Chapter 5 - Behind the Flowers
The reception began at four thirty.
By then Margaret had decided she was going to confront Clara's warning as soon as speeches ended.
Vanessa had other plans.
The seating chart placed Margaret at table twelve.
She stared at the card.
Diane stared too.
"Table twelve?"
The head table sat near the dance floor.
Table twelve sat beside the kitchen doors.
A tall decorative screen covered in white flowers separated it from the center of the room.
Diane looked at Vanessa.
"This is deliberate."
Margaret said nothing.
She rolled toward the table.
Diane grabbed the handles.
"We are not sitting here."
"I am."
"Why?"
"Because I want to see how far she goes."
Diane slowly let go.
Margaret positioned herself where she could see through a narrow gap in the floral screen.
From there she watched her daughter laugh with guests.
She watched Ethan drink two glasses of bourbon in less than thirty minutes.
She watched Sophie push food around her plate.
Then she saw Vanessa whisper into the wedding planner's ear.
The planner nodded and left.
Five minutes later she returned carrying Margaret's purse.
Margaret frowned.
The planner walked past table twelve without stopping.
Straight toward Vanessa.
Vanessa took the purse and handed it to Ethan.
Margaret's pulse quickened.
"Diane."
Her sister followed her gaze.
"What is she doing?"
"I don't know."
Ethan walked toward the staircase hall.
Margaret pushed her chair backward.
Diane caught the handles.
"I'll go."
"No."
"Margaret."
"It is my purse."
Margaret rolled into the hall.
Ethan had disappeared upstairs.
She waited.
Three minutes later he returned without the purse.
Margaret blocked his path.
He stopped.
"Margaret."
"Where is my purse?"
His eyes flickered.
"Vanessa asked me to put it somewhere safe."
"Where?"
"Upstairs."
"Bring it back."
"After dinner."
"Now."
He glanced toward the reception.
Margaret recognized guilt.
Not confusion.
Guilt.
"What's happening tomorrow morning, Ethan?"
His face changed.
"Tomorrow?"
"Sophie heard you and Vanessa talking."
He swallowed.
"About what?"
"You tell me."
He lowered his voice.
"Margaret, this isn't the place."
"My house is not the place?"
"I mean the wedding."
"Then give me my phone and purse and I will call my attorney quietly."
Ethan's eyes widened.
That was all the answer she needed.
Margaret leaned forward.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
"Do not insult me."
"Vanessa is trying to help."
"With what?"
He stared toward the staircase.
Margaret followed his eyes.
"What is upstairs?"
"Nothing."
"Ethan."
Vanessa appeared behind Margaret.
"There you are."
Margaret turned.
"Where is my phone?"
Vanessa smiled.
"Safe."
"Where is my purse?"
"Also safe."
Margaret stared at her.
"Where am I going tomorrow morning?"
Silence.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Vanessa did not.
That was the difference between them.
Ethan felt shame.
Vanessa felt inconvenience.
"Who told you you're going anywhere?"
"Sophie heard you."
Vanessa's mouth tightened.
"She misunderstood."
"Then explain it."
"We will talk tomorrow."
"No."
Guests passed at the far end of the corridor.
Vanessa waited until they disappeared.
Then she crouched beside Margaret.
"Mom, please."
Margaret almost laughed at the sudden softness.
"You have spent the entire day hiding me."
"That is ridiculous."
"You hid my wheelchair."
"I moved it."
"You placed me behind a flower wall."
"That table was more accessible."
"You excluded me from photographs."
"You chose not to participate."
"You took my phone."
"Because you were agitated."
Margaret went still.
The word landed differently now.
Agitated.
Not angry.
Not offended.
Agitated.
Medical language.
Vanessa continued.
"You haven't been yourself lately."
Ethan looked at her.
"Vanessa."
She ignored him.
"You are exhausted. You forget appointments. You get confused."
"I am not confused."
"You called the caterer twice last week with the same question."
"Because they failed to answer it the first time."
Vanessa sighed as if proving her point.
Margaret felt cold.
"What have you told people about me?"
No answer.
"What have you told my doctor?"
Vanessa stood.
"We are not doing this tonight."
Margaret reached for Vanessa's wrist.
"Did you tell someone I have dementia?"
Ethan looked away.
Margaret saw it.
She released Vanessa.
"My God."
Vanessa leaned down.
"We found a rehabilitation residence."
"I am not going."
"It is temporary."
"I am not going."
"Mom."
Margaret raised her voice.
"I said no."
Several guests looked toward the hallway.
Vanessa's face flashed with fury.
Then she smiled at them.
"Everything's fine."
The guests turned away.
Vanessa bent toward Margaret again.
"You are going to ruin my wedding over a misunderstanding."
"My lawyer called this morning about a deed."
Vanessa's smile disappeared.
Ethan whispered, "What?"
Margaret looked at him.
"You didn't know?"
Vanessa grabbed the wheelchair handles.
"We need privacy."
Margaret locked the wheels.
"Let go."
Vanessa tried to move the chair.
It would not roll.
Margaret said, "If Clara received a deed I did not sign, I am calling the police."
Ethan went pale.
Vanessa looked toward the reception entrance.
Then at the staircase.
She unlocked Margaret's brakes.
Margaret grabbed the wheel rims.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting you somewhere quiet."
"Take your hands off my chair."
Vanessa pushed.
Margaret resisted.
Ethan whispered, "Vanessa, stop."
"You want two hundred guests to hear this?"
"Stop."
Vanessa pushed harder.
The chair struck the bottom stair.
There was nowhere else to go.
The staircase was too narrow for the wheelchair.
Vanessa looked at it.
Then at Margaret.
Margaret saw the decision happen.
"Don't."
Vanessa locked the chair.
She stepped around it.
Then she reached down and grabbed Margaret beneath both arms.
Margaret shouted.
"What are you doing?"
Vanessa pulled her from the chair.
Pain shot through Margaret's hip.
She grabbed the railing.
Ethan stared in horror.
"Help me," Vanessa snapped.
"No."
"Help me."
Margaret kicked weakly against the stair.
"Put me down."
Vanessa dragged her onto the first step.
Margaret's dress scraped across the wood.
Ethan did nothing.
That was his choice.
Later he would claim he had been shocked.
Margaret would remember it differently.
He watched.
Vanessa pulled again.
Margaret looked past her daughter.
At the end of the hallway, Sophie stood behind the floral screen.
The child had seen everything.
Vanessa had not noticed her.
Margaret did.
Their eyes met.
Sophie disappeared.
For one terrible second Margaret thought the girl had run away in fear.
She had not.
Sophie was going upstairs another way.
May you like
There was a narrow service staircase behind the kitchen.
And she knew exactly what she was looking for.
