Chapter 14 - THE LAST TIME HELEN ASKED ME TO KEEP A SECRET
Helen came to see me alone.
I almost refused.
Then I agreed to meet at a café near my townhouse.
She arrived wearing pearl earrings.
No burgundy scarf.
I noticed.
I wished I hadn't.
“I’m stepping down permanently.”
“I heard.”
“The board wants it announced next month.”
I waited.
Helen looked toward the window.
“People will ask why.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want Graham’s name dragged through this.”
There it was again.
Reputation.
Family.
Secrecy.
“Graham didn’t do this.”
“No.”
“Then why would his name be damaged?”
“People talk.”
I almost laughed.
“You want me to lie for you.”
“I want discretion.”
“You had discretion for five years.”
She flinched.
Good.
Then I felt guilty.
I was still human.
Helen lowered her voice.
“I know what I did to you was unforgivable.”
“That isn’t your decision.”
“I know.”
“What do you want?”
She looked at me.
“A chance with Grace someday.”
I thought of dirty pajamas.
Bread from the floor.
A three-year-old asking if she was second.
“No.”
Helen’s face changed.
“Never?”
“I didn’t say never.”
“You said no.”
“I said no today.”
She looked down.
I continued.
“Grace is not a reward for your apology.”
Helen nodded slowly.
“And Nora?”
“That’s Paige and Daniel’s decision.”
“I love them.”
“I know.”
The words surprised her.
I meant them.
Helen’s love had never been fake.
That made the damage more disturbing.
She loved people and still treated access to them as something she could control.
Before leaving, Helen asked one last question.
“Are you going back to Daniel?”
I looked at her.
For years she had arranged everyone around that marriage.
Now she desperately wanted to know whether she had destroyed it.
“That’s between Daniel and me.”
Helen pressed her lips together.
Then nodded.
May you like
For once, I gave her no information she could use.
And she walked away without demanding more.
