Chapter 6 - The Lawn
Eleanor followed her.
She should not have.
Grace knew it the second she saw the older woman pushing herself upright from the breakfast chair, trembling but determined.
“Mrs. Hartwell, wait.”
But Eleanor was already moving toward the patio.
Daniel was blocked by a phone call from his office, one hand raised as if asking for ten seconds. Ten seconds was all Vivian ever needed.
Outside, the garden was bright and cruelly beautiful.
The fountain shone in the sunlight. The lawn had been trimmed that morning. The stone mansion stood behind them like a palace pretending nothing ugly could happen there.
Vivian stopped near the hose reel.
Eleanor reached the grass slowly, breath uneven.
“Give it back,” Eleanor said.
Vivian turned.
The locket dangled from her fingers.
“You should have stayed confused,” Vivian said.
“I was never confused.”
Vivian laughed.
It was not loud.
That made it worse.
“You really think Daniel will believe you? Look at yourself.”
Eleanor’s chin shook.
“My husband knew.”
Vivian’s eyes darkened.
“What did he know?”
Grace had reached the patio doorway by then. She saw Vivian’s hand tighten around the locket.
Then Eleanor said, “Enough to hide proof from you.”
Vivian’s face emptied.
For one terrible second, Grace thought Vivian might strike her.
Instead, Vivian looked down at the green hose lying near her foot.
And smiled.
“You want to make accusations in the garden?” she said. “Fine.”
She turned the water on.
Grace screamed Eleanor’s name.
The first blast hit Eleanor before she could move away.
The force startled her backward. She slipped onto the grass, hands flying up to protect her face. Water soaked her cardigan, her blouse, her white hair.
Vivian held the hose with both hands, breathing hard, her polished face twisted with rage.
“Maybe now you’ll stop embarrassing us,” she snapped.
Grace ran.
“Stop it!” she shouted. “She can’t get up!”
The water kept coming.
Eleanor cried, small and broken beneath the spray.
Grace dropped beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, turning her own back toward the water.
And then the mansion door opened.
Daniel stood there in his black suit.
The phone was still in his hand.
He saw everything.
Vivian lowering the hose.
Grace shielding his mother.
Eleanor soaked and shaking on the grass.
The locket lying open near Vivian’s red heel.
Daniel’s face changed from confusion to horror.
May you like
Then to something colder.
Something final.
