“That’s usually what lies do.”
Claire nodded.
“Dad started saying the same thing.”
I looked down at the ring.
“Is that why he came here?”
She hesitated.
“Partly.”
Claire was selling the house.
She and Eli were preparing to move back to our town.
Frank had come overseas determined to convince her that she had to tell me about Eli before they arrived.
“He said we couldn’t just walk into your life and pretend the last twelve years never happened,” Claire said.
“So he finally developed a conscience?”
She flinched.
“He had been telling me for years that I needed to tell you.”
“But he still protected your secret.”
“Yes.”
That one word mattered.
Claire didn’t try to defend him.
“He loved you,” she said quietly. “And he failed you.”
I turned my face away.
Apparently both things could be true at the same time.
After a moment, I looked again at the ring.
“When did he change the engraving?”
Claire frowned.
“What do you mean?”
I explained that the inscription was new.
Her answer surprised me.
“The ring was supposed to say something else.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Two days before Dad died, he went to a jeweler. He told me he was having the inside engraved for your anniversary.”
“What was it supposed to say?”
Claire swallowed.
“FORTY YEARS. STILL YOU.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
“The next morning, we fought,” she continued.
“About Eli?”
“Yes.”
“He said that if I didn’t tell you, he would.”
“And what did you say?”
“I told him he had no right to threaten me after helping me hide Eli for all those years.”
Fair point.
“He became angry and left the house for several hours.”
“The jeweler?”
Claire nodded.
“When Dad collapsed the next morning, the ring wasn’t on his finger. I found the jeweler’s receipt in his pocket and collected the ring later.”
“You saw the warning?”
“Yes.”
“And you still sent the ring to me?”
Claire lowered her eyes.
“I almost didn’t.”
That was the first thing she had said all day that I completely believed.
