AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rebecca was wordless. This was a story straight from a romance film.
“Mom!” Bethany gasped. “I had no idea.”
Esme smiled. “I wasn’t sure I deserved a second chance at love. What happened to your father and me was devastating. Truly. Although…” She trailed off. “Over the years, I began to make sense of why he left with Bree.”
“No,” Valerie said firmly. “What Dad did was wrong.”
“Yes,” Esme said. “It was wrong, and it hurt us very much. But he was broken.”
“We were all broken,” Valerie stammered.
“Which is why all of you took off for all corners of the country and left me here,” Esme said very quietly. “I can’t blame you for doing that. You were young and angry, and you wanted to run away from your feelings. Your father did the same.”
The table was very quiet. Nearly a full minute passed before Esme spoke again.
“I was so grateful to have another love, but I couldn’t have imagined that Larry’s and my love would last much longer than a semester,” she said. “I was so pleased and blown away when Larry agreed to return to Nantucket with me and stay in the house where I’d raised my children. I couldn’t bear to part with this place, as it felt like the last link I had with all of you. And after two semesters in Boston, I was ready to come home.”
Rebecca remembered the rooms of that house that now felt like a museum. Her mother had needed those rooms to cling to whatever she had left of her children.
“Larry and I redecorated quite a bit of the house. I wanted to make him feel at home here,” Esme continued. “And for many, many years, we were happy. Really happy. Of course, I still thought about you. I missed you. And I wished things could have been different.” Esme trailed off and shook her head. “But Larry helped me deal with those feelings. He helped me go through time without as much pain.”
Esme lifted her eyes to meet Rebecca’s. Rebecca stirred with discomfort.
“Darling, I’m just so sorry to hear about your husband.” Esme sounded breathless. “He left this world much too early. I imagine there’s no way to get your head around it.”
Rebecca blinked away tears and told herself not to make a scene. “I just worry so much about my children,” she said, although they handled Fred’s death far better than she did in many ways.
“Lily? Shelby? Chad?” Esme said Rebecca’s children’s names softly. Each syllable was heavy with purpose.
Rebecca’s throat was very tight. “You would love them.”
“I think I already do.” Esme dropped her gaze. “I’d love the opportunity to meet them one day.” She chuckled, then added, “As you can see, I haven’t handled Larry’s death very well at all. If you’ll have me, I might need to lean on my daughters for support. At least for a little while.” She was clearly ashamed to ask yet had no idea where else to turn.
“Mom, we’re here. We’re all here.” Bethany reached across the table and took one of Esme’s hands.
Esme shook her head. “I still can’t believe it. These weeks have been a nightmare. In every way, I’ve been reminded of 1993 when your brother…” She paused, unable to continue.
Valerie’s face crumpled.
“Dad came to see me,” Rebecca said suddenly, surprising herself. “He was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were all right.”
Esme furrowed her brow. This news was incomprehensible. It did not fit into the image she’d built of Victor Sutton since he’d left so many years ago.
“His marriage is over,” Rebecca continued. “And I have a hunch he’s a whole lot more lost than we can understand.”
“Famous family psychologist Victor Sutton? Lost?” Valerie demanded.
Rebecca gave Valerie an icy look.
“Oh dear.” Esme looked in disbelief. “When I made peace with his decision to leave, and when I met Larry and fell in love, I told myself over and over again that everything had happened for a reason.” Esme grimaced, then added, “Well. That’s a lie, isn’t it? I will never believe Joel died for a reason. What good is a child’s death? It’s senseless. It’s wrong. And it sent all five of us spinning in opposite directions for so many years, but when it comes to your father and me, I assumed we’d gone on to find our true-life partners. I suppose, then, it makes me sad that Bree and your father are divorcing. I wanted us to both have found meaning after all that heartache. I wanted everything to be okay.”
For a moment, the table was silent. Rebecca found it difficult to breathe.
“Dad went to the hardware store today,” Rebecca said suddenly, unsure of why she wanted to prove her father worthy of anyone’s time. “He bought materials and tools for Doug and Ben and has promised to help them patch up that old house. It really is about ten seconds from being condemned. And Dad looked so peaceful as he began to hatch a plan of attack. I hadn’t seen him like that since I was a little girl. It was strange that forty years of my life suddenly washed away, and I was five years old again, watching my dad work.”
Esme’s eyes were enormous. “Victor did what?” Slowly, she stood to her feet. “I have to speak with him. Is he in the guest room?”
Rebecca shook her head. “He went to his brother’s tonight.”
