But he suddenly understood that money was the least expensive thing he might have lost.
“We’ll figure it out.”
He took his mother’s handbag.
Leah carried the roses.
Together, they walked out of the ballroom.
Outside, the late afternoon sunlight spilled across the hotel entrance.
A cool breeze moved through the trees.
Nathan stood on the steps and realized that, for the first time in nearly a year, he wasn’t afraid of disappointing Vanessa.
The feeling was almost unfamiliar.
It was also frightening.
Eleanor touched his sleeve.
“You don’t have to stay with me tonight.”
He looked at her.
“I want to.”
She nodded, unable to speak.
They drove to her small brick house on the quiet outskirts of town.
The garden looked exactly as Nathan remembered it.
White daisies bordered the walkway. Lavender grew beneath the kitchen window. The old wooden bench his father had built stood beside the rosebushes.
Nothing had changed.
And yet Nathan felt as though he were seeing the place for the first time.
Inside, Eleanor put the kettle on.
She did it automatically, the way she had whenever something went wrong.
Leah opened the cupboard and took out three mismatched mugs.
Nathan sat at the kitchen table.
The silence lasted until Eleanor placed a cup of tea before him.
Then he said, “How long has she been treating you like that?”
Eleanor sat opposite him.
“It’s not important now.”
“It is to me.”
She folded her hands.
