Chapter 8: The Morning Everything Shifted
I woke up to the sound of Daniel on the phone.
Not in the bedroom.
In the kitchen.
His voice low but not low enough.
I lay still and listened.
"I know what I said.
I'm telling you it's changed." A pause.
"Because she knows everything.
All of it." Another pause, longer.
"I'm not asking you to do anything.
I'm telling you as a courtesy.
Don't call this number again."
He hung up.
I got up, opened the nursery door, and walked to the kitchen.
He was standing at the counter with his back to me.
He turned when he heard me.
"Who was that?" I asked.
He set the phone down.
"My brother."
"Marcus."
"Yes."
"Marcus knew."
It wasn't a question.
The phone call had already told me.
"He knew about Cara," Daniel said.
"Not about Justine."
"How long?"
"Since before the wedding."
I sat down at the kitchen table.
The soup from last night was still there, untouched.
The two pieces of pie.
The receipt with Cara's number.
"So your brother stood at your wedding knowing you had a son," I said.
"He thought I was handling it."
"By hiding it."
"Yes."
I looked at the receipt on the counter.
Cara's handwriting.
Neat, small letters.
"I'm going to call her," I said.
Daniel looked up.
"Cara.
I'm going to call her and I'm going to ask her if she's willing to meet me.
Without you." I looked at him.
"She came here last night to tell me the truth.
The least I can do is hear the rest of it."
"What rest of it?"
"I don't know yet.
That's why I'm calling."
He was quiet for a moment.
Then: "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to call a family lawyer today.
I want to understand what my options are.
Not because I've decided anything.
Because I need to know what the ground looks like before I decide where to stand."
"Okay."
"And I want you to call Cara.
Today.
I want you to arrange to meet Noah.
A real meeting.
Not a text, not a payment.
A meeting."
His hands went to the edge of the counter.
"I know," I said.
"It's hard.
Do it anyway."
He nodded.
I picked up Cara's number and went back to the nursery to make the call.
She answered on the second ring.
"I wasn't sure you'd call," she said.
"I wasn't sure either." I sat on the daybed.
"Can we meet?
Just us."
"Yes." No hesitation.
"When?"
"Today, if you can."
"Noah's at my mother's until three.
I can meet you at eleven."
"There's a coffee place on Larkin.
The one with the green awning."
"I know it."
"Eleven," I said.
"I'll be there."
I hung up.
Sat for a moment with the phone in my lap.
Then I called Renee.
"I need you to come with me somewhere this morning," I said.
"Where?"
"I'll explain on the way.
May you like
Can you be here by ten-thirty?"
"I'm already getting my keys," she said.
