Eleanor looked toward the stairs.
“Because I thought the truth would be obvious.”
Claire sat on the floor beside the chair.
“I’m sorry I stopped talking to you.”
“You were frightened.”
“I believed her.”
“She was your mother.”
“So are you supposed to be my grandmother.”
Eleanor’s throat tightened.
Claire leaned her head against the chair.
“I knew something was wrong. I saw her opening your mail. I saw the laptop with the house papers. She told me not to tell you because you would send us away.”
“I would not have sent you away.”
“I know that now.”
Eleanor lowered herself carefully to the floor beside her.
Their shoulders touched.
For a while neither spoke.
Then Claire whispered, “Can I stay here?”
Eleanor looked at the girl’s pale face.
“You never needed permission.”
Claire began to cry.
Eleanor put an arm around her, and Claire folded into the embrace with the force of someone who had been holding herself upright for too long.
Upstairs, a drawer slammed.
Neither of them moved.
CHAPTER 4 – What Was Kept
By morning, the house had become painfully quiet.
Olivia packed without speaking. Michael carried boxes to the driveway. Claire remained in the kitchen with Eleanor, sorting papers into labeled folders.
The deputy arrived at nine. Miriam came ten minutes later.
Olivia descended the stairs carrying a small suitcase. She looked older than she had the day before, but not gentler.
At the door, she stopped.
“Eleanor.”
