Chapter 7 - The Promise That Broke Her Heart
Michael looked toward Molly.
Then slowly lowered himself into the chair beside Luca.
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
Luca stared at him.
“Yes, what?”
“I told her to call me Uncle Michael.”
“Why?”
Michael rubbed his hands together.
“Two years ago, Vanessa brought Molly to a holiday charity event. You were supposed to be there.”
Luca frowned.
“I remember that event.”
“I didn't want you asking questions.”
“So you told your daughter to pretend you weren't her father?”
Michael nodded.
I watched Luca's expression change.
He looked more hurt than angry.
“Michael, you've sat at my family's table for thirteen years.”
“I know.”
“My father trusted you.”
“I know.”
“And all this time, you've been raising a daughter I never knew existed?”
Michael shook his head.
“That's the worst part.”
He glanced toward Molly.
“I wasn't raising her the way I should have been.”
The admission surprised me.
Then he continued.
“When Vanessa and I separated, Molly was still a baby. We agreed she'd live with Vanessa, and I'd help support her.”
“Did you visit?”
“At first, every weekend.”
“What changed?”
Michael looked toward Evelyn.
“I started building a different life.”
Evelyn stood beside the fireplace, listening.
Michael swallowed.
“I told myself I could manage both. Then I started missing Saturdays.”
Luca waited.
“Then birthdays.”
Michael's eyes reddened.
“And eventually, it became easier to send money than to explain why I wasn't there.”
I thought about Molly's photograph.
The enormous pumpkin.
Her missing front tooth.
The Saturday pancakes she still remembered.
She hadn't wanted money.
She'd wanted her father.
Vanessa spoke from the opposite side of the table.
“You're leaving something out.”
Michael looked at her.
“You knew why I was afraid.”
“Tell him.”
He shook his head.
“Vanessa—”
“No. You don't get to let me carry all of this.”
Luca folded his arms.
“What am I missing?”
Vanessa's voice trembled.
“When Luca and I started dating, Michael asked me not to tell him about Molly.”
Luca turned toward his friend.
“Is that true?”
Michael nodded.
“Why?”
“Because I'd already lied about knowing Vanessa.”
Luca stared.
Michael looked ashamed.
“You asked me whether we'd met. I said we knew each other casually.”
“We'd just started dating,” Luca said quietly. “I asked because I trusted your judgment.”
“I know.”
“And you let me believe you'd barely spoken to her.”
Michael nodded.
The room felt colder.
I'd seen Luca angry before.
He rarely raised his voice.
But now his hands were trembling.
“You let me ask her to marry me while you sat beside me knowing I didn't understand the family I was marrying into.”
Michael lowered his head.
“Yes.”
“Did you think I would hurt your daughter?”
“No.”
“Then what were you protecting?”
Michael finally looked up.
“Myself.”
For several seconds, nobody answered.
It was such a small word.
But I think it was the most truthful thing he'd said all evening.
Evelyn stepped away from the fireplace.
“You told me about Molly.”
Michael looked toward her hopefully.
“Yes.”
“But you didn't tell me her mother was Luca's fiancée.”
His expression changed.
“Evelyn—”
“You said Vanessa was someone you'd dated a long time ago. You never gave me her last name.”
“I was afraid you'd misunderstand.”
She shook her head.
“No. You were afraid I'd understand perfectly.”
Michael looked down.
Evelyn removed her engagement ring.
Not dramatically.
She simply held it in her palm.
“I don't know what this means for us yet.”
His face fell.
“But I know something,” she continued. “I'm not going to marry a man who teaches his daughter to hide him.”
Michael pressed his fingers against his eyes.
Evelyn placed the ring beside his champagne glass.
Then she quietly sat down.
I looked toward Vanessa.
She was watching the ring.
For the first time, I saw something other than anger in her face.
Recognition.
She was watching another woman's relationship collapse because of the same secret she'd been protecting.
Luca turned toward her.
“Why didn't you trust me enough to tell me about Molly?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Because I lied on our first date.”
He frowned.
“About what?”
“You asked whether I had children.”
His expression changed.
“I remember.”
“I told you no.”
“Yes.”
She wiped her cheeks.
“Every time I wanted to tell you afterward, I remembered that conversation.”
Luca stared at her.
“You could have told me the next day.”
“I know.”
“The next week.”
“I know.”
“Before I bought you a ring.”
Vanessa began crying.
“I know.”
Luca looked toward Molly.
She was sitting beside Teresa, showing her the repaired ear on Buttons.
“Do you understand what you did?” he asked.
Vanessa looked at him.
“You made her believe being your daughter was something shameful.”
She covered her face.
Meanwhile, Molly had finished showing Teresa her rabbit.
She came over to me.
“Grace?”
“Yes, honey?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
She looked toward the adults.
“Is everybody upset because I told them about Daddy?”
I crouched beside her.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Then why are they sad?”
I thought carefully.
“Because some grown-ups made mistakes, and now they're trying to fix them.”
Molly nodded.
Then she looked at her mother.
“Does Mommy have to go away too?”
My throat tightened.
Before I could answer, Vanessa came toward us.
She knelt.
“No, baby.”
Molly stared at her.
“Are you mad at me?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“Because I told Mr. Moretti?”
“No, sweetheart.”
Molly seemed to relax.
Then she looked toward her yellow suitcase.
“But I still have to go to Aunt Lila's, right?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Molly's eyes filled.
“Mommy, I don't want to miss Christmas.”
Luca turned sharply.
“Christmas?”
I stared at Vanessa.
Because the wedding was months away.
Christmas was even farther.
This wasn't a short visit.
It wasn't a temporary solution for the engagement dinner.
Molly hugged Buttons against her chest.
May you like
Then she whispered something that made me feel sick.
“Mommy said I wasn't coming home for Christmas.”
