Chapter 36

Chapter

Thirty-Six

HEPH

The second the others leave, Athena gets to work, and puts me to work, too. Ellen is back on her rocker, and Athena kneels at her feet. “Hey Ellen, when was the last time you had a proper bath with warm water and bubbles?”

“It has been some time,” the old lady answers and smiles wistfully. “I used to adore baths, but our hot water doesn’t work, so I’m afraid it is a luxury I can’t afford at the moment.”

“I can restore power to the hot water heater,” I offer. “See if I can get it working.”

“Thank you, young man,” the old woman says.

I leave them to go fix it, and as I thought, the heater is a little old, a little rusty, but works okay as soon as I turn the power on. I go back up to tell them to give it a little bit of time and it should be fine. But when I get to the door, I hear the two women talking.

“How long have you been up here all by yourself?” Athena asks.

“Oh, not long,” Ellen answers. “My son was here yesterday, I think. He brought my new prescription and said the bills were paid for a while, but he had to go back to the cabin in the woods. He said he would be home in a week. As long as I didn’t have another episode, I would be good.”

“What is it like when you have an episode?”

“The world turns, and I can’t think right. I get confused. I haven’t had one in such a long time, though.” Athena must give her a look or something. The next thing the old woman is saying, “Oh dear, I had another, didn’t I?”

“I think so.” Athena’s voice is soft, soothing, without being condescending. “Ellen, do you remember who I am?”

“Yes, you are Athena, the woman my Paris has told me about. He says he will marry you, and you will help me. Where is my son? Why isn’t he here?” Her voice rises, and she sounds a little frantic. Athena must be doing something to soothe her because Ellen’s next words come out barely more than a whisper. “He has done something terrible, hasn’t he?”

“I don’t know.” Athena doesn’t lie to her, and I admire that about her. She is stubborn and has a mouth that will not fucking stop. Sometimes, she is worse than Eros, but she is never unkind unless provoked, and she is always honest. Even when a lie would make things so much easier. She takes truth over convenience. I hate how much I admire her for that.

“It’s not his fault, not really. When he found out about you, it brought up so much of his past, so much ugliness. For weeks, he was all rage and spite. Then he met you, and I think he fell in love.”

“What do you mean? Why would finding out about me trigger him?” That is a good question. I didn’t notice anything off about Paris until I caught him and Athena on the patio seconds from fucking.

“His father had a mistress, you see. Well, over the years, I think he had several. I knew, of course, but I chose not to say anything. I figured it would be an office romance, a way to leave the stress of his job at work, then come home ready to be a proper father at least, if not a good husband. They never lasted long, and he put Paris above everything, so I pretended I didn’t know. What is it you kids say? I let it slide.” She laughs at her own joke.

“Yeah, that’s what we say. Then what happened?”

“Oh well, when Paris was about twelve, one of my husband’s women got pregnant. She had a boy, and he tried to keep it quiet, but I knew, of course. It was fine until she got pregnant again with twins. Then my husband decided that his whore having three children was more important than his wife and first son. He spouted on about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few or some such nonsense twisted to somehow justify leaving his legitimate family for the false one.”

“That is terrible.” Athena’s voice is calming to the old woman again .

The rocking of her chair has slowed. I press forward a bit, and the wood under my foot creaks. I freeze, hoping the women haven’t heard me. I didn’t know any of this about Paris. It makes me feel terrible. Paris knows all of our damage. How do I not know the extent of his? Did he choose to keep it from us, or did we never give him the opportunity to share?

Fuck.

“But I’m still confused. What any of this had to do with me,” Athena asks.

“Well, dear,” Ellen continues. “Paris saw that other woman, Freya, as another parent. When he found out she also had another secret family, he was so angry. For days, he raged. I urged him to go talk to Freya, find out what happened. Why weren’t you in her life anymore? Why did she keep all of this from him?”

“Wait, he found out about me before she died?” Athena sounds shocked, and frankly, so am I.

I thought none of us had any idea she had children, a family. We knew she was running from something, but we thought it was just her ex. Never a family. How could Paris not have told us? Did we know him at all?

“Oh yes, dear, but not long before. I am afraid, as he was working up the nerve to ask her about you. That is when she passed. So tragic. That was also when Paris’s father stopped sending alimony. It all happened at once, and he said that it will all be over soon. He has a plan, and I know he will get us out of this.”

Fuck. It might have been him. For the first time, I really think Eros is right. I don’t know if Paris killed Freya, but I bet he was the one taking the money.

I can’t hear anymore. I just can’t. So, I knock on the door and peek in. Tears are running down Athena’s face, and she quickly wipes them away.

“Hot water should be good now,” I say, then I head downstairs to find something to do.

Athena finds me in the kitchen, sweeping.

“Hey, can I get you to do that in her room? There is so much dust I didn’t want to kick it all up in the air while she was in there.”

“Yeah, did you leave her in the bath?”

“She is sitting on the toilet while the tub fills. She seems more with it now that she took her pill, and it pulled her out of whatever episode she was having when we got here. But just in case, I don’t want to leave her alone in there.”

“Probably a good call. I’ll go take care of it now.”

She moves to go back upstairs but stops and turns back around to face me, her arms wrapped around her middle. I can’t see her fire, her fight. She looks sad, and for the first time I have seen her, small.

“Heph, did Paris kill my mother because I was looking for her? Was this my fault?”

“No.” I don’t know why, but I can’t lie to her, not about this. “If Paris did this, it’s on him. Not you. Maybe Freya should have told us. I don’t know why she didn’t. Her reasons were her own, but it doesn’t justify her death. I promise we will find out what happened.”

She nods and goes upstairs. While I resist the urge to follow her and pull her into a hug. I have been a complete ass to her while she was grieving the loss of a mother she never got to know. I haven’t earned the right to comfort her. Yet.