Chapter 4 - The Conversation Their Mother Never Wanted
Clara came over the next morning.
She stood in the foyer looking at the torn stroller box.
“Wow.”
Maren folded her arms.
“It was worse yesterday.”
Clara noticed the faint mark on Maren’s cheek but didn’t comment.
They sat at the kitchen table with coffee neither of them drank.
Clara opened her banking app.
“I went back eleven months.”
Maren’s stomach tightened.
“Eleven?”
“Apparently I’m an idiot too.”
“You’re not.”
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Turn this into Mom doing something to us while we pretend we had no part in it.”
Maren leaned back.
There it was.
The thing she disliked about Clara when they were teenagers and respected now.
Clara had very little patience for comforting lies.
“I should’ve called you,” Maren admitted.
“So should I.”
They put their records side by side.
Maren had sent Darlene money for Clara’s rent on March 3.
Clara had sent Darlene money for Maren’s medical deductible on March 5.
Maren had sent money for Clara’s car repair in April.
Clara had sent money for June’s crib in April.
Maren looked up.
“We bought the crib ourselves.”
“I know that now.”
The same pattern appeared again in May.
And June.
And July.
Different emergencies.
Different amounts.
But the same instruction.
Don’t mention it.
She’s embarrassed.
Let me handle it.
Maren rubbed her forehead.
“This isn’t random.”
“No.”
“She didn’t just keep money.”
“No.”
“She kept us from comparing notes.”
Clara’s mouth tightened.
Then she said, “Do you remember Thanksgiving?”
Maren did.
Darlene had pulled her aside after dinner and said Clara had been too proud to admit she was behind on utilities.
Two days later, Maren sent $500.
Clara scrolled.
“That same weekend she told me you were drowning in baby expenses.”
Clara had sent $450.
Neither sister had received what the other thought she had given.
Clara pushed her phone away.
“I feel sick.”
Maren did too.
Not because their mother had lied once.
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Because she had built a system around the assumption that her daughters would never speak honestly to each other.
And until yesterday, she had been right.
