Chapter 6 - The Promise Between Two Women
Grant came home before Delaney could force the answer out of Marissa.
The moment he saw them together, he stopped in the doorway.
“What’s happening?”
Delaney pointed at Marissa.
“She was with Mom the night Mom decided to leave you.”
Grant looked at his wife.
Marissa’s face hardened.
“You told her?”
“She found out.”
“Found out what?”
Marissa folded her arms.
“That Elise called me after your fight.”
Grant stared.
“What fight?”
Marissa almost laughed.
“The one where she told you she wanted a divorce.”
Grant’s confusion disappeared.
He remembered.
“That wasn’t the night she decided.”
“It was from where I was sitting.”
Delaney looked between them.
Neither seemed to be performing anymore.
This was uglier than a simple affair because they each possessed different pieces of her mother’s life.
“What did Mom ask you?”
Marissa didn’t answer.
Grant stepped closer.
“Marissa.”
“She asked me to make sure Delaney didn’t blame herself.”
Delaney went still.
“For what?”
“For the marriage ending.”
Marissa’s voice lost its edge.
“Elise thought you knew they were unhappy.”
“I didn’t.”
“She thought you did.”
Grant sat down heavily.
Marissa continued.
“Then the hospital called the next morning. Her cancer had spread. Suddenly divorce lawyers and separate houses stopped mattering.”
Grant stared at the table.
“She never told me she called you.”
“She didn’t want you to know.”
“Why?”
“Because she didn’t trust you not to turn it into another argument.”
Grant looked wounded.
Delaney almost defended him.
Then remembered why she was there.
“So Mom stayed married because she was sick?”
“Partly,” Grant said.
Marissa looked at him.
“Tell her the rest.”
Grant’s eyes met Delaney’s.
“Your mother was afraid a divorce would force the house sale.”
“What?”
“The mortgage was manageable together. Separate households, treatment expenses, your tuition—”
“I had scholarships.”
“Not enough.”
Delaney remembered her parents insisting she finish school without taking a semester off when Elise got worse.
“We agreed not to destabilize everything at once,” Grant said.
Delaney sank into a chair.
They had preserved her life while theirs was collapsing.
And she had mistaken the absence of information for happiness.
Marissa moved toward the stairs.
Delaney stopped her.
“You still haven’t told me why Mom thanked you.”
Marissa paused.
“Because I drove her to Richmond.”
“For what?”
Marissa looked toward Grant.
“To see Diane.”
Grant frowned.
“Elise told me she hadn’t seen Diane that month.”
“She lied.”
May you like
The sisters had been meeting secretly.
Which meant Diane had lied to Delaney too.
