Chapter 14 - THE LAST CHANCE BEFORE THE GUESTS ARRIVED
Vanessa arrived early.
She found Claire setting water glasses on the dining table.
“You planned this.”
Claire continued working.
“Mom planned dinner.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
Vanessa lowered her voice.
“You want everybody to watch me get humiliated.”
Claire finally looked at her.
“No.”
“Bullshit.”
“I wanted you out after you hit my mother. Mom is the one who invited you back.”
Vanessa’s face shifted.
“Why?”
“You should ask her.”
Brandon arrived ten minutes later.
He looked tired.
He had rented a one-bedroom apartment in Westminster and started interviewing for operations jobs.
His marriage was effectively over.
No divorce had been filed yet.
Real consequences moved slower than dramatic endings.
Before the first guest arrived, Margaret called all three of them into the kitchen.
She wore a navy dress instead of the floral apron.
Claire noticed immediately.
Margaret looked at Vanessa.
“I’m giving you one opportunity.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“For what?”
“To tell the truth tonight if the subject comes up.”
“What truth?”
“That this was never your house.”
Vanessa’s mouth tightened.
Margaret continued.
“That Claire did not throw me out.”
Brandon looked down.
“And that I did not work for you because I owed you somewhere to live.”
Vanessa laughed nervously.
“Your whole family already thinks Claire’s some saint.”
Claire started to speak.
Margaret stopped her with a glance.
“I did not say Claire was a saint.”
Claire almost smiled.
Margaret looked back at Vanessa.
“I said tell the truth.”
The doorbell rang.
Vanessa said nothing.
Guests began arriving.
For the next forty minutes, everyone behaved.
Chicken roasted.
Wine was poured.
Linda complimented Margaret’s new curtains.
Then Vanessa raised her glass.
“To fresh starts.”
Claire saw Margaret’s expression change.
Vanessa continued.
“Some of us are being forced into ours a little sooner than expected.”
Brandon whispered, “Don’t.”
Vanessa ignored him.
“But I guess when the person holding the deed wants control, everybody else gets to pretend she’s generous.”
Margaret put down her fork.
May you like
She had given Vanessa the last chance.
Vanessa had used it to lie again.
