Chapter 3 - The Question Ben Never Answered
Ben lived eight minutes from me.
That had been his idea.
He refused to become a father who required an airplane.
Whatever else we had broken, he had been good about Noah.
I called after Noah fell asleep.
“Is he okay?”
First question.
“Scared. No injury I can see. I'm taking him to his pediatrician tomorrow morning anyway.”
“What happened?”
“Vanessa hit his chair with a bread pan.”
Silence.
Then Ben's voice changed.
“She what?”
“She didn't hit him.”
“That sentence sounds like Eleanor.”
I almost snapped at him.
Then stopped.
He was right.
“I'm filing a report.”
“Good.”
“Noah won't be going there without me.”
“Good.”
I sat at my kitchen table.
The brass key lay near my hand.
“Ben.”
“What?”
“Why were you in my mother's study when her brooch disappeared?”
He went quiet.
Three years fell between us immediately.
“I told you.”
“No. You told me you were checking the shelf dimensions.”
“I was.”
“Ray says ask again.”
Long silence.
“Ray Ellis?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you see Ray?”
“At Mom's.”
“What was he doing there?”
“Apparently stopping her from opening something.”
Another pause.
“What?”
“A cabinet.”
Ben swore quietly.
“You know it.”
“I know there was an old steel cabinet in the service workshop.”
My pulse accelerated.
“Did you ever open it?”
“No.”
“Did you know Mom used it?”
“No.”
“Then why that reaction?”
“Because Ray asked me about it once.”
“When?”
“After I left.”
That was new.
“What did he ask?”
“If Eleanor ever told me where the brooch was.”
I stared at the key.
“What did you say?”
“That she told everyone I took it.”
“She never said those exact words.”
Ben laughed once.
“That's why your mother is good at what she does.”
My anger sharpened.
“Don't turn this into Eleanor being the only problem.”
“I wasn't.”
Good.
“What were you doing in the study?”
Ben breathed out.
“I was waiting for Vanessa.”
I stopped.
“Why?”
“She owed me money.”
“How much?”
“Eighteen thousand.”
I stood without knowing why.
“You lent my sister eighteen thousand dollars.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three months before the brooch disappeared.”
“Why did I not know?”
“Because she asked me not to tell you.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“And you thought that was sufficient?”
“No.”
“When did you decide that?”
“About three years ago.”
Good.
“What was the money for?”
“Her business.”
Vanessa had owned an event-design company then.
Beautiful office.
Expensive website.
Constant stories about growth.
It closed the following year.
“She told me she had a contract payment delayed.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“You knew?”
“Later.”
“Where did you get eighteen thousand dollars?”
Ben went quiet.
I already knew I wasn't going to like this.
“From the business account.”
His contracting company.
The same company he had told me was doing fine.
The same company that had been struggling six months later.
“You lent family-business money to my sister without telling me while I was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
My anger moved.
Not away from Eleanor.
Into a larger room.
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to help.”
“No.”
Silence.
“Try again.”
Ben's voice lowered.
“Because Vanessa came to me instead of Eleanor.”
“And you liked that.”
“Yes.”
At least.
“Why was she in the study?”
“She was looking for the brooch.”
My hand stopped over the key.
“You saw her.”
“Yes.”
“With it?”
“Yes.”
My throat tightened.
“What did you do?”
“I took it from her.”
That I had not expected.
“Then Ben, how did it disappear?”
“She took it back.”
“When?”
“I put it on Eleanor's desk.”
“You put the brooch back.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell Mom?”
“Vanessa begged me not to.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I know.”
“What did she say?”
“That she was going to lose everything.”
“Her company.”
“Yes.”
“She planned to sell Grandma's brooch.”
“Yes.”
“To repay you?”
“Partly.”
My stomach turned.
“And you gave her twenty-four hours.”
Silence.
“You did.”
“Yes.”
“To tell Eleanor herself?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Ben sounded ashamed now.
“Because if I exposed why she was taking it, the loan came out too.”
There it was.
He had not stolen the brooch.
He had still been lying to me.
“What happened the next morning?”
“Eleanor called us.”
I remembered.
My mother standing beside her open jewelry box.
Vanessa crying.
Ben angry.
Me eight months pregnant, watching everybody's faces.
“The brooch was gone,” I said.
“Yes.”
“And Mom asked where you'd been.”
“Yes.”
“And you lied.”
“Yes.”
“You said you never went near the jewelry.”
“Yes.”
“Why not tell me then?”
“Because by then I was protecting three lies.”
“Whose?”
“Vanessa's.”
A pause.
“Mine.”
Another.
“And the one where I kept telling you my business was healthier than it was.”
I sat again.
Ben continued:
“You wanted me to explain everything.”
“I did.”
“I wanted you to trust me without making me explain the parts that made me look weak.”
“That isn't trust.”
“I know.”
His voice sounded tired.
Then he said:
“But Olivia, I watched Vanessa leave that study without the brooch.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“I put it back before she left.”
“Then who took it?”
“I don't know.”
“Ray says Mom had the jewelry case later.”
Ben became quiet.
Then:
“Ask him when.”
“Why?”
“Because two days after the brooch disappeared, I saw Ray carrying your mother's jewelry case toward the service wing.”
May you like
My pulse changed again.
The morning before I told Ben to pack a bag.
