Chapter 7 - WHAT EMILY EXPECTED RICHARD TO DO
Richard called Emily’s estate attorney, Helen Markham.
She was seventy-one and had no patience left for his excuses.
“You waited two weeks after Noah’s birthday.”
“I know.”
“You knew the condition had been met.”
“Yes.”
“Why am I hearing from you now?”
Richard looked through the study window.
Because Noah found the letter.
Because Vanessa found out.
Because Claire came back.
Every answer made him sound worse.
“I was afraid.”
Helen paused.
“Of what?”
Richard said nothing.
“Richard?”
“That Emily would tell him something I couldn’t control.”
Helen sighed.
“There it is.”
Richard leaned back.
“Did you read the package?”
“No.”
“Did Claire?”
“No.”
“So nobody knows what’s inside.”
“Correct.”
“Not even Emily told you?”
“She told me its purpose.”
Richard waited.
“To help Noah understand why she made certain decisions.”
“What decisions?”
Helen refused.
“That is for the package.”
Richard hated not knowing.
That was exactly the point.
Helen continued:
“Emily worried you would edit her after she died.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“What does that mean?”
“She said you loved by managing outcomes.”
The sentence hurt because Emily had known him perfectly.
Helen continued:
“She said if she left twenty-four separate letters, you might delay some, reinterpret others, decide which version of her Noah was ready for.”
Richard stared.
“So she created one thing you couldn’t manage alone.”
“Yes.”
“And Claire is required.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Emily trusted Claire to remember her as a person instead of as an instruction manual.”
Richard laughed without humor.
“Was I really that bad?”
Helen did not indulge him.
“She loved you.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I know.”
The next day Richard agreed to release the package.
One condition.
Noah’s grief counselor would be present.
Claire agreed.
Noah objected.
“Why does a therapist have to be there?”
Richard nearly said because this could be difficult.
Instead:
“Because I’m scared I’ll handle it badly.”
Noah looked surprised.
Richard continued:
“You can say no.”
Noah thought.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
Vanessa was not invited.
That caused another explosion.
“I’m your wife.”
“This is Emily’s message to Noah.”
“And Claire.”
“Yes.”
“So his aunt belongs in the family and I don’t?”
Richard looked at her.
“This is not about who belongs.”
“It is always about who belongs.”
Vanessa removed her burgundy earrings and placed them on the dresser.
“For three years I have been competing with a woman nobody lets me criticize because she’s dead.”
Richard stared.
Vanessa continued:
“And now a dead woman gets to schedule family meetings.”
“That’s cruel.”
“No.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“Cruel is marrying me while privately preserving instructions that said you shouldn’t.”
Richard had no defense.
She was right about that.
Not about Noah.
Not about the photograph.
But about him.
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He had asked Vanessa to build a marriage on a truth he deliberately hid.
The betrayal did not belong only to Noah.
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