He nodded slowly.
“She said your father had a second family and that sometimes she felt like a visitor in his life.”
I swallowed.
Adrian continued.
“I told her you were both his daughters. She said I didn’t understand.”
I looked at him.
“Neither did I.”
He pulled out a chair.
“Would you consider coming back if we moved the seating?”
I glanced toward Grandma, who was resting her aching knees on a small footstool.
“No. Not tonight.”
Adrian nodded.
“I won’t argue.”
He turned toward Grandma.
“Margaret, please don’t feel you have to choose between your granddaughters.”
Grandma looked up.
“I haven’t chosen between them. I’ve refused to let one humiliate the other.”
He lowered his eyes.
“Understood.”
Then he asked whether we needed anything.
Aunt Patricia said she was arranging a meal in the hotel’s restaurant.
Adrian offered to cover it.
Grandma shook her head.
“We can pay for our own supper.”
He smiled faintly.
“Of course.”
Before leaving, he looked back at me.
“Clara, I want you to know something. Your father was important to Vanessa. And from everything she told me, you were too.”
I looked toward the ballroom.
“Then I wish she’d remembered that when she moved my chair.”
