Chapter 12 - What Each of Them Was Trying to Keep
Mark asked to speak with Sienna privately.
She refused.
He asked again.
Eventually she agreed to meet him at Evelyn's apartment with Evelyn present.
Mark arrived without Trina.
He looked older than he had a month earlier.
Sienna did not feel sorry for him.
She noticed anyway.
He sat across from them.
Evelyn remained beside Sienna.
Mark started with the sentence Sienna expected.
“I panicked.”
Sienna said nothing.
“I saw Trina holding the jar. Mom was already moving toward her. I knew she'd get him.”
“You knew Grandma would fix it.”
“I knew Noah wasn't trapped.”
“So you waited.”
“For seconds.”
Evelyn flinched.
Mark saw it.
“Mom, please.”
“Don't ask me to make seconds sound small.”
Mark rubbed his forehead.
“I had Laura in my ear telling me this was exactly what she warned me about.”
Sienna stared at him.
“You're still saying it.”
“What?”
“You're talking about Laura.”
“Because she was already trying to limit me.”
“Why?”
Mark looked away.
“Because she hates Trina.”
“No. Why?”
He didn't answer.
Sienna leaned forward.
“You were scared Laura would hear what was happening and take Noah away.”
“Yes.”
The word came quietly.
Finally.
Mark looked at his mother.
“I already lost my marriage. Sienna barely spoke to me after the divorce. Then Laura was talking about restricting my time before Noah was even a month old.”
Evelyn said, “So you protected your access.”
“I thought I could handle it.”
“You mean hide it.”
Mark's jaw tightened.
“I thought if I opened the door and started screaming, Laura would hear everything.”
Sienna said, “And what was the alternative?”
Mark didn't answer.
“Your son was crying inside a glass container and you were worried his mother would realize you lied to her.”
“I was coming in.”
“After you hung up.”
Mark looked at the floor.
That was answer enough.
Then Sienna asked the question she'd avoided.
“Why are you still protecting Trina?”
Mark's face changed.
He looked tired rather than defensive.
“Because if I admit I knew how bad things were with her, then this isn't one bad afternoon.”
Nobody spoke.
Mark continued.
“I'd have to admit I kept choosing her because I didn't want another relationship to fail.”
Evelyn stared at him.
Mark gave a broken laugh.
“There. Is that what you wanted?”
“No,” Sienna said. “I wanted you to stop before Noah paid for it.”
He looked at her sharply.
She held his gaze.
Mark had been protecting his image as a father.
His relationship with Trina.
His access to Noah.
Evelyn had been protecting access to Mark.
Sienna had been protecting the belief that her father had changed.
Laura had been protecting her child while everyone called her difficult.
And Noah, the only person in the family without a choice, had depended on all of them to get their priorities right.
They hadn't.
Mark stood.
Before leaving, he stopped at the door.
“Trina and I aren't together anymore.”
Sienna felt nothing resembling victory.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Because you finally think what she did was wrong?”
Mark hesitated.
“Because she said if I wouldn't defend her, there was no reason to stay.”
May you like
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Even now, Mark had waited for someone else to end what he should have ended himself.
