Chapter 14 - Ethan’s part in this
My son wanted to become the hero after the lawn.
I would not let him.
He called constantly.
Apologized.
Bought flowers.
Wanted to pay my hotel.
I said:
“Stop.”
He looked hurt.
We were sitting in Denise’s conference room.
“Mom, I should have known.”
“Yes.”
He froze.
Most mothers would have said:
No, baby, Vanessa lied.
Vanessa did lie.
Ethan still had a part.
“You let her speak for me.”
“I thought you two were talking.”
“You never checked.”
“I called.”
“Not enough.”
He looked down.
I continued:
“You knew she had never met me.”
“We tried.”
“You got engaged anyway.”
He looked up.
“That’s not fair.”
“Maybe not.”
I adjusted my shawl.
Dry now.
Still mine.
“I’m not saying you needed my approval.”
“Then what?”
“You were building a marriage with someone you had not allowed to exist in the same room as your mother.”
He swallowed.
“I didn’t think of it like that.”
“I know.”
That was the problem.
There was another part.
Ethan had become embarrassed by conflict around class.
Not by me exactly.
By the contrast.
Mitchell dinners.
My car.
Their home.
My bluntness.
Once, when I said I would wear my church dress to a foundation dinner, Ethan sent me a link to a $900 gown.
I said:
“Did I ask?”
He apologized.
At the time I laughed.
Now it looked different.
He wanted both worlds to fit together without discomfort.
When Vanessa made separation easier, he accepted.
That was his mistake.
May you like
Not choosing her.
Avoiding the friction necessary to know who she actually was.
