Chapter 6 - The School in Virginia
The boarding school existed.
That was the first thing my attorney confirmed the next morning.
Hawthorne Ridge Academy.
Virginia.
Three hours away.
Tuition was more than forty thousand dollars a year.
The second thing my attorney confirmed was worse.
Vanessa had requested an admissions packet.
In Ava's name.
"That doesn't mean she could enroll her without you," my attorney, James Porter, said.
We were sitting in his office while rain tapped against the window.
"She isn't Ava's legal parent."
"Then why do it?"
"Planning. Pressure. Maybe she believed she could convince you."
I showed him the note Caleb had found.
James read it carefully.
"Do not make accusations about financial fraud unless we have evidence."
"I'm not."
"Good."
"I just want her away from Ava."
He nodded.
"Then separation may be your immediate path."
I hated the word.
But I didn't argue.
By lunch, Vanessa knew I'd spoken to a lawyer.
She called seventeen times.
I didn't answer until Ava and Caleb were home from school.
"Darren."
Her voice was shaking.
"You hired an attorney?"
"I spoke to one."
"You are destroying our marriage."
"No."
I stood in the laundry room so the kids couldn't hear every word.
"I'm responding to what I found."
"You found private notes."
"I found a plan involving my daughter."
"There was no plan."
"Hawthorne Ridge."
Silence.
"How do you know about that?"
"Does it matter?"
"Caleb."
Her voice turned sharp.
"He stole from my purse."
"Don't make this about Caleb."
"He's fourteen! You're teaching him to invade my privacy."
"You were planning to send Ava three hours away."
"I was researching."
"Why?"
"Because she needs help."
"With what?"
"She's withdrawn. She's insecure. She's attached to you in an unhealthy way."
I almost couldn't breathe.
"You created the insecurity."
"That's ridiculous."
"She wrote down two years of you telling her she's too expensive."
"I never said that."
"Not directly."
"Then stop claiming I did!"
I closed my eyes.
"Did you intend to use her trust for tuition?"
Vanessa said nothing.
"Answer me."
"It was her education."
"An education she didn't ask for."
"It would still benefit her!"
"You wanted to remove her from my home and make her mother's money pay the bill."
"Stop saying it like that!"
"How should I say it?"
She started crying again.
"I was scared."
That surprised me.
"Of what?"
"Of losing you."
I laughed once.
"You were afraid of losing me, so you tried to send my daughter away?"
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Her breathing came through the phone.
"When we met, you needed me."
I said nothing.
"You were drowning. You couldn't cook. You barely slept. Ava had nightmares. I helped you."
"Yes."
"And then you got better."
I frowned.
"So?"
"So you stopped needing me."
I leaned against the washing machine.
"Vanessa..."
"But Ava always needed you."
Her voice hardened through the tears.
"Every time she cried, you dropped everything. Every time Rachel's birthday came around, the entire house changed. Every milestone reminded me that there had been a family before me."
"There was."
"I know!"
"That isn't Ava's fault."
"I know that too."
"Then why punish her?"
"I wasn't trying to punish her."
"What were you trying to do?"
She whispered, "Make room for me."
I closed my eyes.
For one second, I felt sorry for her.
Then I thought about Ava standing beside her packed suitcase.
Funny how I'm always the expensive one.
"You don't make room for yourself by pushing a child out."
Vanessa started crying harder.
"I know."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
"Because you planned Florida for three."
Silence.
"You planned Hawthorne Ridge."
Silence.
"You called Miriam about the trust."
Silence.
I opened my eyes.
"You weren't reacting. You were building something."
"Darren, please."
"I want you to stay at Kelly's."
"For how long?"
"I don't know."
"What about Caleb?"
My chest tightened.
"He wants contact with you."
"But he wants to live there."
"He hasn't said that."
"He doesn't have to."
Her voice became cold again.
"I'll pick him up tonight."
"Talk to him first."
"I don't need permission to pick up my own son."
"No. But you need to remember he's a person."
She hung up.
At six, she arrived.
Caleb had been expecting her.
He stood near the door wearing his backpack.
Ava stayed in the kitchen.
Vanessa walked inside.
"Ready?"
Caleb didn't move.
"Can I come back this weekend?"
Vanessa looked at me.
"We'll see."
"Mom."
"We'll see."
His jaw tightened.
"That's not fair."
"Life isn't fair."
Ava flinched in the kitchen.
I saw it.
So did Caleb.
"Stop saying things like that."
Vanessa blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"You always say that when you do something unfair."
Her mouth opened.
"Caleb."
"Can I see Dad and Ava this weekend?"
Vanessa stared at him.
Then at me.
Finally she said, "Yes."
Caleb nodded.
He hugged Ava.
Then me.
When he reached the doorway, Vanessa turned back.
"I need some clothes."
"Take whatever is yours."
She went upstairs.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
I started to wonder what she was doing.
I found her in our bedroom.
She was holding Ava's notebook.
"What are you doing?"
She jumped.
"I found it."
"Put it down."
Her eyes moved across one page.
Her face had changed.
Not angry.
Broken.
"I don't remember saying this."
"I believe that."
She looked at me.
"What does that mean?"
"It means it was small to you."
Her eyes filled.
"It wasn't small to her."
She closed the notebook.
"I really hurt her."
"Yes."
The word landed between us.
Vanessa sat on the edge of the bed.
"I thought I was evening things out."
"You were teaching her that love had a budget."
She covered her face.
Then Caleb called from downstairs.
"Mom!"
Vanessa stood.
At the bedroom door, she paused.
"What happens now?"
"I protect Ava."
"And us?"
I looked at the woman I'd married.
"I don't know if there is an us."
She nodded slowly.
Then she left.
Two hours later, my doorbell rang.
It wasn't Vanessa.
It was her sister, Kelly.
She looked terrified.
"Darren, you need to know something."
"What?"
Kelly glanced toward the stairs.
"Vanessa didn't come up with the boarding school idea six months ago."
My stomach tightened.
"How long?"
May you like
Kelly swallowed.
"She's been talking about sending Ava away since the year you got married."
