Chapter 5 - THE GATE
Roland arrived that afternoon carrying flowers and a grocery-store bag of baby supplies.
From the upstairs window, I watched him argue with the gate intercom.
“Tell her I’m her husband.”
Raymond stood in the foyer.
“Would you like him admitted?”
The question nearly undid me.
Would you like.
Not he’s family.
Not don’t embarrass him.
I asked Maya, who was still reviewing documents at the dining table, to stay.
Roland entered with the furious politeness he saved for people he couldn’t bully immediately.
“Nice place.”
“Where’s my car?”
“At home.”
“You drove it here?”
“A rideshare.”
“So you had another way to get to dinner.”
His mouth tightened.
“I brought diapers.”
“Thank you. Put them there.”
He glanced at Maya.
“This is private.”
“She’s here because I asked.”
Dad remained in the doorway.
Roland turned to him.
“Sir, I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.”
“You used my name to obtain money from your sister.”
“That’s an unfair way to describe a bridge loan.”
“Did I sign the letter?”
Roland adjusted the flowers in his hand.
“It was a preliminary document.”
“Did I sign it?”
“No.”
The room went quiet.
Roland looked at me.
“I was going to fix this.”
“With what?”
“The investment would have covered everything.”
“My father never agreed.”
“He would have if you’d talked to him.”
There it was again.
My failure to rescue the lie had become the real offense.
I stood slowly, still sore, and faced him.
“You emptied our emergency account.”
“It was joint money.”
“It was money for emergencies.”
“The company was an emergency.”
“Our daughter was being born.”
“I was under pressure!”
Wren cried upstairs.
Every muscle in me responded.
Roland stepped toward the staircase.
“I’ll get her.”
I moved between him and the stairs.
“She’s being brought down. Sit here.”
His face changed.
For one second, the flowers looked absurd in his fist.
“You don’t get to move my child into a mansion and start giving orders.”
Maya stood.
“Roland, lower your voice.”
He looked from her to Dad to me.
Then he placed the flowers on the table so hard water spilled over the rim.
“Fine. You want everything out in the open?”
He pulled out his phone.
“Ask your father why he knew about the letter eleven days ago and let you stay with me.”
May you like
Dad’s face went pale.
And for the first time since arriving, I turned away from Roland and looked at my father.
