Chapter 10 - The Lake House)
Rebecca sat alone on the dock when Daniel arrived.
The rain had stopped.
The lake was black beneath the night sky.
She had changed out of her wedding gown and wore jeans, a sweater and Daniel’s old gray coat.
He recognized it.
He had left it at the lake house the previous winter.
Rebecca held Laura’s letter in both hands.
Daniel stopped several feet away.
“You shouldn’t be here alone.”
Rebecca gave a broken laugh.
“After today, I don’t think you’re required to worry about me.”
“I’m not required to do anything.”
She looked toward the water.
“But you came.”
“Yes.”
Daniel sat at the opposite end of the bench.
For a while neither spoke.
The house behind them had belonged to Laura’s family for three generations.
Rebecca finally said, “I hated this place.”
“I know.”
“I thought it was because every room reminded me of her.”
“Wasn’t it?”
“Not exactly.”
She looked at the letter.
“The first time you brought me here, Emily ran upstairs and came down carrying one of Laura’s scarves.”
Daniel remembered.
Emily had wrapped the pale blue scarf around herself and laughed.
Rebecca had left the room.
Daniel assumed she was uncomfortable.
Rebecca continued.
“She looked happy.”
Daniel waited.
“And I realized I wanted her not to be.”
Daniel’s expression tightened.
Rebecca wiped her eyes.
“That was the moment I should have left you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because leaving would mean admitting what I was becoming.”
Daniel understood.
People often continued down terrible roads because turning around required seeing how far they had already gone.
Rebecca held out the letter.
“I’m returning it.”
Daniel did not take it immediately.
“You can’t return four years.”
“I know.”
“You can’t return the weeks Emily spent thinking I would send her away.”
“I know.”
“You can’t return the trust you tried to steal.”
“I know.”
Daniel finally took the letter.
Rebecca whispered, “I loved you.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I believe part of you did.”
She began crying.
“That almost makes it worse.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca stared at the lake.
“Andrew told me your company was built from money Laura stole.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“Would it have mattered yesterday?”
Rebecca did not answer.
Daniel knew the answer.
No.
Not enough.
She had been too committed to revenge.
“Why did you keep Laura’s letter?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Because of the part where she told you to love again.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“I read it every night for a week.”
He stared.
“I wanted to hate her.”
Rebecca’s voice broke.
“But she told you to choose someone who loved Emily.”
Daniel looked away.
“I knew I wasn’t that person.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because I thought if I married you, eventually I could become her.”
Daniel frowned.
“Laura?”
“No.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“The woman you believed I was.”
The answer was painfully human.
Daniel wished that made forgiveness easier.
It did not.
Rebecca continued.
“My mother spent most of my childhood telling me our family had enemies. After Dad died, she needed one person to blame. Laura became that person.”
“And you believed her.”
“Yes.”
“Until?”
Rebecca looked toward the house.
“Until today.”
She reached into her pocket and removed a flash drive.
Daniel stared at it.
“What is that?”
“Copies of everything Andrew gave us.”
Daniel took it.
“Why?”
“Because some of the documents show accounts my mother never knew about.”
“Andrew’s father?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca inhaled shakily.
“And there are emails from Andrew.”
Daniel waited.
“He knew my father was unstable.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
Rebecca continued.
“He sent Dad messages after the investigation. He told him Margaret planned to leave him. He told him everyone blamed him.”
Daniel felt sick.
“Why?”
“To keep him afraid.”
“Did Andrew cause your father’s death?”
Rebecca looked down.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel answered carefully.
“Don’t make another assumption because you need someone to blame.”
Rebecca nodded.
“I know.”
It was perhaps the first lesson she had truly learned.
Daniel stood.
“You need to give everything to Jonathan.”
“I will.”
“And Hawthorne Ridge?”
“I already called them.”
Daniel turned sharply.
“When?”
“Before I came here.”
“What did you say?”
“I told them the signature was forged and the enrollment was unauthorized.”
Daniel stared.
Rebecca continued.
“I also emailed them a written confession.”
“Why?”
“Because Emily should never have to prove it herself.”
Daniel felt some of the pressure in his chest ease.
Not forgiveness.
But relief.
Rebecca looked toward the house.
“Can I ask you one thing?”
“What?”
“Tell Emily I’m sorry.”
Daniel shook his head.
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
“You need to tell her yourself.”
She looked up.
“Would she want to see me?”
“That’s her choice.”
Rebecca nodded.
Daniel walked toward the house.
At the porch he stopped.
“Rebecca.”
She looked back.
“What happened to your father was terrible.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled again.
“But it does not excuse what you did to my daughter.”
“I know.”
Daniel went inside.
In Laura’s old writing room, he opened the drawer Rebecca had broken into.
Inside were photographs, stationery and a fountain pen.
Nothing valuable.
Nothing worth destroying a family over.
He returned Laura’s letter to the drawer.
Then he noticed a small envelope beneath the wooden lining.
He pulled it free.
His name was not on it.
Emily’s was.
For Emily when she turns eight.
Daniel stared.
Emily’s eighth birthday was six weeks away.
Laura had prepared a letter years in advance.
Daniel sat down at the desk.
He did not open it.
That belonged to Emily.
But beneath the envelope was something else.
A photograph.
Laura stood beside Thomas Hayes.
Rebecca’s father.
They were smiling.
On the back Laura had written a date.
Three months after the Bellweather investigation.
And one sentence.
May you like
Thomas came today. He wants to help make this right.
Daniel realized the story was still not finished.
