I could have said no.
I could have loaded the girls into the car and taken them home and let the day end there.
But Gabriella was trembling so badly that I knew this was bigger than my pride.
So we walked to the park two blocks from the school because it had shade and a bench wide enough for all of us. Clarissa followed, still dressed like she was on her way to a charity lunch.
Then Nora asked the first question.
We sat under a maple tree.
Nobody spoke for almost a minute.
Then Nora asked the first question.
« Did you ever miss us? »
Clarissa inhaled sharply. She’s obviously expected a teary reunion instead of pointed questions.
Lily went next.
Clarissa looked at me first, ready to divert the blame somehow.
« Did you know Dad worked two jobs? »
Gabriella’s voice came smallest of all.
« Did you ever wonder what we sounded like when we laughed? »
Clarissa looked at me first, ready to divert the blame somehow.
She said I had made everything harder. That I had never understood her. That she had been drowning too.
Nora cut in before I could answer.
« You never came looking. »
She didn’t raise her voice.
That made it hit harder.
« Dad never kept us from you, » she said. « You never came looking. »
Clarissa opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Looked away.
« You don’t know anything about our lives at all. »
« That isn’t fair, » she said finally. « You don’t know what those years were like for me. »
Nora answered, calm as ever.
« You don’t know anything about our lives at all. »
The mask slipped after that.
Not all at once.
Just enough.
