Chapter 72 - The Daughter Who Read the Articles
Ruth’s daughter came to see Lena on a Wednesday.
I recognized Maya from photographs on her mother’s desk.
In person, she looked tired.
“I’m not here to ask you to stop the wedding.”
Lena invited her to sit.
I was collecting a box of files from the adjoining office. Maya noticed me through the open door.
“You can stay,” she said.
I stepped inside.
She placed her phone on the table.
An article was open on the screen.
My former company.
Jonah Reed.
Marco’s part in delivering the agreement.
“I knew he’d worked in security,” she said. “That’s how Mom described it when they first met.”
Lena nodded.
“What did Ruth say when you asked?”
“That he’s told her about things he regrets.”
Maya looked at me.
“That seems like a very small sentence for what happened.”
“It is,” I said.
She appeared surprised.
Perhaps she had expected defense.
I had offered enough of it in my life.
“I like him,” she admitted. “That’s the worst part. He helped me carry a washing machine up two flights of stairs. He remembers things Mom forgets to tell people. He’s kind to her.”
Her voice tightened.
“Then I read about the little girl in the hallway.”
Ava.
The stuffed rabbit.
Marco’s shoes.
The room felt suddenly smaller.
“Can somebody be like that and also be the person I know?” Maya asked.
“Yes,” Lena said.
Maya turned toward her.
“How do you live with that?”
“Carefully. And without asking the people who were hurt to make the answer easier.”
Maya stared at her phone.
“I don’t want Mom to think I’m trying to take away something good.”
“Have you told her that?”
“She gets upset.”
“Being upset doesn’t mean she hasn’t heard you.”
Maya leaned back.
For a moment, she looked very young.
Then she gathered her bag.
“I don’t know whether I can go.”
“That’s something you’ll have to decide,” Lena said.
“You’re not going to tell me she’ll be heartbroken?”
“She may be. That doesn’t give me the right to use it against you.”
After Maya left, I remained standing beside the table.
Lena closed the office door.
“Are you going to call him?”
“I was thinking about it.”
“What would you say?”
I considered several versions of the same interference.
That Maya was frightened.
That he should explain.
That I could help.
Finally, I sat down.
“I think she should get to speak first.”
Lena nodded.
Outside the office, Ruth was helping someone correct an appointment time.
May you like
Her voice sounded ordinary.
I wondered how much effort that was taking.
