Chapter 5

5

Catherine somehow makes her way to Ted’s car in the driveway without breaking down, but as soon as she gets into the passenger seat and fastens her seat belt, the tears start to flow.

Ted turns to her in concern. He leans over and pulls her into him to comfort her. For a moment, she presses her face against his chest. That comment—where are my grandsons?—cut her to the quick. They’ve been trying for a baby for almost two years now. It’s a sensitive subject. Her father doesn’t know that, but he might have guessed. He’s so cruel, she thinks, and so adept at finding vulnerabilities. And the house—she’s furious they’re selling it. It’s not because of the upkeep. He’s selling it so that she can’t have it. Just like he sold the business so that Dan couldn’t have it.

She pulls away from Ted so that he can drive. He fastens his seat belt and quickly starts the car, throwing it into reverse. He turns the car around and speeds down the driveway, engine revving. For once she’s as eager to get away as he is. She takes a deep breath and says, “You’re right, I don’t know how I stand it. Although that was much worse than usual.”

“Your father is a miserable prick. He always has been.”

“I know.”

“And your mother—for Christ’s sake, what’s wrong with her? Has she got no spine at all?”

They both know the answer to that.

“I’m sorry about the house,” he says as he calms down and the car slows. “I know how much you wanted it.”

She stares miserably out the windshield at the road ahead. She can’t believe it’s never going to be hers.

“Is that what she wanted to tell you?” Ted asks.

“What?”

“When we first arrived, your mother said there was something she wanted to talk to you about.”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Your family is like a fucking soap opera. What more could there be?” Ted says.

“Maybe she’s ill,” she says. “Maybe that’s why they’re selling the house.”

---

•   •   •lisa doesn’t even want to ask. She’s afraid of what she might learn. But on the drive home she screws up her courage and asks Dan, “Did you get a chance to talk to your father, before—”

“No,” he says curtly. Then he glances at her, softens his voice. “I tried, but he was in no mood. If I’d known what was coming, I wouldn’t have bothered.”

She looks out the window as her husband drives. “He’s such a shit,” she says venomously, knowing her husband is thinking the same thing. She feels sorry for Catherine—he was awful to her. But as much as she feels bad about that, some small part of her is glad—or maybe relieved—that he has turned on one of his other children for once. It’s reassuring. It makes it look less like Dan’s fault that Fred sold the family business. She’s tried to keep the faith, but lately it’s been hard. Watching her husband flounder, unemployed, without direction. He’s done something unwise with their investments. Is Dan a good businessman or not? She doesn’t really know anymore. But she has doubts.

When she married him four years ago, he had a good position in Fred’s company, with a generous salary, bonuses, and a bright future. He was never happy there—his father made his life miserable at work—but they thought Fred would retire and that Dan would run the company someday. The world was their oyster. When Fred sold it out from under them a few months ago, it was like—it was like a death. And Dan still hasn’t gotten over the grief. She’s done her best to comfort and support him, to prop him up, to help him find a new path. But he has always struggled with depression, and since the business was sold, it has become that much worse. Some days she hardly recognizes him.

Now she says, “That was a low blow, about the grandsons.”

“Yup,” Dan agrees.

“Do you think he knows that they’ve been having trouble conceiving?”

“I doubt it. It’s not like she’d tell him. She might have told Mom, but she would have sworn her to secrecy.”

“Catherine told me in confidence. She said she wasn’t going to tell your mother, but I wonder if she did.”

Dan glances over at her. “She told you because you’re kind. You’re right—she wouldn’t tell them. It was probably a lucky guess.”

She’s silent for a moment. “She wanted the house, didn’t she?”

Dan nods. “She’s always wanted the house. I don’t care, one way or the other. The place could burn down as far as I’m concerned.” His voice turns dark. “It’s not like we have a lot of happy memories there.”

She looks at him more closely. “Are you all right?” she asks.

A car is coming toward them. It passes and the road is empty in front of them again.

“I’m fine,” Dan says, rigid at the wheel.

“Okay.” She watches him uneasily.

What are they going to do? They’d been banking on Dan’s father loaning them some money to tide them over until Dan got himself together. But that’s not going to happen.