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“My daughter is dead because of you. I won’t let you take my grandson from me too.”
Fury rolled through me, but I managed to not reach for her like I wanted. “When’s his birthday, Mel?”
“Wh…What?” Mel stammered.
“When is your precious grandson’s birthday?” I repeated.
“I…it’s…” Mel glanced around the room as if expecting someone to help her answer the question.
“What’s Matthew’s middle name?”
More silence. “I’ll give you a hint. It was my grandfather’s name.” When Mel didn’t respond, I said, “Come on Mel, we were married for seven years. Surely you know my grandfather’s name?”
“I…I can’t think right now…my child is gone-”
“The child you walked out on when she was eight years old? The child you called a slut when you found out she was pregnant?”
I heard someone gasp, but ignored it. “How many times did you take her to rehab, Mel? How many times did you babysit our grandson while Jenna was trying to get her life together? How many times did you show up after she’d call you begging you to come see her? How many nights did you spend searching for our child and our grandson when they went missing? Because I was out there” – I pointed towards the front door - “Every fucking night for a year after they disappeared!”
I felt Dante’s fingers close around my wrist and I looked down to see I’d fisted my hand at some point. I knew he was worried I would physically go after Mel, a sure sign that I was quickly losing control of the situation. I took several deep breaths and focused on the warmth of his touch in the hopes it would calm me. He released my wrist and trailed his fingers down over my closed hand. I wanted more of the contact so I opened my hand and the second his palm touched mine, I linked our fingers together for the briefest of moments before releasing him all together. The whole thing had lasted mere seconds and I doubted anyone had even noticed, but I managed to relax enough to say, “Get out, Mel. You don’t get to come into my house and mourn a child you abandoned when she needed you most and you sure as hell aren’t getting anywhere near my grandson who you met once for five minutes when he was three days old.”
Mel began crying in earnest, tears streaking down her perfectly made up face. At forty, she was still one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen, but I knew her looks were all she had left. But as long as there were men out there who were as blind to her ugliness as I’d once been, she’d be fine. Someone handed Mel a tissue and she serenely dabbed at her face. I didn’t bother to stick around to make sure she left. But just as I pushed past her, I saw her turn her face against Dante’s chest. Bile rose in my throat at the sight and I didn’t wait to see if he offered her the comfort she was seeking or not. I ignored the few people I had to get past to go back to my room.
I ripped off my tie and suit jacket and had just managed to loosen a few buttons on my shirt when there was a knock on my door. I instinctively knew who it was, but I just couldn’t deal with anyone right now so I said, “I’m okay. I just need a few minutes.”
Dante didn’t respond, but I did hear footsteps going down the stairs. I stripped off the rest of my clothes and yanked on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. My boots were next and then I was checking the door to make sure no one was lingering outside of it. I listened at the top of the landing and heard Rachel say, “Um, why don’t we sit down and go around the room and say what Jenna meant to us.”
I appreciated the young woman’s effort to steer the attention back to my daughter where it should have been all along, but I had no interest in participating. I’d come back to Texas to say goodbye to my child in my own way and that was what I was going to do. But Rachel had managed to give me something I desperately needed – the ability to escape the house unnoticed. As soon as everyone was focused on the first person to speak about Jenna, I crept down the stairs and went into the kitchen. Dishes full of food were all over the place, but I ignored them and grabbed a bottle of scotch from one of the cabinets and then went out the mudroom door and headed towards the barn.
It was time to say goodbye to my little girl.
