Chapter 8 - Susan Bell Had Paid For Mara’s Bus Ticket
Susan came to the restaurant voluntarily.
That surprised everyone.
She arrived an hour later wearing gardening clothes and anger.
Sixty-three.
Small.
Gray curls.
Not remotely similar to me.
Noah had never been recognizing faces.
Only uniforms and names.
Susan saw Mara first.
“You look terrible.”
Mara almost smiled.
“You look exactly the same.”
“Liar.”
Then she saw Daniel.
Her expression cooled.
He stood.
“Susan.”
“Daniel.”
No hug.
No war.
History sitting upright.
Noah stayed with Katherine near the windows.
He knew Susan well.
“Grandma.”
She went to him first.
Good.
“Hi, bug.”
“Were you the other lady?”
Susan stopped.
“What lady?”
“The one at the kitchen.”
“No.”
He studied her.
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
He believed her.
So did I.
One suspect removed.
Daniel did not relax.
“What did you do seven years ago?”
Susan looked at him.
“Helped your sister leave.”
“Why?”
“She needed somewhere to go.”
“She had a family.”
Susan glanced at Mara.
“So did she?”
Daniel flinched.
Mara did not look satisfied.
Good.
Susan sat.
After the pickup incident, Mara lost her apartment because she had given Katherine her deposit money.
She slept in her car.
Then at Bell & Finch.
Susan found out.
“How?”
Katherine asked.
“You cried in my kitchen for three hours.”
Katherine looked down.
Susan continued:
“I met Mara here.”
“What did she want?” Daniel asked.
“To stop being the reason you two stayed married.”
That sentence landed.
Mara looked away.
Susan continued:
“Katherine had gone back home. You were blaming Mara. Katherine was blaming Mara for not letting the incident die. Mara was blaming herself for helping.”
Daniel said:
“She helped my wife leave me.”
Susan looked at him.
“She helped my daughter find an apartment.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
That distinction had apparently survived seven years without him.
Susan continued:
“I gave Mara money for a bus ticket and two weeks at a motel near her cousin in Baltimore.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Susan stared.
“Why would I?”
Fair.
Daniel looked at Mara.
“You could have called.”
Mara laughed softly.
“You said I wasn't your sister.”
“You took that literally for seven years.”
Mara's face hardened.
“Interesting complaint.”
Daniel stopped.
Susan looked at Katherine.
“You want to tell him?”
Katherine shook her head.
“Tell me what?”
Susan took a breath.
“Daniel came here.”
Mara looked up.
“What?”
Daniel frowned.
“When?”
“Four days after Mara left.”
Susan looked at him.
“You came into Bell & Finch asking Luis whether she was still sleeping in her car.”
Daniel froze.
Luis, behind the bar, heard.
He looked over.
Memory.
“Yes,” Luis called.
Daniel stared at him.
“You remember?”
“You were loud.”
Mara stared at her brother.
“You looked for me.”
Daniel's face changed.
“I was angry.”
“That's not what I asked.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Mara laughed once.
Susan did not.
Daniel tried again.
“Because you were my sister.”
Mara looked down.
That was the first thing he had said that seemed to reach her.
“Did you call?”
“I didn't have your number.”
“You had Mom.”
“I didn't want Mom involved.”
Mara laughed.
“Excellent strategy.”
June had spent seven years involved anyway.
Daniel continued:
“I told Luis if he saw you, tell you…”
He stopped.
Mara waited.
“What?”
Luis supplied it from across the room.
“Tell her Noah’s okay.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Mara's face changed.
“You said that?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't Luis tell me?”
Luis came closer.
“You were already gone.”
Not betrayal.
Timing.
Mara stared at Daniel.
He looked back.
Seven years of clean abandonment became less clean.
Not repaired.
Just less useful.
Then Noah tugged Susan's sleeve.
“So who was the other lady?”
Susan frowned.
“I don't know.”
Noah looked toward the glass.
“She knew Dad locked Aunt Mara out.”
Mara's face changed.
“What?”
I noticed.
“You keep reacting to that sentence.”
Mara looked at me.
“Because Daniel did lock me out.”
Daniel frowned.
“When?”
“The night after the police call.”
Daniel's expression shifted.
He remembered.
Mara continued:
“I came to the house.”
Katherine looked confused.
“You never told me.”
“You were asleep.”
Daniel said:
“You were banging on the door at midnight.”
“I came to tell you Katherine had asked me to pick Noah up.”
“You screamed it through a window.”
“You wouldn't open the door.”
Noah had not been given a metaphor.
He had been given a literal fact.
Someone knew exactly what happened that night.
Mara said quietly:
“There were only three adults there.”
Daniel.
Mara.
And—
Daniel looked toward Katherine.
She shook her head.
“I was asleep.”
Mara stared.
“No.”
Katherine frowned.
“What?”
“You weren't.”
The room went still.
Mara continued:
“I saw someone behind Daniel.”
Katherine stared.
“That wasn't me.”
Daniel's face drained.
May you like
He knew who it had been.
And he clearly did not want to say.
Related Stories
