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“Not me. Daddy.”
“Ah, I see. Well, you know how Grandpa can be. He’ll forget all about it by dinnertime.”
“I don’t think so—”
“Coryn, where are you?” we both heard her mother call for her.
The door swung open, and Eleanor marched in. “I hope you’re happy,” she spat at me.
“You know, you remind me of someone I ran into recently. She spoke to me in almost the exact same tone of voice. I’m sure you remember her. Susan Sweeney.”
“Fuck you, Spider!” She walked over and grabbed Coryn’s wrist. “Come on, we’re leaving.”
I stood and put my hand on her arm. “You may be angry with me or Dein or even my father, but none of this is your daughter’s fault.”
Eleanor released Coryn’s wrist and knelt down in front of her. “I’m sorry, baby. Uncle Spider is right. Forgive me?”
Coryn nodded through tear-filled eyes and wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck.
“Have a merry Christmas,” she spat as she walked out of the bedroom, holding her daughter’s hand rather than her wrist.
I put on the shorts and shirt I’d had on yesterday and went downstairs. If I was lucky—and I knew I wouldn’t be—my brother, his family, and my parents would be gone.
“Good morning,” I said, joining my mother on the terrace. Her back was to me, but when I took a step to the side, I saw she was crying.
I walked over and knelt in front of her like Eleanor had done with her daughter. “I’m sorry, Mother. I thought you knew.”
Her mouth opened, then shut.
“Whatever it is, say it.”
“You thought I knew? You thought I’d allow my own granddaughter to grow up without knowing her? What kind of monster do you think I am?”
“I don’t think you are; I think you’re married to one.”
When my mother slapped my face, I stood. “I suppose I deserved that, and I’m sorry. It’s just—”
She stood too, and I expected her to go inside, but she didn’t. “How long have you known?”
“What day is it?”
“Don’t be smart with me, Corbin.”
“First of all, I’m thirty-four years old, Mother. You can’t tell me not to be ‘smart’ with you. Second, I was serious.”
“It’s Christmas Eve.”
“Three days.”
“How did you find out?”
“I ran into Susan and her daughter at the airport. We were on the same flight, and she told me the whole story. Well, maybe not the whole story, but enough that I knew Dein was her child’s father and she was paid handsomely to keep it a secret.” I shook my head. “I feel like I’ve time-traveled to a different era. I mean, do people really still do that? Pay off someone to keep their own child a secret?”
I looked up when she did, at the car carrying my brother’s family as it pulled away from the house and down the drive. “Are you really going to keep them away on Christmas? Yourgrandchildren?”
“Your father…”
“What about him?”
