Chapter 8 - THE NURSERY SHE LEFT BEHIND
Claire signed a six-month lease on a second-floor apartment in Dilworth.
The building had no marble foyer.
No custom millwork.
No temperature-controlled wine room Grant showed guests.
It had creaky floors, an old magnolia outside the bedroom window, and a property manager who apologized because the kitchen cabinets had been painted three different shades of white.
Claire loved it immediately.
The lease mattered for another reason.
In North Carolina, Natalie explained, divorce required spouses to live separate and apart for at least a year with the intention that the separation be permanent.
Claire was not filing for divorce that morning.
But she was making the separation real.
She changed her mailing address.
She moved her freelance equipment.
She arranged for Lauren and Owen to accompany her back to the house while Grant was at work to collect clothing and baby supplies.
Claire stopped when she entered the nursery.
She had designed it herself.
Cream walls.
Soft oak dresser.
A tiny brass lamp.
A mobile of linen stars.
For five minutes she stood in the doorway.
Then she took the bassinet.
Not the crib.
Not the rug.
Not the artwork.
Just what the baby would actually need.
Grant came home before they finished.
He looked at Owen, then Lauren, then the half-empty nursery.
His anger appeared only for a second.
After that came something more revealing.
Fear.
“Claire, we need to talk before you do this.”
“I’m already doing it.”
“Your attorney contacted the bank.”
“Yes.”
“You have no idea what you’re interfering with.”
“My money?”
“My company.”
“Then stop trying to use my money for your company.”
“I wasn’t.”
“The bank says otherwise.”
“They misunderstood a preliminary discussion.”
“So correct it.”
Grant’s mouth tightened.
Claire watched him.
“Tell them I never agreed.”
He didn’t answer.
There it was.
The thing beneath everything else.
Not love.
Not even control.
Need.
“How bad is it?” Claire asked.
“What?”
“The company.”
Grant glanced at Owen.
“This is private.”
“I’m your wife.”
“You don’t get to use that word when it benefits you.”
Claire almost laughed.
He stepped closer.
“If the extension doesn’t close, I have projects that stall. Contractors who don’t get paid. Employees who start wondering whether they have jobs.”
“I didn’t cause that.”
“You could prevent it.”
“With Dad’s account.”
“With liquidity.”
“My answer is no.”
Grant looked at her stomach.
Then back at her.
“Your answer affects our daughter too.”
Claire picked up the bassinet.
“That sentence is exactly why I’m leaving.”
She carried it toward the door.
Grant did not stop her.
But as Owen followed, Grant caught Claire’s arm lightly enough to leave no mark.
“Claire.”
She looked down at his hand.
He released her.
Then he whispered, “Ask your mother what she gave me before you decide which one of us betrayed you.”
Claire stopped.
Grant walked upstairs.
Owen stared after him.
Neither sibling spoke until they were outside.
May you like
Because both had heard the same word.
Gave.
