Chapter 1 - The Dinner Before the Fall)
Six hours earlier, the Collins house had smelled like rosemary chicken, baked potatoes, butter, and the cinnamon apple casserole Judith insisted Nora make every year.
Nora stood at the kitchen counter staring through the window above the sink.
The evening was cold.
Bare branches moved beyond the backyard fence while yellow light from the dining room reflected against the glass.
Behind her, Judith rearranged a tray Nora had already arranged twice.
"The parsley looks tired."
Nora kept her voice calm.
"I bought it this morning."
"Then perhaps you chose badly."
Judith moved one sprig half an inch.
"There."
Nora said nothing.
Judith smiled.
That smile had once fooled Nora.
Eight years earlier, when Nora had first met Graham's mother, Judith had welcomed her with a hug and called her beautiful.
She had taken Nora shopping before the wedding.
She had offered to help select flowers.
She had told everyone that Graham had finally found a woman mature enough for him.
The cruelty had arrived slowly.
A joke about Nora's clothes.
A comment about her weight.
A correction about how she folded napkins.
Then phone calls to Graham whenever Nora disagreed.
By the second year of marriage, Judith had stopped pretending.
By the fifth year, Graham had stopped pretending he would defend his wife.
Tonight thirteen relatives were coming for dinner.
Graham entered the kitchen carrying wine.
He kissed Nora lightly on the cheek.
"Everything okay?"
Judith answered before Nora could.
"Your wife almost served tired parsley."
Graham laughed.
"Mom."
"I'm serious."
Nora looked at him.
"Can I talk to you?"
Graham glanced toward the dining room.
"Now?"
"Yes."
Judith picked up the casserole dish.
"You two can discuss whatever little crisis she's having after dinner."
Nora reached for the dish.
"I've got it."
Judith did not release it immediately.
Their eyes met.
Then Judith smiled and let go.
Nora carried the dish toward the dining room.
Her left side hurt.
It had been hurting for three days.
She had told Graham she had bumped into the bathroom counter.
That was technically true.
She simply had not told him why.
Judith had walked into Nora's bedroom during an argument and shoved the door into her.
Nora had stumbled sideways into the counter.
Graham had been standing in the hallway.
He had seen everything.
Afterward he had said, "She didn't mean for you to fall."
That sentence had become the architecture of their marriage.
She didn't mean it.
You misunderstood.
Mom gets emotional.
Don't embarrass her.
Don't embarrass me.
Don't embarrass the family.
Nora placed the casserole on the dining table.
Family photographs lined the wall beside the staircase.
Graham at seven.
Graham graduating college.
Graham and Judith at a charity dinner.
Graham and Nora on their wedding day.
Nora stared at that photograph.
The woman in the picture looked hopeful.
She barely recognized her.
"Nora."
She turned.
Graham's cousin Rebecca stood behind her.
Rebecca was forty, observant, and one of the few relatives who had occasionally asked Nora whether she was all right.
"You look pale."
"I'm tired."
Rebecca glanced toward the kitchen.
"Judith?"
Nora forced a smile.
"Who else?"
Rebecca did not smile back.
"That's not funny anymore."
Nora's stomach tightened.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw your arm last Christmas."
Nora looked down instinctively.
Rebecca lowered her voice.
"You told everyone you walked into a door."
"I did."
"Nora."
Before Rebecca could continue, Judith entered.
"There you are. Rebecca, your father is asking for you."
Rebecca stared at Judith for a second.
Then at Nora.
"I'll see you after dinner."
When she walked away, Judith moved closer.
"Be careful with her."
Nora frowned.
"Why?"
"Rebecca likes drama."
"She asked whether I was tired."
Judith's smile vanished.
"I know exactly what she asked."
A chill passed through Nora.
Judith walked away.
Dinner began twenty minutes later.
Everyone drank wine.
Children laughed in the den.
The adults talked about property taxes, college football, vacations, and Graham's recent promotion.
Judith made sure everyone knew her son had been promoted.
"My Graham has always known how to keep his life organized."
Her eyes settled on Nora.
"Mostly."
Several relatives laughed politely.
Graham smiled into his wine.
Nora stared at her plate.
Rebecca did not laugh.
After dinner, Nora began clearing dishes.
Rebecca stood to help.
Judith stopped her.
"You're a guest."
"So is everyone else."
"Nora doesn't mind."
Rebecca looked at Nora.
"Do you?"
Nora wanted to say yes.
Instead she said, "It's fine."
Rebecca's expression hardened.
Nora carried plates toward the kitchen.
As she passed the basement door, she noticed it was slightly open.
A narrow line of darkness showed beneath it.
Her heart jumped.
That door was supposed to stay closed during family gatherings.
Not because the basement was dangerous.
Because Nora had hidden something there.
Three months earlier she had purchased a small voice activated recorder.
She had not bought it because she was planning to leave Graham.
At least that was what she had told herself.
She had bought it because she was beginning to doubt her own memory.
Judith would say something vicious.
Graham would later insist she had said something else.
Arguments would be rewritten within hours.
Events Nora clearly remembered became things she supposedly imagined.
So Nora started recording.
At first the recordings contained insults.
Then threats.
Then one night Judith said something Nora could never forget.
"If you ever make Graham choose between us, I'll make sure everyone thinks you're unstable."
Graham had been present.
Instead of defending Nora, he had replied, "Mom, stop saying things out loud that cause problems."
Not stop threatening my wife.
Stop saying it out loud.
That was the moment Nora bought the black box.
Inside it she placed the recorder, copies of medical bills, photographs of bruises, notes describing incidents, and a flash drive.
She hid the box behind an old cabinet in the basement storage room.
Now the basement door was open.
Nora stopped.
Judith appeared behind her.
"What are you staring at?"
"Nothing."
Judith followed her gaze.
For the first time that evening, uncertainty crossed Judith's face.
"Stay out of the basement tonight."
Nora turned slowly.
"Why?"
"Because I said so."
Nora studied her.
Then Graham called from the dining room.
"Nora, Mom wants the apple casserole."
Judith smiled again.
"There. You heard him."
Nora returned to the kitchen.
But for the rest of the evening, one question would not leave her mind.
Why had Judith suddenly become interested in the basement?
Ten minutes later, Nora picked up the hot casserole.
Judith followed her toward the dining room.
At the top of the basement stairs, Judith whispered behind her.
"I know what you've been doing."
Nora froze.
The casserole trembled in her hands.
She turned her head.
Judith was smiling.
May you like
Then Judith placed both hands against Nora's back.
And pushed.
