Nico stood because news like this was too much to take while seated. “Can you run that by me one more time?”
Andrew recapped the conversation he’d apparently had with Valerie almost a full twelve hours ago about Roger’s daughter, Rory. “You want me to call Roger?” he asked when he finished.
“I’ll take care of it.”
Nico picked his way over the amber layer of pine needles paving the ground to the path. Valerie knew? She knew and kept it to herself? During the car ride home? While they were getting ready for bed? This was baffling. Beyond baffling. A total betrayal. What was she thinking? He was torn between finding Valerie to have it out with her and finding Roger to tell him immediately.
No, Valerie first. One of the most important steps of determining a workflow was to interview the people involved in the process and to get the facts. He had to know why she kept this to herself, in case there was some reason she didn’t want Roger to know.
He made it to the bunkie in record time and opened the door to find Valerie up and dressed. He barely registered her outfit, something with big purple sunflowers, before he said, “Andrew called.”
She dropped her phone. “I was going to tell you.”
He’d hoped that somehow Andrew had been wrong, and there had been a mistake or a miscommunication. That Valerie hadn’t known. Her answer meant she knew exactly what she’d done. He’d thought they were a team but she’d kept this quiet, the same way Stefanie had kept her separation from him, and his sisters had ignored him, and Roger hadn’t included him in his secret.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, keeping his voice as flat as possible despite his heart pounding.
“I wanted to make it special,” she said.
Instantly he understood. “You wanted to make it a big deal. An occasion. Why? To be the center of attention for one last time before Rory took it all away from you?”
The moment he heard the stricken silence, he felt terrible, but it had to be said. What she did was bordering on unforgivable. How long was she planning to keep this to herself?
“How could you say that?” Valerie’s hand crept up to her throat as her voice cracked.
“Why did you need to make it about you?”
“It wasn’t about me!” She sounded upset and he regretted not having this conversation in a place where he could maintain physical distance. Even in the midst of his anger, a part of him wanted to reach out to give her some comfort. “It was for the two of you! Roger was so disappointed with what happened in Goderich, and so were you. I wanted to get in touch with them first and then set up something wonderful for Roger. I thought maybe they could fly out and surprise him.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “You wanted to take away Roger’s ability to decide what he wanted to do about his own family, so you could make it into a big song and dance? Because you thought we were sad?”
“Don’t be so condescending,” she said, shoving her hands in her pockets, then taking them out to put on her hips before dropping them. “I wanted to confirm it, yes, and it’s anoccasion. It needs to be celebrated.”
“Not everything has to be a party!”
“It’s not a party. It’s an acknowledgment of something that is objectively huge.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” he said. This was shocking.
“Nor you. You don’t have a monopoly on Roger,” she said.
“I never said I did.”
“No, but you act like it. You’re so protective of him, it’s like you don’t have a life outside of what he wants. You think I didn’t notice the first thing you do each morning is check in with him?”
“He’s my boss, so stop trying to shift the issue.” Nico’s jaw hurt from clenching it. “This isn’t about him. This is about you keeping this from me because you wanted one last chance to feel part of the family.”
She stepped back. “That’s low. I washelping.”
“You were looking for a way to make yourself feel good,” he said. “It wasn’t for anyone else. You wanted to make this a big deal because that’s what you like. Not Roger. You only thought about yourself.”
“That’s not true.” Valerie was blinking rapidly, and he saw the tears start down her cheeks.
There was no talking to her about this. He stood up and left, wanting nothing more than to avoid Valerie, and everything.
“Nico? Nico!”
Nico shut the door behind him, cutting off whatever Valerie was going to say next.
