Chapter 4 - The Price of Keeping Up Appearances
Vanessa reached for the photograph.
Camille pulled it closer to her chest.
"Don't."
Her mother stopped.
For several seconds, the only sound came from guests shifting in their seats.
Then Vanessa spoke in a voice much quieter than before.
"Your father-in-law is leaving out certain details."
Jordan's shoulders stiffened.
"What details?"
Vanessa looked at Thomas.
"Tell them about the money."
Thomas closed his eyes.
Naomi stepped forward.
"Don't do this."
"No," Vanessa said. "If everyone wants the truth, they can hear all of it."
She turned toward Camille.
"After that fire, your grandmother and I gave Thomas nearly two thousand dollars. He accepted it."
Camille looked confused.
"For what?"
"For his trouble. His injuries. Whatever he claimed he needed."
Thomas lowered his head.
Vanessa continued.
"I had a young daughter to raise. I was barely getting my business started. I couldn't afford to hand money to everyone who came looking for help."
Jordan stared at her.
"You gave my father money after he carried your daughter out of a burning building, and you're using that against him?"
"I am explaining that there is more to this story."
"Then explain it accurately," Naomi said.
Vanessa ignored her.
"Thomas was struggling financially. That's unfortunate. But I couldn't be responsible for his problems forever."
Camille looked toward Thomas.
"Did you ask her for money?"
He hesitated.
"No, sweetheart."
"Did you accept it?"
"Yes."
Camille waited.
Thomas shifted forward in the chair.
"I had burns on my arm. The doctor wanted me off work for a while. I had two children at home. Evelyn was working double shifts at the nursing home, trying to keep us afloat."
His voice grew quieter.
"Your grandmother came by with an envelope. She said your family wanted to help."
Naomi pressed her lips together.
Thomas looked at Vanessa.
"I was grateful. I never pretended otherwise."
Vanessa folded her arms.
"Yet here you are, carrying that badge into my daughter's wedding."
Jordan shook his head.
"He didn't ask you for anything."
"How do you know?"
"Because he's my father."
Vanessa gave a humorless laugh.
"That doesn't answer the question."
Thomas looked hurt but refused to raise his voice.
"I kept the badge because a little girl gave it to me. I kept it through two house moves, my wife's illness, and every difficult year after that. I never used it to ask anyone for money."
Camille looked at his worn coat.
At his trembling hands.
At the velvet box he had carried so carefully.
Then she looked back at her mother.
"Why didn't you tell me he was the one who rescued me?"
Vanessa's expression tightened.
"Because you were too young to understand everything."
"I'm twenty-nine now."
"This is not the time."
"When would have been the time?"
Vanessa glanced around the room.
Several guests had begun whispering.
A cousin near the second row lowered her phone when Camille looked her way.
Vanessa noticed.
Her composure fractured.
"You have no idea what I've sacrificed to give you this wedding," she said. "The venue, the flowers, the catering. I arranged everything."
Camille took a slow breath.
"Mom, nobody is questioning how much you spent."
"Then stop humiliating me!"
The words seemed to echo.
Thomas looked up.
"Vanessa, please. I'm sorry this has become such a painful day."
Camille turned toward him.
"Why are you apologizing?"
He looked at her with tired, gentle eyes.
"Because sometimes people say terrible things when they're frightened."
Vanessa looked away.
Naomi noticed something then.
Every time the old school fire came up, Vanessa became less concerned with the guests and more concerned with Camille's questions.
It wasn't the money she feared.
It wasn't even the badge.
It was the possibility that Camille would finally learn what her mother had allowed her to believe for twenty-one years.
Vanessa approached her daughter.
"Camille, come with me. We'll speak privately and put this behind us."
Camille looked at Jordan.
Then at Thomas.
For the first time that day, she moved her arm away from her mother's reaching hand.
"No."
Vanessa stopped.
May you like
Camille's voice shook.
"I'm not walking back to that altar until I know why you lied to me."
