Chapter 12 - ASHLEY FINALLY SAID WHAT SHE WAS PROTECTING
The sisters met for the first time in six weeks in a conference room at Rachel’s attorney’s office.
Ashley came with counsel.
Rachel came with hers.
Michael did not attend.
No children attended.
Ashley looked thinner.
Rachel hated that part of herself still noticed.
Her sister sat down.
“I didn’t see him.”
Rachel said nothing.
“I was backing out.”
Still nothing.
“Emma was fighting with me because she wanted to go to a friend’s house. I was looking at her in the mirror.”
Ashley swallowed.
“When I turned, I felt something.”
“You hit Noah.”
“I hit the bike.”
“With Noah on it.”
“Yes.”
The word nearly broke Rachel.
Ashley continued.
“I stopped.”
“How far?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try.”
“Maybe fifty yards.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“You drove fifty yards after hitting a seven-year-old?”
“I panicked.”
“What happened next?”
“I went back.”
“Why wasn’t your car there when I arrived?”
Ashley looked down.
“I moved it.”
“Why?”
“I thought if police saw damage—”
Her attorney touched her arm.
Ashley stopped.
Rachel understood anyway.
The first decision had been panic.
The second was concealment.
Then came Emma.
Rachel asked, “Why did she say she was riding with Noah?”
Ashley began crying.
“Because I told her to.”
There it was.
No lawyer interrupted.
No dramatic denial remained.
Rachel leaned back.
“What were you protecting?”
Ashley wiped her face.
“My license.”
Rachel frowned.
Ashley had received a citation two months earlier for driving while distracted.
Another serious incident could have jeopardized her insurance costs and complicated transportation during her divorce.
Then Ashley added:
“And Emma.”
“From what?”
“Knowing I caused it.”
Rachel stared at her.
“You made her lie to protect her from knowing you hit him?”
“I told myself that.”
“And really?”
Ashley looked directly at her for the first time.
“Myself.”
The answer was quiet.
Clean.
Terrible.
Rachel asked about the settlement comments.
Ashley admitted she resented the attention Noah received afterward.
Meals.
Gifts.
Money from the manufacturer.
Family members checking on him.
Emma had become jealous.
Ashley fed it.
“I told her Noah already got more than enough.”
Rachel’s voice shook.
“You hit my child and then taught your daughter to resent him for recovering.”
Ashley closed her eyes.
May you like
“Yes.”
No apology in the world could make that sentence smaller.
