Chapter 4 - The Price of a Perfect Wedding
Vivian spoke as though the ballroom, the flowers, and the people inside were property she could use to command us.
Emmett rose without releasing Margot's hand.
“Tell me what you mean,” he said.
Vivian adjusted the gold bracelet at her wrist.
“You know perfectly well Claire has been helping with the house.”
The house was the small brick home where Phoebe and Emmett had begun their marriage.
After Phoebe died, Emmett struggled to keep up with the mortgage while working reduced hours to care for Margot.
I had helped with some bills, and later he told me Claire had offered to share household expenses.
“What about the house?” I asked.
Vivian gave me a look that tried to make me feel like an intruder.
“Claire expects a genuine partnership.”
Emmett's jaw tightened.
“She contributes to groceries, Vivian.”
“She's been planning your future,” Vivian replied.
“She didn't marry you to remain a guest in a shrine to your first wife.”
I remembered Phoebe painting the kitchen a pale yellow one spring, laughing at the paint on her elbows.
To Vivian, that home was a bargaining chip.
To my granddaughter, it was the only place where she could still imagine her mother coming through the front door.
“Margot and I aren't bargaining chips,” Emmett said.
Vivian's smile disappeared.
“Then perhaps you should review the documents Claire asked you to sign.”
He went still.
“What documents?”
“The paperwork your attorney sent over.”
“My attorney didn't send anything.”
Vivian blinked, and I knew from the tiny pause that she had gone too far.
Emmett turned to me.
“Arthur, can you take Margot home?”
I looked at his daughter.
She was exhausted, and her pink dress had lost its crispness.
The wedding was no place for her anymore.
“Will Daddy come?” she asked.
Emmett crouched again.
“Yes.”
“I'll be there as soon as I finish talking to the adults.”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
He hugged her and did not let go until she did.
On the way to my car, I received an email from Lena with the revised photo list.
Another message came from an unfamiliar address, the subject line written in capital letters.
PLEASE DON'T LET CLAIRE TAKE MARGOT HOME.
There was no name at the bottom.
Only one sentence followed.
May you like
Look at the signature on the guardianship petition before Monday.
