Part 3
Rachel improved overnight.
By morning, she was weak but able to sit at the kitchen table. She drank water, ate half a piece of toast, and insisted on answering work emails.
Marlene called twice before nine.
Rachel ignored the first call. On the second, she answered.
“I’m fine, Mom.”
I stood at the sink rinsing dishes and listened to the one-sided conversation.
“No, you don’t need to come over.”
A pause.
“I said Ethan is here.”
Another pause, longer this time.
Rachel looked at my back.
“No, he didn’t upset me.”
Whatever Marlene said next made her close her eyes.
“I’ll call later.”
She ended the call and placed the phone facedown.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Rachel.”
“She thinks you’re making me anxious.”
I laughed once. I could not help it.
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“She’s worried.”
“She’s always worried when she isn’t in control.”
“That’s unfair.”
“Is it?”
Rachel stood too quickly and caught the edge of the table.
I moved toward her, but she waved me away.
“I’m going upstairs.”
“Did you tell her I stopped you from drinking the tea?”
Rachel stared at me.
“No.”
“Good.”
“Why would that matter?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Her mouth opened, but Lily walked in from the backyard before she could answer.
My daughter saw Rachel and froze.
“Mom?”
“I’m okay, honey.”
Lily crossed the kitchen slowly and hugged her. Her eyes stayed open over Rachel’s shoulder, fixed on me.
That afternoon, while Rachel slept, I found Lily in the garage.
She was curled behind a stack of plywood, hugging her stuffed elephant. Dust floated through the bars of sunlight beneath the door.
“What are you doing out here?”
She pressed a finger to her lips.
“Is Grandma gone?”
“She left yesterday.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Lily relaxed slightly.
I sat on the concrete beside her.
“Tell me why you’re afraid of her.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re hiding in a garage.”
“I like it here.”
“There are spiders in here.”
She looked toward the dark corner behind my tool cabinet.
“I don’t like it that much.”
I almost smiled, but her face stopped me.
“Bug, has Grandma hurt you?”
“No.”
“Has she threatened you?”
“No.”
Again, too fast.
I rested my elbows on my knees.
“You will never be in trouble for telling me the truth.”
“She says you don’t understand things.”
“What things?”
“Grown-up things.”
“That’s probably true. Adults pretend to understand more than they do.”
Lily did not laugh.
“She says Mom is fragile.”
My chest tightened.
“Fragile how?”
“That Mom gets sick because people upset her.”
“People like me?”
Lily nodded reluctantly.
“And you?”
Another nod.
“What does Grandma say you do?”
“She says I ask too many questions.”
“What questions?”
Lily traced a line through the sawdust with one finger.
“Why she always makes Mom’s drinks.”
A cold sensation spread through my stomach.
“What did you see?”
“Nothing.”
“Lily.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“If I tell, Mom will get worse.”
I reached for her, but she pulled away.
“Grandma said Mom needs special things because her body doesn’t work right.”
“What special things?”
“She keeps them in her purse.”
Before I could ask more, Marlene’s voice came from inside the house.
“Ethan?”
Lily flinched so hard that her shoulder struck the plywood.
I stood.
Through the small garage window, I saw Marlene crossing our kitchen with a grocery bag.
I had never heard her car arrive.
“Stay here,” I whispered.
I entered through the mudroom.
Marlene stood at the counter unpacking soup, crackers, tea, and a box of vitamins.
“How did you get in?”
“Rachel gave me a key years ago.”
“No. She didn’t.”
“She must have forgotten.”
I held out my hand.
“Give it to me.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“Excuse me?”
“The key.”
“This is my daughter’s home.”
“It’s also mine.”
Marlene’s smile thinned.
“She sounded upset on the phone. I came to help.”
“She told you not to.”
“Rachel does not always know what she needs.”
The words settled between us.
Then she lowered her voice.
“You should be careful, Ethan. A man who isolates his sick wife from her mother can be misunderstood.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s advice.”
She took a key from her purse and dropped it into my palm.
May you like
As she left, her gaze slid toward the garage door.
And I realized she knew Lily had been hiding there.
