Page 115 of The Voice We Find

“But then what could possibly be—”

“Say nothing more, Anita. I’m texting our lawyer,” my father scolds, pulling out his phone and finger-pecking at the screen.

“He’s guilty.” Natalie’s verdict reverberates inside the room. “Your son is guilty of every charge he’s being held for tonight and many others he’ll never be convicted of.”

“You can’t possibly mean that.” My father lowers his phone and peers at his daughter-in-law as if she’s lost all her senses. “How much did you have to drink at that party tonight?”

But just as I start to come to her defense, my mother asks, “What other crimes? What are you talking about, Natty?”

Natalie’s eyes soften as her gaze lingers on my mother, and I can almost see the vulnerable teenager she was when she first came into our family’s life as Jasper’s girlfriend. She didn’t grow up with a mother, and her connection to mine was as effortless as her connection to my brother. Her voice turns pleading. “I’m saying your son is not who you think he is, Anita. He’s worked hard to convince you and everyone else that—”

“Stop this right now.” My father slams a hand on the table. “Jasperhas not been convicted of a thing yet, and we will not respond as if he has, Anita. Our job is to defend him, to protect him.We are his parents.”

“You are my parents, too.” My declaration is raw but strong. “And yet I never once felt defended or protected by either one of you, not even when I was the victim of a crime that happened onyourproperty.”

“Sophie.” My mom’s voice quavers as if she can’t believe I would bring that up at a time like this. But denial can only last so long.

“This is not the same.” My father shakes his head. “That investigation was dismissed on lack of evidence.”

“Because you dismissed it. Because you refused to take the investigation to the next level and pay out of your own pocket. Because you told the detective I was nothing more than a dramatic attention-seeker who had likely staged the entire event.” I watch as my father’s lips pull tight. “I heard you. I heard you on the phone with him.”

My mother covers her mouth. “Ronald?”

“That’s ... that’s ... there were other considerations. Factors outside of that phone call.”

“You’re right, there were.” I stare into my father’s eyes. “The first being that Jasper’s word always took precedence over mine.”

My father throws up his hands. “Do you really think this is the time to bring up every childhood woe?”

I eye Natalie, and she gives me a nod. It’s all the permission I need to continue. “He lied to you about that night.”

“What night?” my dad has the audacity to ask.

“The night he and his buddy broke into the tasting room, stole your prized wine, and locked your only daughter in a dark cellar for a day and a half. All so he could pay off his business professor at Stanford,” I say.

“That’s not true. He was with Natalie that weekend at a ski resort. The police verified their story.”

“He wasn’t with me. I covered for him,” Natalie says with so much remorse my eyes sting. “I’ve been covering for him for a long time.”

My dad shifts in his seat, and an uncomfortable silence fills the room. He glances down at his phone. “Our lawyer is on his way.”

“That’s it?” I insist. “That’s all you have to say? Your son robbed you and deceived you and—”

“I won’t believe that!” he fires off at Natalie and me. “I don’t know why you two have decided to fabricate such a tale against him or why you’ve chosen to be disloyal to your family, but I won’t stand for it. You hear me?I won’t stand for it.” He bangs the table with a closed fist, sending Natalie’s water bottle tumbling off the far edge.

“Careful, Mr. Wilder,” Agent Terrell warns as he pushes back from the table to retrieve Natalie’s water.

“This is why I left home at eighteen,” I appeal to my mother. “This is why I forfeited the trust payout and the college plans and a future at the winery. This is why I chose to fly three thousand miles away from home. I have spoken the words of a hundred different characters on stage, but I’ve only recently found a voice of my own.” My lips quiver as she locks eyes with me. “It’s not too late for you to find yours.”

My dad grips my mom’s arm, but her eyes remain on me, unfocused and yet laser focused at the same time. “Anita, listen to me, honey. The two of us need to remain a united front when the lawyer gets here. We know our son—I’ve apprenticed him since he was thirteen. If he was capable of any of these things, I would know it. You would know, too. You’re his mother.” The wrinkle between my mother’s eyebrows deepens. “He wouldn’t throw away the life we built for him for a life of crime.”

My mother is unresponsive to my father’s impassioned words, and I wonder where her mind has taken her.

“My lawyer will demand to see proof of these allegations,” my father directs at Agent Terrell, and I don’t miss the desperate agitation in his voice. “I, for one, won’t be leaving here until I see evidence of his crimes with my own eyes.”

“Evidence?” Natalie asks in a tone that sends goose bumps down my arms. “Are you certain that’s what you want, Mr. Wilder?”

“Of coursethat’s what I want.”

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