Chapter 10 - MOMMY’S BEACH
The house smelled of salt air, old wood and lemon cleaner.
Matilda ran toward the balcony.
I nearly shouted for her to slow down.
Then stopped myself.
She leaned against the safe railing.
“Daddy!”
“Yes?”
“The ocean is loud!”
“Yes.”
She grinned.
That was all.
No dramatic breakthrough.
Just a child looking at water.
Then she asked:
“Did Pamela want this house?”
I froze.
“Kind of.”
“Why?”
“For money.”
She frowned.
“But it’s mine.”
“Yes.”
“Can she have it?”
“No.”
“Can you?”
“No.”
That surprised her.
“I take care of it until you’re older.”
She thought.
“Like babysitting?”
I laughed.
“Basically.”
“You babysit my house?”
“Yes.”
“Can I sell it when I’m big?”
“Yes.”
“Do I have to?”
“No.”
“Can I paint it purple?”
From inside Henrietta shouted:
“Absolutely not!”
Matilda laughed.
The property was becoming hers.
Not just legally.
Emotionally.
That was what Beatrice wanted.
Pamela had looked at the house and seen dormant money.
Spencer saw redevelopment profit.
Beatrice saw something simpler.
A place her daughter could choose what to do with someday.
Choice.
Again.
The word appeared everywhere once I understood what Pamela had tried to take.
Later that year, Pamela requested a meeting before sentencing.
My attorney advised against it.
Initially, I agreed.
Then curiosity won.
We met inside a controlled conference room.
She looked thinner.
Shorter hair.
No makeup.
For ten months, this woman had slept beside me.
Now she looked like someone I might pass in an airport.
“Greg.”
I said nothing.
“Thank you for coming.”
“What do you want?”
“I want to explain.”
“No.”
She stopped.
I surprised myself.
“I changed my mind about that.”
“About meeting?”
“About hearing explanations.”
Her eyes filled.
“You can apologize.”
I leaned back.
“But I’m not interested in a story where what you did became inevitable because of Spencer, your childhood, fear or money.”
“That isn’t fair.”
I almost laughed.
“There you are.”
For a moment, the Pamela I remembered returned.
Then disappeared again.
“I loved you,” she whispered.
Maybe she did.
Then she made the mistake of saying:
May you like
“I loved Matilda too.”
My entire body went cold.
