Chapter 8: What Eleanor Had Been Carrying
She was sitting up in bed when I came in.
The hospital gown had been replaced with her own nightdress — pale blue, the one she'd had for years.
Grace had arranged that before leaving for the clinic.
Even from a gurney, Grace had thought of my mother's comfort.
I sat in the chair beside the bed and didn't say anything for a moment.
"How's your heart?" I asked.
"Steady," she said.
"Dr.
Harmon says the stress didn't set me back." She looked at her hands.
"How's Grace's arm?"
"Second-degree burns on the forearm.
They treated it last night.
She'll have some scarring." I paused.
"She's already said she wants to come back to work when she's ready."
My mother's eyes filled.
She pressed her lips together and looked at the ceiling until she had herself under control.
"I should have told you about Vanessa months ago," she said.
"Tell me now."
Eleanor turned to look at me.
"The first time I noticed something wrong was the night you flew to Singapore.
She came upstairs after you left.
She was perfectly pleasant.
She sat right where you're sitting and asked me questions about your company.
Not general questions.
Specific ones.
About a deal you were working on." She paused.
"I didn't know the details.
But I knew you hadn't told her those details either.
And I knew she was fishing."
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I tried.
Twice.
You were in back-to-back meetings both times and I didn't want to worry you over something I couldn't prove." She looked down at her hands again.
"Then Phillip started coming.
She introduced him as a financial advisor helping her manage a small inheritance.
He was always very polite.
But he asked questions too.
And he listened to everything." She paused.
"One afternoon I came downstairs earlier than they expected.
They stopped talking the moment they saw me.
The way people stop talking when they've been caught."
"That's when you started writing the letter to me."
"Yes.
I wrote three drafts before I was happy with it.
I put it in the envelope and I kept it close." She glanced at the nightstand.
"When Vanessa found the Clover Street documents in my drawer, I think she went looking for anything else I might have hidden.
She found the envelope.
She read it." Eleanor's voice went flat.
"She told me if I gave it to you, she would make sure my next cardiac episode didn't have a happy ending."
The room was very still.
"She threatened you," I said.
"She was very calm about it.
That was the worst part.
She smiled while she said it." My mother looked at me directly.
"That's why I was so frightened when you came through the door.
Not because of the soup.
Because I thought — if she was willing to do that in front of you, she had decided she had nothing left to lose."
I reached over and took my mother's hand.
Her fingers were thin and cool and they held on tightly.
"She's gone," I said.
"She won't come back here."
"Is she in trouble?"
"Yes."
My mother nodded slowly.
She didn't look satisfied exactly.
She looked relieved in the way people look when something heavy has finally been set down after a long time.
"Grace knew," Eleanor said after a moment.
"I told her, about a month ago.
I asked her to keep the envelope safe if anything happened to me before I could reach you." She paused.
"She never asked what was in it.
She just said yes."
I thought about Grace on the floor.
Her burned arm.
The way she hadn't defended herself because she was too busy protecting my mother from having to speak.
"I'm going to take care of Grace and Marcus," I said.
"The Clover Street house is theirs.
And I'm going to make sure Marcus has every opportunity he needs going forward.
Whatever he wants to study, wherever he wants to go."
My mother squeezed my hand.
She didn't say anything.
She didn't need to.
We sat together for a while in the quiet room, her hand in mine, the late evening light going slowly gold against the curtains.
After a while she said, "You should eat something."
"I know."
"There's soup downstairs." A pause.
"Different soup."
I laughed.
May you like
It came out a little ragged, but it was real.
"I'll get us both some," I said, and stood up.
