every time that child looks at me, I see Lauren.”
Reid stared.
Cecelia realized too late she had said it aloud.
He answered quietly:
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For finally admitting it.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You did.”
“She has Lauren’s temper.”
“She is eight.”
“She has Lauren’s manipulation.”
“She is eight.”
“She knows exactly how to—”
“Eight.”
Reid’s voice sharpened.
“Years. Old.”
Cecelia stopped.
“She is not your argument with Lauren.”
“I never said she was.”
“You didn’t need to.”
Reid stepped closer.
“She is not the woman who fought with you.”
Cecelia’s face tightened.
“She is not the daughter-in-law you hated.”
Silence.
“She is not proof that Lauren won.”
“Won what?”
Reid’s eyes hardened.
“Exactly.”
Cecelia looked away.
He continued:
“She is my daughter.”
Then:
“She is your granddaughter.”
He let the next words sit between them.
May you like
“And you made her pay for resembling someone you hate.”
For the first time, Cecelia had no answer.
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