Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Armchair
There was a woman sitting in the living room.
Not my mother-in-law. Someone else. Younger. Relaxed. Curled into the armchair by the lamp like she'd been sitting in that spot for years.
And my father-in-law was right next to her, on the arm of the chair, holding her hand.
I stood there with my breath fogging up the glass. Behind me I heard the front door open.
Nathan had come back.
"I told you to leave," he said. His voice had changed. Flat. Careful.
"Who is she?"
He didn't answer.
"Nathan. Who is that woman sitting in there with your dad?"
He looked past me. "It's complicated."
"Complicated." I stared at him. "Where's your mother?"
He finally met my eyes, and what I saw there shut me up. It wasn't guilt. It wasn't even embarrassment. It looked like grief.
"She doesn't know you've been coming here without her," I said quietly. "Does she."
His mouth opened. Then closed.
May you like
Before he could get a word out, the front door swung wide, and my father-in-law stepped onto the porch.
He looked at Nathan. Then at me. Then he said six words I will never forget.
