Chapter 4 - THE PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE WEDDING
I read the sentence three times.
If Theresa comes alone, do not sign anything.
Chloe leaned against my shoulder.
“Did Grandma do something bad?”
I wanted to say no.
Children deserve uncomplicated grandparents.
They deserve birthdays and cookies and people who mean what they say.
But Chloe had already seen too much.
“I think Grandma made some choices that hurt people.”
“Are you mad at her?”
“Yes.”
“Are you mad at me?”
I turned immediately.
“Never for this.”
That answer seemed to matter.
She rested her head against me.
My phone buzzed on the floor.
Rachel.
I almost ignored it.
Then another message appeared.
Please. I found something.
I stared at the screen.
Ten minutes later, headlights swept across my living room window.
Rachel stood outside wearing her wedding dress beneath a black coat.
No veil.
No flowers.
No Logan.
I opened the door but did not invite her in.
She looked past me toward Chloe.
“Is she awake?”
“Yes.”
Rachel swallowed.
“Can I say something to her?”
“That depends what.”
“I want to apologize.”
Chloe appeared behind me.
Rachel crouched.
The expensive gown pooled around her on the porch.
“I said something horrible to you tonight.”
Chloe said nothing.
Rachel continued.
“You are not useless. Not even a little bit.”
Chloe looked at me.
Then back at her aunt.
“Why did you say it?”
Rachel’s eyes filled.
“Because I wanted to hurt your mom, and I used you to do it.”
That was more honest than I expected.
Chloe considered it.
“That was mean.”
“Yes.”
“Mom says sorry doesn't fix everything.”
Rachel glanced at me.
“She’s right.”
Chloe nodded and went back inside.
Rachel stood.
“I deserved that.”
“You did.”
“I know.”
For once, she didn’t fight me.
I finally let her inside.
Then I showed her the watch.
Rachel stared at the engraving.
“Equal means equal.”
“You remember Newport?”
“Of course.”
“Mom told me Dad sold it.”
Rachel slowly sat down.
“She told me something different.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“That you gave up your half.”
“Why would I do that?”
“She said after your divorce, you needed cash and wanted nothing tying you to the family.”
“My divorce happened six years after Dad died.”
Rachel closed her eyes.
“I know that now.”
I stared at her.
“You never questioned the timeline?”
“I didn’t want to.”
The answer was painfully honest.
She looked around my small living room.
“I liked believing I was the responsible daughter.”
“And I was what?”
“The one who made bad choices.”
I laughed without humor.
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
Rachel took a breath.
“Mom told me you resented me because Dad trusted me more.”
Dad’s handwriting lay between us.
For my girls. Always half.
I pushed the photograph toward her.
“He didn’t.”
Rachel touched the corner.
Her mouth trembled.
Then she reached into her coat.
“That isn't why I came.”
She pulled out her phone.
“Our photographer uploads preview shots during the reception.”
She opened an image.
It had been taken before the ceremony.
Theresa stood behind the estate near a stone wall.
With Mason.
They were alone.
Mom’s hand was gripping Mason’s arm.
He looked angry.
“What am I seeing?” I asked.
“Zoom in.”
I did.
Mason’s right hand was visible.
A heavy gold ring sat on his little finger.
I recognized it instantly.
Dad’s signet ring.
Another item supposedly lost after his death.
My stomach turned.
“How did Mason get that?”
“I asked him tonight.”
“And?”
“He left.”
Of course he did.
Rachel stared at the photograph.
“Valerie, Mason and I started seeing each other four months ago.”
I said nothing.
“I’m not proud of it.”
“You shouldn't be.”
“I know.”
“Did Mom know from the beginning?”
“No. She found out in June.”
“And instead of telling Logan, she used Mason.”
Rachel looked sick.
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know yet.”
I looked at the watch.
“Yes, you do.”
Rachel looked up.
I continued.
“She needed you married.”
Rachel’s face changed.
Because that made sense.
Too much sense.
Her relationship with Logan had nearly ended twice during their engagement.
Mom had pushed harder than anyone for them to reconcile.
She called Logan “the best thing that ever happened to this family.”
I thought she meant socially.
Maybe she meant financially.
Rachel whispered, “She told me if I lost Logan, I would regret it for the rest of my life.”
“Did she know Logan’s family business was interested in Newport?”
Rachel nodded slowly.
“They're developing several properties along the coast.”
There it was.
Another piece.
Mom hadn't simply wanted Rachel married to a wealthy man.
She needed Logan specifically.
Rachel looked at me.
“I think she wanted his company involved because it gave her a way to move Newport without either of us asking too many questions.”
“Then why involve Mason?”
Rachel stared at Dad’s ring in the photograph.
“Because Mason works in commercial finance.”
Of course.
The best man.
The lover.
The useful middleman.
Rachel stood suddenly.
“I know where he is.”
I frowned.
“How?”
“He always stays at the Fairmont when he comes into town.”
“Rachel—”
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
She grabbed her coat.
“But if my mother gave my father’s ring to the man I was sleeping with while using my marriage to steal from my sister, I want to hear him explain it to my face.”
I looked toward Chloe.
She was standing in the hallway holding her stuffed rabbit.
“I don't want you to go,” she said.
I immediately softened.
“I’m staying with you.”
Rachel nodded.
“I’ll go.”
But Chloe looked at the photograph on the table.
Then she pointed at Mason’s hand.
“Mom?”
“What?”
“That isn't the only thing he has.”
I looked closer.
Chloe pointed at Mason’s wrist.
Under his shirt cuff was a narrow leather strap.
Dad’s watch had once hung from a matching leather fob.
And stamped into that strap were two tiny letters.
T.H.
Rachel stared at it.
Then whispered:
“Mason didn’t just get Dad’s ring from Mom.”
“He got the whole set.”
May you like
And suddenly I knew somebody had gone through my father’s belongings long before anyone claimed they were lost.
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