Chapter 5 - Grace Wasn’t the Only Child Ethan Had Used
Grace avoided Ethan’s calls.
I never told her she had to.
I also never told her she should reject him.
She was fifteen.
She deserved support, not recruitment.
Her therapist helped us establish one rule:
Adults do not use Grace to carry adult secrets.
Then Caleb said something during breakfast.
“Is Dad moving to Tennessee?”
I stopped.
“Why?”
“He showed me a house.”
“What house?”
“Big one. Had a pool.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
Grace looked at me.
Caleb continued eating cereal.
“Dad said maybe we’d visit sometimes.”
My throat tightened.
“Who lives there?”
“Nobody yet.”
Then:
“Lauren picked the kitchen.”
Grace pushed her chair back.
I stopped her.
“Not Caleb’s fault.”
“I know.”
She started crying anyway.
Ethan had involved both children differently.
Grace carried secrecy.
Caleb carried fantasy.
One child knew too much.
The other was shown only the version Ethan wanted him to imagine.
A house in Nashville.
Pool.
New life.
Visits.
No explanation of where their mother fit.
That night I finally cried.
May you like
Not about Lauren.
About the fact that Ethan had begun mentally relocating our family before giving us the dignity of knowing it was ending.
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