Chapter 16 - The Quietest Man in the Room
"Call an ambulance!" I shouted.
Dad lay on the courthouse steps, one hand trapped beneath him. I dropped beside him, afraid to move him, afraid not to. His eyes opened for a second.
"I'm okay," he whispered.
"Don't you dare tell me that right now."
Maya called emergency services. Derek disappeared. Rachel stared from the doorway until my mother shoved past her and fell to her knees beside Dad.
"Tom! Tom, look at me!"
Then she saw me.
"This is your fault," she snapped. "You did this to him."
My mouth opened. For one sick second, the little girl inside me almost believed her.
A paramedic crouched beside us. "Ma'am, please step back."
Mom kept talking. "All because she had to make us look bad."
I stepped away. I was not going to argue about blame while Dad needed help.
At the hospital, a doctor said Dad had experienced a heart-rhythm problem made worse by dehydration and stress. He was being monitored and was expected to recover. The relief hit so hard my knees shook.
Mom sat across from me in the waiting room, staring at the floor. "If you drop the case, we can put this behind us."
"No."
"Your father almost died."
"I love Dad. I'm not going to protect a forged deed to prove it."
"You used to be a kinder person."
"I used to be easier to use."
She slapped the arm of her chair. "Everything isn't about you, Claire!"
"You're right. Some of it is about the child you scared at Christmas."
Mom stood and walked away. It was the closest thing to a peaceful conversation we'd had in years.
Later Dad asked to see me alone. He looked smaller against the white hospital pillows.
"I spent my whole marriage keeping the peace," he said. "But all I really kept was Elaine's anger pointed somewhere else. Usually at you."
I sat down, unable to trust my voice.
"I knew what she was doing with the papers. I let it happen because I didn't want another fight. That's on me."
He reached for my hand. I let him take it.
"There's something else," he said. "Before court, your mother told me that if she couldn't have Hawthorne Lane, nobody would."
May you like
My phone buzzed. It was a text from the neighbor across the street.
Claire, you need to come over. Water is running out of your garage.
