Chapter 10 - Alaric’s first failure On the drive home, Alaric said:
“I should’ve shut this down years ago.”
I looked at him.
“What years?”
He became quiet.
That was not the reaction I wanted.
“Alaric.”
He gripped the steering wheel.
“Mom said something after Bram got his first chair.”
“What?”
“She asked whether we were planning to use it in professional family pictures.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“And?”
“I told her yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She said maybe we should also get some without it.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did you say?”
“That he couldn’t just stand for a twenty-minute photo session.”
“Then?”
“She said she meant pictures of the rest of us.”
I turned toward the window.
He continued:
“I told her not to say that again.”
“Did you tell me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I thought I handled it.”
There.
The sentence that ruins more marriages than shouting.
I thought I handled it.
What he meant:
I protected you from knowing my mother had said something ugly.
May you like
What happened:
He protected his mother from consequence.
