Chapter 14 - Linda's Last Chance to Blame Someone Else
Gary requested one final conversation with Linda through their attorneys about belongings left at the house.
Mark drove Brooke over because Linda asked her to be present.
Brooke almost refused.
Then she decided she wanted to hear what happened when Gary and Linda no longer shared a story.
The meeting took place on the back patio.
Mark remained inside.
Gary arrived with his brother.
No yelling.
No threats.
Just cardboard boxes and resentment.
At first, everything remained practical.
Tools.
Clothes.
A television.
Then Gary pointed toward Brooke.
“This whole thing happened because she couldn’t stay out of adult business.”
Brooke felt heat rise through her.
Linda answered before she could.
“No.”
Gary looked surprised.
Linda repeated it.
“No.”
“She called Mark.”
“Because Ethan was scared.”
“She brought Children Services into it.”
“Because I gave her a reason.”
Gary laughed.
“You staged half that stuff.”
Linda went pale.
Brooke waited.
This was the final doorway.
Linda could still protect herself by making Gary the worse person.
He probably was.
That did not erase her choices.
Linda said:
“I started it.”
Gary stopped smiling.
“I blamed Ethan for the lamp.”
Brooke watched her mother’s hands tremble.
“I blamed him for the cash.”
Gary’s brother looked uncomfortable.
Linda continued.
“I told Ethan to confess when he hadn’t done things.”
Gary cut in.
“And then I found out.”
Linda looked at him.
“Yes.”
“And you kept going.”
“So did you.”
Gary stepped closer.
“Because you told me it was the only way to get those kids under control.”
Linda’s eyes filled.
“I did.”
Gary pointed toward Brooke.
“So tell her.”
Linda looked at her daughter.
Brooke could see exactly what Gary wanted.
Shared guilt turned into diluted guilt.
If everyone was wrong, perhaps nobody needed to be fully responsible.
Linda shook her head.
“No.”
Gary frowned.
“I’m not using you to make what I did smaller.”
Brooke felt something shift.
Not forgiveness.
Power.
Gary picked up the final box.
“You’ll regret choosing them when you’re drowning in that mortgage.”
Linda flinched.
Then she said:
“I’m selling the house.”
Brooke stared at her.
Linda had not told them.
Gary did not answer.
The house had become the excuse underneath everything.
The reason Gary had to stay.
The reason Linda had to keep the relationship intact.
The reason difficulty became danger.
Now she was giving it up.
Gary carried the box to his truck.
He never looked back.
Linda stood on the patio until he drove away.
Then she turned toward Brooke.
“I found an apartment.”
“Where?”
“Dublin. Two bedrooms.”
Brooke’s chest tightened.
“Two?”
“One for Ethan.”
Linda paused.
“If he ever wants it.”
Brooke understood what was missing.
No room had been planned for her.
She would turn eighteen in six weeks.
May you like
Linda was finally doing something she had refused to do for months.
She was accepting that Brooke might not come home.
