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“Aria’s watching Georgia,” Carmella explained, her voice jumpy.
“Isn’t that nice? Elsa was just telling me she thinks Aria and Cole are in love,” Janine said conspiratorially.
“Cole and Aria won’t tell me anything,” Elsa said. “Maybe you can get something out of Aria?”
Carmella tried to laugh, but it sounded strange. “Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?”
Janine eyed Elsa curiously, then bowed her head and said, “I’ll see you later!”
After Janine disappeared through the door and closed it behind her, Elsa raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s going on, Carm?”
Carmella felt shaky, as though she hadn’t eaten enough. She leaned against Elsa’s desk and crossed her arms, unable to come up with the right words.
“Carmella? Is Georgia okay?” Elsa looked really worried now.
“Yes. Everyone is fine.” Carmella swallowed. “Do you remember the diary you gave me a few months ago? Mom’s from when I was a baby?”
Elsa brightened. “Of course! I’ve been reading over the diary from when I was a baby in parallel. It’s so fun to hear about how her and Dad’s life was immediately after they married.”
Carmella nodded. “I’m sure.”
“They just seem so happy and in love,” Elsa went on. “It reminds me of when I was first pregnant with Cole, and Aiden used to dote on me.”
Carmella’s heart sank. “Elsa. Mom was having an affair.”
Immediately, Elsa’s face fell. “What are you talking about?”
“After I was born, Mom was depressed. She had to go to therapy for a while, which is how she met Oliver Matthews and eventually fell in love with him,” Carmella said, speaking very quickly.
Elsa shook her head. “That’s crazy, Carm.”
“It’s true,” Carmella said.
“Why have we never even heard of this guy?” Elsa demanded.
“Oliver died right before Mom got up the nerve to leave Dad,” Carmella explained, her voice breaking.
“He died?”
“In a boating accident,” Carmella went on. “Mom was devastated. But he left her a seaside cottage in his will. I just went out to see it.”
Elsa’s mouth hung open with shock.
Carmella removed the key from her pocket and lifted it so that it glinted in the light. Elsa took it and held it, looking at it as though she wanted to hurl it out the window.
“I didn’t know how to tell you,” Carmella continued.
Elsa remained speechless for a very long time. “I wish you wouldn’t have,” is what she finally said after a while, her words thick with resentment.
Carmella stared at Elsa, genuinely shocked. “You should come with me to the cottage. It’s beautiful. It sounds like Mom went there when she needed quiet time, when she needed to feel like herself. And ever since she died, nobody has been out there.”
Elsa couldn’t look Carmella in the eye.
“She used to take us there, even,” Carmella explained. “I took my first steps there, and you used to run around, playing with your dolls.”
“I don’t remember that at all,” Elsa said stiffly, as though that meant anything.
Carmella wasn’t accustomed to Elsa being so cold. She slowly took the key back from Elsa and slid it into her pocket, sensing that she had built a wall between herself and this truth.
