Chapter 82: Red Face

Ethan gave Naomi a nervous little smile.

"Girlfriends yet?" she asked.

The boy went bright red. Naomi laughed.

"Oh, look at you!"

Ethan looked away, clearly wishing he could disappear into the sofa. He had never been very social.

Actually, not social at all was probably more accurate. Ethan avoided the world whenever he could. Crowds made him uncomfortable. New people exhausted him. He didn’t like being touched either, not unless it was someone he trusted enough to allow into his space.

Naomi was one of those people.

Diana.

Millie.

Richard certainly wasn’t. Not that Richard cared much. As far as Richard was concerned, Ethan was Diana’s failure, as though the boy had somehow arrived fully formed from Diana alone and Richard’s genes had politely declined participation.

Naomi had always hated that. There was nothing wrong with Ethan. He was simply Ethan.

"Come on, kids. Let’s go," Diana said.

Millie immediately protested. "Aww."

Naomi laughed and handed Millie over. "I’ll see you soon, okay?"

Millie nodded, arms going around her mother’s neck. They said their goodbyes, and Naomi opened the front door.

Diana stepped outside first and headed toward the car parked by the curb with Millie. Ethan followed more slowly.

Then he stopped. Naomi lowered her voice.

"What is it?"

"Does he hurt you?"

"Oh... Ethan..." She reached for him and pulled him into another hug.

He was already taller than she was, all awkward limbs and growing shoulders, but in that moment he seemed like a baby.

"No," Naomi said softly. "He doesn’t."

His face remained troubled. "Mum says the same thing..."

The words were so quiet Naomi almost didn’t hear them. Then he looked away. Naomi’s smile disappeared.

That tiny sentence carrying far more than Ethan probably intended to say. Ethan stepped back.

"Bye, Aunt Naomi."

"Bye, sweetheart."

He turned and walked toward the car. Naomi stayed by the doorway, watching him climb into the back seat.

Diana waved from the driver’s side. Naomi waved back. Millie pressed both palms dramatically against the window, making Naomi laugh despite the heaviness in her chest.

Then the car pulled away. Naomi stood there for a few seconds after it disappeared down the street.

Her smile turned sad.

Mum says the same thing.

She knew exactly what Ethan meant. Diana always defended Richard. Always found some way to make the ugly parts of her marriage sound somehow understandable.

Naomi hated that Ethan had grown old enough to notice. Maybe that was why he had asked her so directly. she closed the front door.

When she turned around, she found Dorian standing by the stairs, now with a shirt on.

"They look like they adore you," Dorian said. "I’m sorry I made you miss church."

Naomi pointed at him immediately. "You’re coming with me next week."

Dorian’s face fell. "Don’t make me go... come on!"

Naomi started up the stairs without an ounce of sympathy. "If you’re really sorry, then you’ll come."

"That feels like emotional blackmail. Naomi, I don’t go to church."

She glanced over her shoulder. "I didn’t ask you to suddenly find religion! I only said you have to go for one Sunday with me."

Dorian followed her. "One Sunday turns into two. Then your priest starts learning my name, your church people begin expecting me, and suddenly I’m trapped."

Naomi rolled her eyes as they reached the next floor. "We really have to eat something."

"That, I support." Dorian watched her continue ahead of him and smiled.

Church next Sunday. He absolutely did not want to go. Which probably meant he would.

Meanwhile, the moment Diana pulled into the Whitmore residence, Richard was outside. He had clearly been waiting.

"Daddy!" Millie yelled and jumped out as soon as Diana stopped the car and ran toward him.

Richard gave her a brief hug. He was looking at Diana, not the children. "Why don’t you kids head inside, uhn? Ethan, watch your sister."

Ethan took Millie’s hand. "Come on."

Millie allowed herself to be led toward the house. Richard turned to Diana. She didn’t wait for him to ask.

"Naomi is fine. I think the guard is mistaken. She doesn’t seem like she knows."

"Don’t tell me what you think. Heathcliffe was at Bedford Hills to see Marianne, and I want to know why."

"I don’t know why."

"You were supposed to find out."

"How exactly, Richard? Walk into Naomi’s house and ask if her husband has recently visited the mother she believes is dead?"

"She didn’t mention anything?"

"No."

"Heathcliffe?"

"He was polite. Normal."

"If that man went to Bedford Hills, he had a reason."

Diana looked toward the house. For years, they had all lived around this secret. Built lie after lie around Naomi because Marianne had insisted it was the only way to let her daughter have a life.

Now Naomi was grown. And somehow Dorian Heathcliffe had gotten dangerously close to the one truth none of them wanted disturbed.

Diana sighed. "Richard, would it be so bad if we finally tell her? She is old enough."

His face changed instantly as he stepped toward her. "I never wanted to be a part of this madness from the very beginning. I went along with it because you and Marianne thought it would be best."

"She deserves the truth."

"And what happens when that truth comes out? You think this stays inside the family? I will not have my name dragged through the mud."

"How is that going to happen?" Diana asked. "She will understand why. It can still stay in the family. Naomi is not that kind of girl. Besides, this was Marianne’s choice herself."

"So now you are on the side of the woman that killed your brother? Is there some kind of club for it?" he continued. "And do you plan on joining sometime soon?"

"Richard..." She barely got his name out before he cut her off.

"Tomorrow, get to Bedford Hills and find out why Heathcliffe came to see her."

"Wouldn’t that be suspicious? I haven’t been to see her since we told Naomi she was dead."