Chapter 12 - HIS MOTHER CHOSE A SIDE
Lorraine confronted me the next morning.
She stood in the hallway wearing her coat and holding her purse.
“I am going to Melissa’s.”
“That’s probably wise.”
“You poisoned her against me.”
“No.”
“You poisoned everyone.”
I looked at her.
“Your son stole from me.”
“He borrowed money.”
“He forged documents.”
“He was desperate.”
“He had an affair.”
Lorraine’s mouth tightened.
“Men make mistakes when they feel neglected.”
There it was.
The final defense.
I should have been furious.
Instead, I felt tired.
“Did you know?”
“About what?”
“The affair.”
She looked away.
I knew.
“Lorraine.”
“He was unhappy.”
My entire body went still.
“How long did you know?”
She said nothing.
“How long?”
“Several months.”
I gripped the banister.
“You knew Brooke was staying at my cottage.”
“She made Andrew happy.”
I stared at her.
“And you threw a pot at my head on the morning he was there with her.”
Lorraine’s face hardened.
“You were standing in his way.”
The sentence came out before she could stop it.
Neither of us moved.
“What did you just say?”
“I didn’t mean—”
“You said I was standing in his way.”
She reached for the door.
I stepped aside.
“Go.”
“Claire.”
“Go to Melissa’s.”
She opened the door.
Then she turned back.
“You will regret breaking this family.”
I almost whispered my answer.
“There was nothing left for me to break.”
After Lorraine left, I checked the camera footage from Saturday.
I watched her carry the cast-iron pot upstairs.
She was not cooking.
She was holding it with both hands.
Purposefully.
Forty seconds later, the camera captured the sound of impact.
Then my voice.
Leave my room.
The footage did not show the actual throw.
But it destroyed the story that she had simply dropped a pot in the kitchen.
I sent it to Rachel.
Then I called the officer who had taken my report.
That afternoon, Andrew came home looking furious.
“What did you send the police?”
“The truth.”
“She’s sixty-four years old.”
“And I was six inches from being struck in the head.”
“She is my mother.”
I looked at him.
“That sentence has excused enough.”
Andrew slammed his palm against the counter.
“Do you want to know why she hates you?”
I waited.
He laughed bitterly.
“Because she thinks you stole something from her.”
“What?”
He looked around the house.
“Me.”
May you like
Then he added quietly.
“And she has been helping me try to get this house back for almost a year.”
