Chapter 8 - The Family Meeting
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Helen Mercer wanted a meeting.
Not an apology.
Not a conversation about the miscarriage.
A meeting.
She sent the request through Evan two days after he moved into a hotel.
According to him, his mother wanted everyone to behave like adults.
I found that interesting.
Apparently, behaving like adults meant sitting down politely with the people who had smiled for photographs while my marriage fell apart.
Simone advised me that I wasn't obligated to attend.
She also warned me not to sign anything or agree to financial terms without legal review.
I understood.
But there was one reason I decided to go.
For eight years, I had allowed Helen to speak about me as though I weren't present.
I wanted to hear what she would say when I stopped trying to please her.
We met at a quiet restaurant in Oak Brook.
I chose it because it was public, easy to leave, and far from the Mercer family home.
Leah came with me.
She sat at a nearby table with a book she never opened.
Helen was already there when I arrived.
She wore a cream jacket and a pearl necklace.
Brooke sat beside her, scrolling through her phone.
Evan occupied the chair facing the entrance.
He stood when he saw me.
"Rachel."
I nodded.
I didn't hug him.
Helen glanced at my clothing.
I was wearing black trousers, a gray sweater, and flats.
"Well," she said, "at least you're looking more like yourself."
I sat down.
"What would you like to discuss?"
Helen folded her hands on the table.
"First, we need to put an end to this unpleasantness."
I waited.
"Evan has already apologized for his poor judgment."
I looked at him.
He didn't meet my eyes.
"Has he?"
Helen ignored the question.
"We all agree the situation with Paige was unfortunate."
Brooke looked down.
"And we understand you've been under considerable emotional stress."
I felt a familiar pressure building behind my ribs.
The kind that used to make me apologize just to end a conversation.
I kept my hands in my lap.
"Are you referring to my miscarriage?"
Helen looked uncomfortable.
"There's no need to use such upsetting language in a restaurant."
I stared at her.
"What language would you prefer?"
"Rachel."
"Medical event?"
She looked away.
"Unfortunate development?"
Brooke closed her eyes.
Evan shifted in his chair.
I leaned forward.
"I lost a pregnancy, Helen."
A woman at another table glanced toward us.
I lowered my voice but didn't change my words.
"I won't pretend it didn't happen because the truth embarrasses you."
Helen's face tightened.
"Nobody is asking you to do that."
"Then what are you asking?"
She reached into her handbag and removed an envelope.
I looked at it.
Inside was a printed proposal.
Several pages.
I didn't touch them immediately.
"What is this?"
"A practical solution," Helen said.
Evan leaned back.
"The Charleston investment needs to move forward."
I stared at him.
"Of course it does."
Helen continued.
"The family is prepared to offer you fifteen thousand dollars to help you take some time away."
I blinked.
"Time away?"
"Perhaps you could stay with your parents while things calm down."
My pulse quickened.
"And in exchange?"
Helen hesitated.
"We would need your cooperation regarding the house financing and a commitment not to create difficulties for the project."
I looked at the papers.
There were references to confirming previous authorizations and not challenging certain business-related transactions.
I didn't need to read every line to know I wasn't signing anything at that table.
I slid the envelope back toward Helen.
"No."
She stared at me.
"You haven't even reviewed it."
"My attorney can review anything you want to propose."
Evan leaned forward.
"Rachel, this is a reasonable offer."
I turned toward him.
"Reasonable for whom?"
"For everyone."
"Not for me."
He exhaled.
"You're letting anger make decisions."
I looked at him for a long moment.
Then I asked, "When I was at the clinic, did you know what I was going through?"
His face changed.
"Yes."
"Did you tell your mother?"
"Yes."
"Did you tell Brooke?"
He glanced at his sister.
"Yes."
I turned toward Helen.
"And you still went to Charleston."
She straightened.
"The trip had been arranged for months."
"Then why was Paige there?"
"She had a professional role."
I looked at Brooke.
"Did you know about the affair?"
Brooke's face turned pale.
She looked at Evan.
"Brooke," I said quietly.
"Please answer me."
She swallowed.
"I knew something was going on."
"How long?"
She stared at the table.
"Since spring."
I felt as though someone had pressed a hand against my chest.
Spring.
My birthday had been in April.
Brooke had organized a dinner for me.
She had hugged me.
She had told me she hoped this would finally be the year Evan and I became parents.
And she'd already known he was sleeping with someone else.
I looked at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Her eyes filled.
"Evan said he was going to handle it."
"Handle what?"
"The marriage."
I sat back.
There it was.
My marriage had become a problem the Mercer family discussed among themselves.
And I had been the only person excluded from the conversation.
Helen cleared her throat.
"Brooke doesn't need to defend herself."
"No," I said.
"She needs to be honest."
Helen's expression hardened.
"This family has done a great deal for you."
I looked at her.
"Have you?"
"We welcomed you into our home."
"You welcomed me when I agreed with you."
"We supported your fertility treatments."
"Evan and I paid for those treatments."
"We tried to encourage you."
I almost laughed.
"You told me I was too old to keep trying."
Helen looked offended.
"I never said it that way."
"You said my body was being difficult."
She opened her mouth.
I continued.
"You told me to stop discussing fertility treatment because it upset Evan."
Evan stared at his hands.
"And when I finally got pregnant again, when I finally thought we might have the child we'd been trying so hard to have, you knew I had lost that pregnancy."
My voice trembled.
"You knew."
Nobody spoke.
"And you still stood beside his mistress for a photograph."
Helen looked toward the window.
Brooke began crying quietly.
I stood.
"I came because I wanted to understand whether there was anything left of the family I thought I had."
Evan looked up.
"Rachel, sit down."
I shook my head.
"I have my answer."
I turned toward the door.
Then Brooke said my name.
I stopped.
She stood halfway from her chair.
"There's something you should know."
Helen's head snapped toward her.
"Brooke."
But Brooke kept looking at me.
"The airport picture."
My stomach tightened.
"What about it?"
Her voice broke.
"It wasn't just a picture."
Helen stood abruptly.
"That's enough."
Brooke shook her head.
"No, Mom."
She looked at me with tears running down her cheeks.
"I didn't post it because I thought it was funny."
I waited.
Brooke swallowed.
"Mom told me to post it."
The restaurant seemed to grow quieter.
"Why?" I asked.
Brooke looked at her mother.
Then back at me.
"Because she wanted you to see that Evan had already moved on."
I stared at Helen.
The woman who had stood smiling beside my husband's mistress.
The woman who had offered me fifteen thousand dollars to disappear quietly.
May you like
She looked directly at me.
And she didn't deny it.
