“Jennifer, did you take anything from this house?”
“No.”
I waited.
She reached into her handbag and pulled out the missing spoon, wrapped in a napkin. She set it on the desk’s bare patch of floor.
“I meant to put it back.”
“Why did you take it?”
She looked at the spoon. “I thought it might be valuable.”
It was Mother’s silver. Its value to me had little to do with what a shop might pay.
“Take your key off Stuart’s ring,” I said.
Stuart did it himself and placed the key on the windowsill.
Jennifer’s hand fell back to her side.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
I believed she was sorry to be standing there. I did not yet know whether she was sorry for anything else.
The movers returned. I told Stuart and Jennifer they needed to leave so the men could finish.
Stuart followed me to the porch.
“Mom, I didn’t know about the extra borrowing.”
“I believe you.”
“I knew about Cedar Grove. I knew what Jennifer wanted to do with the house.” His voice broke. “I could have stopped that.”
“Yes.”
He looked toward his car. “What do I tell Lily and Max?”
“The truth you’re able to tell without asking them to carry the blame.”
He nodded slowly.
“Will you let them see you?”
“Of course.”
“Will you let me?”
I held the porch rail. Robert had painted it twice because I kept finding a spot he had missed.
“I don’t know yet, Stuart.”
He seemed about to argue. Then he stepped down to the path.
At the apartment that evening, every room was crowded with boxes. I unpacked a kettle, two cups, and the framed photograph of Stuart as a little boy. I set the photograph on a shelf and turned it slightly away from the kitchen.
I wanted to remember him. I also needed room to see who he had become.
Martha called to ask how the move had gone. I told her the Hendersons would find the keys with their attorney on Monday. I told her Stuart knew.
“Are you safe?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She waited, hearing what I had left unsaid.
“I’m tired,” I told her.
“Then unpack the bed and leave the rest.”
I followed her advice.
On Sunday, Lily and Max visited. Stuart drove them and stayed in the car.
Max came through the door with a bakery bag in both hands.
“Dad said you already moved your pies,” he announced. “So I brought cookies.”
He put the bag on the kitchen counter and began exploring. He approved of the balcony, though he said it needed a bird feeder. Lily stood near the doorway until I showed her the second bedroom.
“There’s space for you both to sleep over,” I said.
She touched the folded quilt on the bed.
“Dad told us what he did at Thanksgiving,” she said. “He said he was scared about money, and he took it out on you.”
“That sounds true.”
“He also said being scared didn’t make it okay.”
I nodded. It was a start.
“Is Mom coming?” she asked.
“Not today.”
Lily sat on the edge of the bed. “They’re arguing a lot.”
