The Papers in Lauren’s Drawer
Chapter 11 - The Papers in Lauren’s Drawer
Ethan stared at the email.
Lauren did not touch the phone.
“What is he talking about?” Ethan asked.
She closed her eyes.
Nathan quietly stood.
“I’ll go.”
“No,” Lauren said. “You can stay.”
Ethan’s heart began to pound.
“Lauren.”
She walked upstairs.
When she returned, she carried a large white envelope.
She placed it on the kitchen table.
Ethan saw the words before she could explain.
PETITION FOR LEGAL SEPARATION.
He did not move.
Nathan looked away.
Lauren’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“I never filed them.”
Ethan opened the envelope.
The forms were dated four months earlier.
Before Nathan contacted her.
Before the trust.
Before the garage.
“This has nothing to do with him,” Lauren said.
Ethan looked at her.
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Lauren sat across from him.
“Because I was disappearing in our marriage.”
He said nothing.
“You came home from your last deployment and stopped letting me in. Then you left again. Every conversation became weather, bills, groceries, schedules. Anytime I asked how you were, you said you were fine.”
“I was trying not to dump everything on you.”
“You weren’t protecting me. You were shutting me out.”
Ethan looked down at the papers.
Lauren continued.
“I started thinking maybe you didn’t need a wife. Maybe you needed someone who kept the house running while you were gone.”
“That’s not true.”
“I know that now.”
“How?”
“Because when this happened, I finally saw what you were afraid of becoming.”
He looked up.
“Your father.”
The words landed cleanly.
“He kept secrets because he thought telling the truth would hurt people,” Lauren said. “You keep pain secret for the same reason.”
Ethan pushed back from the table.
“I need air.”
Outside, he sat on the front steps.
A few minutes later, Nathan joined him.
Ethan expected advice.
Nathan offered none.
After a while, Ethan said, “Did she tell you about those papers?”
“No.”
“Would you tell me if she had?”
“Yes.”
Ethan believed him.
Nathan looked toward the dark street.
“My ex-wife left because I thought being dependable was the same as being emotionally present.”
Ethan glanced at him.
Nathan shrugged.
“Maybe we got more from Edward than the eyes.”
Ethan laughed despite himself.
Then Nathan’s expression turned serious.
“Richard knows about those papers because he was in your house.”
Ethan stopped smiling.
May you like
Lauren had never shown them to Richard.
Which meant he had searched for more than the motorcycle box.
