Chapter 14 - DIANE’S LAST SHORTCUT
Six months after the skillet incident, Diane asked to see Emma.
Rachel said no.
Diane did not argue.
Two weeks later she asked again.
Rachel said:
“First you meet with me.”
They chose a coffee shop halfway between their homes.
Diane looked smaller without Maple Ridge around her.
No formal dining room.
No family photographs arranged by school achievement.
No kitchen where she knew what everybody ate.
“I brought something for Emma.”
Diane reached into her bag.
Rachel immediately said, “No gifts.”
Diane stopped.
Then, slowly, she put the package back.
That small action told Rachel whether therapy was doing anything more than giving her mother vocabulary.
“I wanted to make it easier.”
“That’s the problem.”
Diane almost smiled.
“My therapist said you might say that.”
Rachel waited.
Diane had started seeing a counselor after Robert refused marriage counseling unless she first went alone.
“I used help as leverage,” Diane said. “I thought if I was paying, feeding, fixing, organizing, then I had earned a say.”
“You thought you earned the final say.”
“Yes.”
Rachel appreciated that she did not soften it.
Diane continued.
“I also knew Vanessa would react badly if I made her think you were coming after Lily’s stability.”
Rachel’s jaw tightened.
“That was deliberate.”
“Yes.”
“Did you expect the skillet?”
“No.”
Rachel believed her.
“You expected something.”
Diane looked down.
“I expected a fight.”
There it was.
No euphemism.
Rachel felt anger and relief arrive together.
“Emma is not seeing you yet.”
Diane closed her eyes.
“Okay.”
“I’ll talk to her therapist. If Emma wants it, we start short and supervised.”
Diane nodded.
Then she reached for her purse.
No crying.
No accusation.
No promise that she would die before seeing her granddaughter again.
At the door she turned back.
“Rachel?”
“What?”
“If Emma says no, I’ll wait.”
May you like
Rachel watched her mother leave.
It was the first time Diane had treated waiting as an act of love rather than abandonment.
