Chapter 6 - THE CHOICE HELEN WANTED DANIEL TO MAKE
Helen finally admitted one thing.
She had brought Nora into our house deliberately.
Daniel confronted her.
I listened over speakerphone.
“You wanted Lena to find her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because this couldn’t continue forever.”
“You had five years.”
“I made mistakes.”
“That’s not an answer.”
Helen became sharper.
“You have two daughters now.”
“I had two daughters before last week. You just prevented me from knowing one.”
Silence.
Then Helen said, “And now you have responsibilities.”
There it was.
Not apology.
Assignment.
Helen believed she could control how the family rearranged itself because she had controlled how it was created.
“What did Grace do?” Daniel asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Why did you deny her dinner?”
Helen exhaled impatiently.
“I did not deny her food.”
“Grace says you did.”
“She was throwing a tantrum because Nora was sitting in her chair.”
I knew that chair.
Grace’s booster seat.
Helen had given it to Nora.
“Then Grace asked when Nora was leaving,” Helen continued. “I told her she needed to stop being selfish.”
“She’s three.”
“She needs to understand she isn’t the only child anymore.”
Daniel went quiet.
Helen continued.
“I needed to see whether you were capable of treating Nora equally.”
My skin went cold.
Grace had been the test.
Helen had deprived one granddaughter to see whether Daniel would choose the other.
That was why she waited for him to come home.
That was why Grace said Grandma was waiting for Daddy to pick.
Daniel whispered, “You used my daughter to test me.”
“I protected the child you abandoned for five years.”
“I didn’t know she existed.”
“You would have known if you had fought harder.”
Even Daniel had no answer ready for that cruelty.
Helen needed him guilty.
Guilt made people easier to control.
That night Daniel came to Rachel’s.
He sat across from me in the kitchen.
“I’m sorry.”
“For which part?”
He winced.
Fair.
“For hiding Nora.”
I waited.
“For letting Mom convince me you’d react badly.”
I waited again.
“For not seeing what she was doing to Grace.”
That one mattered most.
I asked, “What happens now?”
“I want to know Nora.”
“Of course.”
“And I want you and Grace home.”
“No.”
He looked down.
The answer hurt him.
It hurt me too.
May you like
But loving Nora did not require me to pretend our marriage was safe.
For the first time, Daniel was going to have to become a father to two girls without using his wife as the bridge between them.
