“Janice?”
She covered her mouth.
“Oh my goodness.”
Twelve years earlier, Janice had come into the credit union where I worked.
I remembered pieces.
A mortgage several months behind.
A folder full of documents.
A frightened woman.
Janice took my hands.
“You helped us.”
“I helped with paperwork.”
“You saved our house.”
I shook my head.
“I didn’t save anything.”
Janice squeezed my hands.
“My husband’s business had collapsed. We were weeks from foreclosure. I couldn’t understand the hardship paperwork.”
“I was doing my job.”
“No,” Janice said. “Your shift ended.”
A few guests laughed softly.
“You stayed anyway. Then you called me after work for days until we finally got everything approved.”
I barely knew what to say.
“I honestly don’t remember doing that much.”
Ethan smiled.
“We do.”
His father stood.
“We have your photograph on our mantel.”
I remembered a community dinner.
“My photograph?”
Ethan nodded.
“You received a community service award afterward.”
Barely.
Janice smiled through her tears.
“The photo is framed with a little brass plate underneath it.”
She looked at Lauren.
“MARGARET — COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD.”
My stomach tightened.
Ethan turned toward Lauren.
His expression changed.
“You’ve been in my parents’ house dozens of times.”
Lauren’s face went white.
“So tell me something.”
“Did you know who your mother was to my family?”
She stared at him.
Lauren didn’t answer.
“Lauren.”
Her lips trembled.
“You saw the photograph?”
“Yes.”
“And her name?”
Lauren nodded.
“Yes.”
Ethan stepped back.
“Then why have you spent all this time making sure I never met her?”
Lauren wiped her face.
“Because I lied.”
The words hung there.
Ethan frowned.
“About what?”
Lauren looked around at the watching guests.
Then at me.
She couldn’t say it.
The officiant quietly stepped forward.
“Perhaps we should continue this conversation somewhere private.”
Ethan nodded without taking his eyes off Lauren.
The six of us went behind the sanctuary.
The moment the door closed, Lauren started sobbing.
“I didn’t know how to fix it.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Fix what?”
Lauren looked at me.
“I told Ethan my family had money.”
I said nothing.
“I said Mom traveled constantly. I said she didn’t like public events.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
