Page 38 of The Cinderella Secret
Dominique frowned. “Grandma is annoyingly secretive. And I can’t help feeling that whatever it is she’s freaking out about, it would be better if she would just tell us. I mean, no one told me that Uncle Owen abused Evan as a child and look what happened. I never understood any of his behavior or why Aiden ever wanted him to be part of the family, and poor Evan, he practically went all… well, he got very depressed.”
Jackson didn’t bother to illuminate thatverydidn’t actually cover the depths of Evan’s depression. Suicidal would have been closer to the truth.
“He seems like he’s getting better, right?” she added anxiously. “He’s been very… Did I tell you he tried to apologize to me?”
“No,” said Jackson, blinking in surprise. “What did you say?”
“I freaked out. I did not handle it all well. Which I feel bad about. He sort of stumbled around and I could see that he was literally sweating. So then I started to try and get him to calm down. But then I felt angry that I was trying to make him feel better while he was trying to apologize for being abusive toward me when we were kids. I mean, he should feel horrible. Hewashorrible.”
“I think he does feel that way.”
“Yes, that much was obvious,” said Dominique. “And, after some day drinking and meditation, I really, really, really appreciated his attempt, but him having honest emotions completely threw me. This sounds peculiar, but I’d rather he not try it again. I’m glad he tried, but I really can’t talk about it without completely spazzing out and probably ugly crying and I’m not ready to be that vulnerable in front of him. Anyway, I kind of waved him off and ran out of the room and I think we’re fine. I think. I don’t know. I spent like three weeks worrying that my poor handling of the situation would lead to some sort of relapse for him.”
“You can’t put that on yourself. Evan is responsible for his own behavior,” said Jackson, and Dominique sighed impatiently.
“Yes, he is. And I know that. But there is a lot of pressure in this family to be perfect. And I think Evan has had that pressure even more than Aiden and I have. I didn’t want to be the snowflake that leads to an avalanche. Dealing with him, a lot of times, it makes me tired just from having to think about him. I used to worry about him. And now I mostly worryforhim. But I have to admit that sometimes, I worry that this is just one long stretch of Christmas and that sooner or later he’ll go back to being an asshole.”
“He has his moments,” said Jackson with a shrug. “And then he course corrects. He’s working really hard.”
“I know. I see that. And the fact that he lets me see that he’s working is actually more reassuring than just having him be nice to me. And now that I know about Uncle Owen, I can understand the kind of hole he’s working out of. Grandma and Aiden shouldn’t have kept that from me. Now that we all know, he doesn’t have to spend any energy trying to hide—he can just work on getting better. And heisbetter. Everything isn’t perfect, but God, he is so much better.”
“Right?” asked Jackson. “He’s showing up. He’s communicating. He’s not taking drugs.”
“He’s doing so well! I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year. He’s always been better at Christmas and I bet now that he’s less depressed and less of a dickhead it’s going to be even more fun! Anyway, my point is… What was my point?”
This time, Jackson thought Dominique wasn’t faking because her eyes flicked toward the ceiling as she tried to recall the conversational thread.
“Grandma and people not keeping secrets?” supplied Jackson.
“Yes! Whatever she’s bottling up, it would be better just to spill it. Because I’m doing this one way or another and it’s going to get super awkward if I have to threaten to withdraw my marketing expertise support to all her campaign stuff.”
“Ooh, full worker strike,” said Jackson. “It’s serious now.”
“It’s about to be,” said Dominique. “I guess I’ll have to formally announce soon. Max has started packing and his lease is up in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be a thing.”
“Wait for Sunday dinner,” advised Jackson. “That way we’ll all be there to support you. I’ll tell the guys.”
“Thanks. I think—”
Both their phones vibrated, cutting off whatever Dominique was going to say next.
Your official stance is No Comment. Funnel all questions to my press secretary.
“It’s from Grandma,” said Dominique. “No comment on what?”
“I don’t know,” said Jackson.
“Mr. Jackson,” said Theo as he came in to the study. “There are some undesirable persons on the lawn. They have dislodged the decorative pumpkins.” He looked affronted.
“Really?” Dominique looked equally affronted, like she wasn’t a certified pumpkin kicker from way back. Nika went out to the hall and peered through the narrow window by the door.
“Looks like press,” she said. “Oh, yeah, totally. There’s a van. One of them is going to come up to the door. I think he’s trying to figure out the recording app on his phone. Did they send the junior brigade? Come on, get it together people. We deserve seasoned reporters.”
Jackson’s phone rang. “Hey, Ev.”
“Did you see the fucking news?”
“No, just the text from Grandma. And now we have reporters on the front lawn. Theo is very peeved.”
