“Yes,” Elizabeth said too quickly. “Well. Patricia is… complicated.”
My father’s gaze settled on her. “Is she?”
Elizabeth gave a sorrowful sigh so theatrical it would have earned applause in community theater.
“To be honest, Benjamin, Patricia made some unfortunate choices. We tried our best with her after Daniel passed, but she was always difficult. Secretive. Ungrateful.”
At my side, Patricia went still as glass.
I wanted to end it right then.
But my father lifted one hand slightly, a signal to wait.
“How unfortunate,” he said. “And where is she now?”
Elizabeth lowered her eyes as if burdened by disappointment.
“She ran off with some man. We were heartbroken.”
Madison jumped in, eager to be useful. “Mom tried so hard with her.”
Chloe nodded solemnly. “She embarrassed all of us.”
I heard Patricia inhale sharply.
That was enough.
I took her hand and led her downstairs.
The sound of our footsteps turned every head in the room.
Elizabeth saw me first.
Recognition hit, then shock, then terror.
Her face lost color so fast it was almost violent.
Patricia stepped beside me wearing a simple blue dress my mother had chosen for her that morning. Nothing flashy. Nothing calculated. Just elegance stripped of desperation. For the first time since I’d met her, she looked like a woman occupying her own body instead of apologizing for it.
No one spoke.
My mother did.
“This,” she said, “is Gregory Hale. The brick mason you offered Patricia as payment for labor you never intended to compensate.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Chloe looked like she might faint.
Madison stared at Patricia as though beauty itself were a betrayal.
My father’s voice was calm, which made it worse. “You told my wife and me that Patricia ran off with a strange man after disgracing your household.”
Elizabeth finally found words. “There’s been a misunderstanding—”
“No,” Patricia said.
Everyone looked at her.
She had never interrupted them before. Not once, I would have bet.
Leave a Comment