Chapter 5 - WHAT NATHAN HAD MISSED WHILE LOVING HER
Nathan drove home with Emily rather than staying at the Halcyon.
The house in Winnetka felt quieter than usual.
Laura’s violin case sat open on the dining table.
The instrument itself had been taken to a respected luthier for assessment. Whether it could be restored was uncertain.
Emily wandered into the kitchen wearing socks and one of Nathan’s old college sweatshirts.
“Was Mom a thief?”
Nathan put down his coffee.
“No.”
“Mr. Voss thought she was.”
“He accused her.”
“Grandma too?”
Nathan hesitated.
“I’m still learning what Grandma did.”
Emily climbed onto a stool.
“She knew Mom before you did.”
“Yes.”
“Why did she pretend she didn’t?”
Nathan had no good answer.
He realized Celeste had controlled the story from the beginning.
When Nathan finally introduced Laura to his parents after they reconnected, Celeste had smiled and said:
“So this is Laura.”
Nathan had heard surprise.
Now he heard recognition disguised as politeness.
There had been other signs.
Celeste rarely attended Laura’s performances.
She called the violin “that instrument” as though refusing to name it reduced its importance.
At Nathan and Laura’s rehearsal dinner, Celeste toasted Laura’s ability to “adapt to a very different life.”
Nathan had thought it was awkward.
Laura had gone quiet.
He had changed the subject.
Another memory came back.
Their first Christmas after marriage.
Celeste gave Laura a Cartier bracelet.
Laura returned it privately.
Nathan remembered being irritated.
“You could’ve just said thank you.”
Laura had answered:
“Some gifts ask you to agree with the person giving them.”
Nathan had not understood.
Worse, he had not tried very hard.
He had loved Laura.
He had also benefited from not examining the places where loving her required conflict with his family.
That afternoon Rebecca called.
The hotel’s archived finance records showed Celeste had authorized a $25,000 “retention and performance award” to Victor the same month as his promotion.
No similar bonus appeared for other managers.
Nathan’s first thought was payment.
Rebecca stopped him.
“It may have been legitimate.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
He took the rebuke.
They needed evidence.
Not anger arranged into a theory.
Another document complicated matters.
The original guest whose bracelet went missing, Eleanor Wynn, was still alive.
Eighty-two.
Living in Naples, Florida.
Rebecca contacted her through counsel rather than letting Nathan call personally.
Eleanor agreed to speak by phone.
Her memory was clear.
She had never accused Laura specifically.
She reported the bracelet missing.
Victor was the person who asked whether “the violin girl” had been unsupervised in the suite.
That phrase made Nathan’s stomach turn.
The violin girl.
Eleanor said she remembered something else.
“Your mother was furious when the bracelet turned up.”
Nathan frowned.
“Why?”
“She said the hotel had already handled the matter.”
“Handled how?”
“I don’t know.”
Eleanor paused.
“Then she asked me not to contact the young musician directly.”
Nathan sat forward.
“Did you want to?”
“Yes. I felt terrible.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Your mother told me Laura had accepted an apology and preferred privacy.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Laura had received no apology.
Celeste had not merely allowed a false impression to remain.
She had actively prevented the person whose missing bracelet started everything from speaking to Laura.
When Nathan ended the call, Emily was standing in the doorway.
May you like
“How many people knew Mom was telling the truth?”
Nathan looked at his daughter.
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