Page 138 of The Rules We Broke
“Fine,” I said, motioning toward the couch. “Have a seat.”
Elizabeth stepped in tentatively, her eyes flicking nervously toward Aunt Lu. She looked terrible—grief-stricken, hollow. But I supposed I would too if I’d just lost my husband.
Aunt Lu and I waited. She was the one who’d called this little meeting, after all.
“Well,” she began, voice brittle, “you’ll be happy to know that Brady and Benjamin are refusing to speak to me. Neither of them plans to attend their daddy’s funeral because—”
“Why would that make me happy?” I cut in.
She blinked, caught off guard. “Isn’t that what you want? For Brady to leave his family for you?”
I leaned forward, voice low but firm. “Unlike you, I’ve never given Brady an ultimatum. Neither of us ever wanted to choose between each other and our families.”
She flinched. She didn’t like that. But I wasn’t about to let her twist the truth or pin this on me.
Elizabeth refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing.
“Well, regardless,” she said stiffly, “Brady and Benjamin won’t have anything to do with our family unless you’re part of it.”
I blinked. “So, you’re here to ask me to be part of your family?” The words tasted absurd coming out of my mouth.
“I suppose I am,” she said without a trace of warmth in her voice.
I shook my head, stunned. “Why would I want that? After everything you’ve put Brady and me through all these years?”
“I did what I thought was best for my family.”
“No,” I said, voice steady. “You did what was best foryourself.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Young lady, where do you get off talking to me like that?”
I didn’t flinch. “Elizabeth, if you really want to save your family—and if I’m somehow the key to that—then the least you owe me is the truth.”
I turned to Aunt Lu, who hadn’t said a word but whose presence was a force beside me. “You oweusboth the truth.”
She stood and headed for the door—just as I expected. She didn’t care about saving her family. She cared about saving face.
But then, in the foyer, she paused.
To my surprise, she turned around and walked back toward the couch she’d just vacated. She sat down slowly, her posture less rigid, her expression less guarded.
Aunt Lu and I exchanged a glance. Neither of us saw that coming.
Elizabeth looked smaller now. Weaker. Her eyes flicked between us, and then she spoke.
“Fine,” she said. “You want the truth? Here it is.”
She took a breath, her voice low and bitter.
“Imagine having a husband who loves someone else. And the only thing he truly loves aboutyouare the sons you gave him.”
She turned her gaze to Aunt Lu, eyes full of disdain.
“Now, imagine one of those sons falling in love with thechildof the woman your husband loves.”
I held onto my aunt’s hand. She squeezed tightly, her grip ironclad. I wondered what it felt like—to hear, after all these years, that Isaac had loved her. That he’dalwaysloved her.
Elizabeth wasn’t finished.
