Chapter 11 - Miles Admitted He Wanted Daniel To Choose Him
Miles lowered the window.
Daniel stood beside the car.
“You waited.”
“Yes.”
“Mom tell you to?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Miles looked toward Willow House.
“I wanted to know if you came out angry.”
Daniel laughed quietly.
“You still monitor rooms from outside.”
Miles took that.
“Get in?”
“No.”
Daniel leaned against the car.
“Why did you run after Mom fell?”
Miles looked ahead.
“Because I thought Dad was going to call police.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“You were afraid of being arrested.”
“Yes.”
“Because you thought you were guilty.”
Miles shook his head.
“Because I had shoved him.”
“You did.”
“Yes.”
“And grabbed Mom.”
“Yes.”
“And she fell.”
“Yes.”
Daniel waited.
Miles continued.
“I knew what it looked like.”
“So you left.”
“I went to the hospital parking lot.”
“What?”
“Sat there for six hours.”
Daniel stared.
“You said you ran.”
“I did.”
“Then you stayed outside the hospital.”
“Yes.”
“Why not come in?”
Miles looked at him.
“I wanted Mom to ask for me.”
Daniel almost laughed at the childishness.
Then realized Miles had been twenty-four.
Still old enough.
Still hurt enough.
“Did she?”
“Eventually.”
“What about me?”
Miles’s mouth tightened.
“I knew you were inside.”
“And?”
“You had given the police a statement.”
Daniel looked away.
“What did you think?”
“That you chose Dad.”
“You were twenty-four.”
“I know.”
“You left me with him.”
Miles bristled.
“You weren't twelve.”
“No. I was nineteen and my mother was in a hospital and my brother vanished.”
“You told police I pushed her.”
“Because I thought you did.”
“And I hated you for it.”
The sentence came out fast.
Finally.
Daniel stared.
Miles continued.
“I wanted you to feel what I felt.”
“What?”
“Abandoned.”
That landed.
“So when Mom wanted to chase me?”
“I told her not to.”
Daniel went still.
“You did what?”
Miles rubbed his face.
“Not forever.”
“Everybody loves that phrase.”
Miles almost smiled.
Didn't.
“I said if you wanted Dad, let you have Dad for a while.”
“Why?”
“Because I was angry.”
“At nineteen-year-old me.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at his brother.
For years Miles had occupied the role of injured exile.
Turns out he had enjoyed one decision too.
“So Mom waited because you told her.”
“Partly.”
“Dad kept her out.”
“Yes.”
“She was scared.”
“Yes.”
“And you were angry.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked toward Willow House.
“Everyone had a reason.”
Miles nodded.
Daniel snapped:
“Don't make that sound comforting.”
“I’m not.”
Silence stretched.
Then Daniel asked:
“Why did you call after Dad died?”
Miles’s face changed.
“Because Dad called me first.”
Daniel stopped.
“When?”
“A week before he died.”
“What did he want?”
Miles looked uncomfortable.
“To talk about Mom.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“Of course.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether she still blamed him.”
“And?”
“I told him he should ask her.”
“Did he?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did he say about me?”
Miles hesitated.
Daniel caught it.
“What?”
“He said you still wouldn't say Mom’s name around him.”
That was true.
After the split, Thomas had treated Helen as betrayal.
Daniel learned that mentioning her changed the temperature in the room.
So he stopped.
Miles continued.
“He said he thought he'd made it easier for you to hate us than admit he didn't know what happened.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Exact words?”
“No.”
“Then what were the exact words?”
Miles thought.
“He said, ‘I needed one person in that house who didn’t look at me like I started it.’”
Daniel felt something inside him shift.
Not proof.
Thomas was dead.
Miles could misremember.
Thomas could have meant something else.
But the sentence sounded like his father.
That hurt more than certainty would have.
“Why didn't you tell me after the funeral?”
Miles looked down.
“Because you deleted my call.”
“So you gave up.”
“Yes.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
Neither brother looked admirable.
That was probably why the conversation finally felt real.
Miles asked:
“What do you want from me?”
Daniel stared at him.
“Nothing tonight.”
Miles nodded.
Daniel started walking away.
Then turned.
“Did you know Claire was taking Lily before the first visit?”
“Yes.”
“Did you think it was wrong?”
Miles took too long.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared.
“And you still helped.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Miles looked toward the house.
“I wanted Mom to get something she wanted.”
“At Lily’s expense?”
“I told myself Lily was getting a grandmother.”
Daniel looked away.
Miles added:
“And I liked that someone in your life was finally hearing our version.”
May you like
That was his part.
Daniel left without answering.
