Chapter 14
The man who once drove forty minutes at midnight because I said I wanted peach ice cream.
Then he spoke.
“My mother thinks your dad is filling your head with things.”
And the memory vanished.
“My father has barely said anything about you.”
“She thinks he’s trying to break up our family.”
“Our family was already breaking.”
Daniel stared at his coffee.
“I messed up.”
“Yes.”
“I let her get involved.”
“Yes.”
“I thought if I kept her happy, we could stay there until I found work.”
“At what cost?”
He looked up.
“I don’t know anymore.”
“I do.”
He flinched.
I hated hurting him.
But protecting him from the truth had helped create this.
“I became a guest in my own marriage.”
He swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you sorry because I left?”
He did not answer quickly enough.
I nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
Daniel reached across the table.
I moved my hand.
His face fell.
“I want to fix this.”
“Then start with the SUV.”
“I’ll get the keys.”
“No.”
He looked confused.
“I don’t want access to a vehicle someone else can take away whenever they’re angry. I want the title situation fixed.”
His eyes widened slightly.
“Elena.”
“I paid for it.”
“I know.”
“Then act like you know.”
“My mom is going to say you’re trying to strip me of everything.”
“This has nothing to do with her.”
“She’ll make it about her.”
“That is your problem now.”
Daniel sat back.
That sentence hit both of us.
For six months, Marlene’s reactions had been everybody’s problem.
I was finished carrying them.
“I need to pick up the rest of my things,” I said.
“When?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“My mom will be there.”
“Then Dad is coming with me.”
His expression tightened.
“Elena, that will make everything worse.”
“No. It will keep me from being cornered.”
He stared at me.
“Why does he intimidate her so much?”
I almost smiled.
“He doesn’t.”
“Then what is it?”
“She doesn’t like witnesses.”
The next afternoon, Dad drove me back.
He had come directly from an Army ceremony.
I knew because he called beforehand.
“I can change first.”
“No,” I said. “I just want to get this over with.”
When he arrived, he was still in service uniform.
I had seen him in uniform my entire life.
To me, it was simply Dad at work.
I forgot that Marlene had never seen him that way.