Chapter 13 - THE ONE THING MARIS DOES WANTAugust invited Maris to Seabrook Crown for dinner.
She accepted only after learning Julian would not be there.
Nor any guests.
Just August.
Maris.
Eden.
The dining room seemed absurd for three people.
She made August move dinner to the kitchen.
He objected.
She won.
Eden sat in a portable high chair banging a spoon.
August tried feeding her mashed sweet potato.
Most landed on his shirt.
Maris watched.
“This is worth eight years.”
August looked down.
“At my shirt?”
“Yes.”
After Eden fell asleep in a guest room upstairs with Maris’s monitor beside them, father and daughter remained in the kitchen.
Maris finally asked:
“Why did you say it?”
August knew.
“If you walk out with him, don’t come back.”
“Yes.”
He looked at his hands.
“I was angry.”
“Not enough.”
“No.”
He took a breath.
“Caleb came to see me before your engagement.”
Maris froze.
“What?”
“He asked for money.”
She stared.
“To do what?”
“Leave you.”
The room disappeared.
“How much?”
“Five hundred thousand.”
Maris laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
“What did you say?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I wanted proof.”
“Of what?”
“That he was exactly who I thought.”
Maris stood.
“You let me marry him.”
August’s face tightened.
“You would not have believed me.”
“Did you try?”
“I told you he wanted money.”
“You said he wanted my money because he was poor.”
“I should have told you the meeting happened.”
“Yes.”
“I thought if I paid him, you’d find out and hate me.”
“So instead you refused and kept it secret.”
“Yes.”
“And then told me not to come back.”
“Yes.”
Maris walked away from the island.
“I spent years defending him because I thought you hated him for where he came from.”
“I did look down on where he came from.”
She stared.
August did not hide.
“That made everything worse.”
“Yes.”
“You were right for the wrong reasons.”
“Partly.”
“And wrong for the right reasons.”
“Yes.”
Maris laughed bitterly.
“This family is exhausting.”
August almost smiled.
Then his face changed.
“Caleb came back once more.”
“When?”
“After Eden was born.”
Maris froze.
“What?”
“He wanted investment.”
“You gave it?”
“No.”
“What did he say?”
August hesitated.
“Dad.”
“He said you were struggling.”
“We were.”
“He said I could help without you knowing.”
Maris felt sick.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because he wanted control of the money.”
“Meaning?”
“He wanted me to invest through him.”
Of course.
Maris closed her eyes.
August continued:
“I sent you money anonymously twice.”
“I returned one.”
“The grocery store.”
She stared.
“You admit it.”
“Yes.”
“What was the other?”
“Hospital bill.”
Maris remembered.
A balance mysteriously adjusted after Eden’s birth.
She had thought insurance corrected it.
“You paid that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You had a newborn.”
“You could have called.”
“I know.”
She groaned.
“Stop.”
“Sorry.”
Maris sat.
Anger moved in too many directions.
At Caleb.
At August.
At herself.
“You should have told me.”
“Yes.”
“I might not have believed you.”
“I know.”
“But it was my mistake to make.”
August looked at her.
There.
That was the heart of it.
He had been correct about Caleb’s character.
But he had used that certainty to justify taking Maris’s choice.
“I was afraid you’d choose him anyway.”
“I might have.”
“That terrified me.”
“So you tried to control me.”
“Yes.”
Maris stared.
Then:
“I don’t want your money.”
August nodded.
“I want one thing.”
“Anything.”
“Don’t say anything.”
He corrected.
“What?”
“The truth.”
He looked at her.
“All of it.”
“About?”
“Every time you made a decision for me because you thought you knew better.”
August’s face changed.
“That may take a while.”
“Good.”
Maris stood.
“We have eight years.”
She went upstairs for Eden.
August remained in the kitchen.
May you like
For the first time in years, he understood that reconciliation would not be a single apology.
It would be an inventory.
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