Chapter 12 - The Meeting Without Excuses
Ashley finally agreed to a mediated family meeting in August.
Ben attended.
So did our attorneys and the family therapist working with Emma.
The children did not.
Ashley looked exhausted. Her real-estate income had dropped sharply. She had moved into a smaller rental after refinancing options failed. Our father had stopped paying her credit cards after Ben showed him how many family members had been covering the same expenses without knowing it.
I expected anger.
What I got was something harder.
Fear.
“I was going to lose the listing,” Ashley said.
The client had called while she was watching the children. A competing agent was already at the property. Ashley believed if she did not get there immediately, she would lose a commission worth nearly twelve thousand dollars.
“Why didn’t you call me?” I asked.
“You were in New Haven.”
“Ben?”
“He was working.”
“A sitter?”
“For forty minutes?”
She heard how weak it sounded only after saying it.
Ben asked why she lied after the crash.
Ashley stared at her hands.
“Because the first thing Emma said was that I hit her bike.”
“And that was true.”
“I knew how it would look.”
Rachel—the responsible sister—would judge her.
Ben would use it in court.
Her brokerage might learn she was on a client call.
Insurance could increase.
Our father would lecture her.
Ashley said all of those things before mentioning Noah’s injury.
The therapist stopped her.
“Do you hear the order you’re placing those concerns in?”
Ashley did.
Her face collapsed.
She admitted telling Emma the truth would give Ben ammunition.
She admitted telling Noah his memory was wrong.
She admitted moving the bicycle because she wanted the scene to look simple when the police arrived.
“What did you want from Emma?” Ben asked.
“To trust me.”
He shook his head.
“No. You wanted her to protect you.”
Ashley started crying.
I did not comfort her.
I also did not attack her.
“What do you want now?” I asked.
“My daughter.”
“That’s not specific.”
She swallowed.
“I want Emma to stop looking at me like she has to decide whether I survive.”
May you like
That was finally an answer about the right child.
Whether Ashley could live differently enough to earn it remained another question.
