Chapter 22 - Blythe asks if Elena is family
Blythe adored Elena.
Jonah pretended not to.
One Saturday Elena brought cinnamon oatmeal.
Jonah stared at it.
“Still wrong.”
“You survived last time.”
“Barely.”
Blythe said:
“Is Elena our aunt?”
“No,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because she isn’t related that way.”
“Can she be?”
Elena laughed.
“No paperwork for that.”
Blythe frowned.
“She knew Mom.”
“Yes.”
“She helped Mom.”
“Yes.”
“She helped us.”
“Yes.”
“Family.”
Six-year-old jurisprudence.
I said:
“She can be important without us changing her name.”
Blythe accepted that.
Then:
“Can important people come Christmas?”
Elena looked at me.
I said:
“Yes.”
So she did.
No romance.
People kept assuming there was.
We had been photographed leaving hospitals.
Standing at hearings.
Once at a diner.
A tabloid headline:
MERCER’S MYSTERY MAID MOVES INTO WIDOWER’S LIFE
She did not live with us.
She sent me the article with:
Congratulations on our imaginary relationship.
I replied:
Do I at least get to choose the restaurant?
That was the extent of our courtship.
We became friends.
Eventually.
May you like
Not because tragedy always produces romance.
Sometimes the most respectful thing two people can give each other is not turning survival into a love story.
