The Memory Child (13 page)

He watched the rise in Diane’s chest, the way she arched her back and then turned from him to study
the room.

“It does give us more room to grow in…” Her voice ta
pered off.

“But?” He wasn’t sure he liked where this w
as going.

Diane sighed. “No buts. I like it. It’s perfect. There are just so many changes coming at once. I like our condo and our condo
living.”

The tight band that had been squeezing his heart loosened. He could hear in her voice that she was scared. Too much change in her personal life rattled her. It always did. He should have been more aw
are of it.

“What if you let me take care of this? You concentrate on work and everything you need to do before our baby arrives and I’ll handle everything else.” If he could take out all the negatives, maybe she’d give in and realize moving would be good
for them.

“You’re going to handle moving? Packing, cleaning, unpacking, setting things up, painting, repairing…getting our place ready for listing? You’re going to take care of a
ll that?”

He nodded. “How hard can it be? I’ll hire a moving company, and we’ll get the cleaners to come in a couple of extr
a times.”

Diane chuckled. “Just like a man to get others to do the work. I know it’s been a few years, Brian, but there’s more to it than just hiring a cleaning company and
movers.”

Brian shrugged. He’d figure it out. “If I take care of it all, will you think
about it?”

Her lips pursed
. “Brian—”

He shook his head. “No.” He stopped her. “Just think about i
t, okay?”

She tilted her head and gazed around the baby’s ro
om again.

“Okay.”

Brian tried very hard to keep the smile off his face as he reached for her hand and they walked out of the room and back down th
e stairs.

All she needed was some time. Eventually she’d come around and see that they needed to move and that this house was more than perfect for them. He’d keep the pressure down, only mention it in passing, and see if she came to the decision
herself.

No pressure. That would be his motto for the next f
ew months.

At the bottom of the stairs, the Realtor stood waiting for them. She held a clipboard full of paper with a pen attached t
o the top.

“So, how was the tour? I’m sure you fell in love just as hard as Brian did all the other times we walked through. I have all the paperwork here and just need your signature, Diane, to finalize everything.” She held the clip
board out.

Diane crossed her arms and turned toward Brian. “Finalize? You signed
already?”

Brian cringed when he caught the deadly look in her eyes. Didn’t matter that she kept a smile on her face. He knew he was in trouble just from the way one finger tapped
her arm.

The Realtor took a step backward and withdrew the clipboard, only to have Diane take it
from her.

“I’m so sorry. I thought…Why don’t I give you both a few minutes to talk this over?” The Realtor’s face flushed as she stepped back out onto t
he porch.

An uncomfortable silence filled the hallway as Brian watched Diane read through th
e papers.

“I knew you didn’t have time to do a lot of house
shopping—”

“So you went ahead and did it without me.” Diane’s voice was low as she flipped through t
he pages.

He cleared his throat. “I only looked at a few places.” Brian
shrugged.

“You didn’t think about talking to me first? I thought we were
a team.”

Brian wasn’t sure how to respond to that. They were a team, but lately he felt like he was the only one planning for their future as
a family.

“Before I mentioned it, did you have any thoughts that maybe the condo would be too small for al
l of us?”

Diane shook
her head.

“And that’s why we make such a great team. You don’t have to think about this stuff because you know I will. Who was the one who found our condo?” Brian stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his wife, whose lips lifted i
n a smile.

“You,”
she said.

“Exactly. If I hadn’t, we might still be living in
that one-
bedroom apartment with Mrs. Higgins, the crazy cat woman, across the hall
from us.”

When Diane laughed, the tension around Brian’s he
art eased.

“I almost forgot about her.” She wrinkled her nose. “Do you remember that awful fis
h smell?”

Brian nodded. “The one that greeted you the moment you stepped off the elevator? Yeah, I’ll never fo
rget it.”

They both stood there with silly grins on their faces at the memory. Brian knew he would always remember this time bet
ween them.

“You know”—Diane turned in his arms so that her back was against his chest—“I think the house is perfect. Let’s take the papers home with us so I can look them over and then we can set up a coffee time with the Realtor so we can sign them together. How does th
at sound?

Brian stood there, arms around his wife, and grinned. Did she just say what he thought
she said?

“Are you sure?” This had to be a joke. No way she would have decided this quickly. Not Diane. She needed time to process it, to weigh the pros and cons. Time for him to talk her into it. This wasn’t the woman he
married.

“Absolutely.” She turned, gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and then stepped out of his arms and pushed open the scr
een door.

Brian’s world went a little off-kilter. He had expected a battle of wills and that he’d need time to convince her that this was the right move. Not in a million years had he expected her to agree just l
ike that.

Maybe that’s what the problem was. He expected her to fight him when he should have been prepared for her to fall in love with the place as much a
s he did.

“Wonderful!” The Realtor’s voice boomed as he followed Diane out to the front porch. “I have an opening later this evening, if that works. I can come and take a look at your place at the same time,” she said before she left them on t
he porch.

Brian reached for Diane’s hand and walked with her to their car. He glanced back over his shoulder and only one word came to mind as he looked on t
he house.

Home.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Diane

Present–May

A
re you sure this is such a go
od idea?”

We sat in my vehicle, Charlie at the wheel because she hates being a passenger, both of us focused on the front door to my office building. Charlie’s fingers drummed on the steering wheel as she loo
ked at me.

“Why wouldn’t it be? We’ll be in and out before you
know it.”

“Yeah, right. I know you, Diane. It doesn’t take you long to get lost in your e-mails or memos or an urgent message from Walter about something.” She rolled her eyes before she grabbed her purse from the back and opened
her door.

I didn’t bother to argue. She was right. The old me would have, but work wasn’t as important to me lately. Sure, I kept tabs on things and talked to Walter on a continual basis, but today was about Charlie and spending time with her. I just needed to make a quick stop to pick up something from my off
ice first.

“Why are we he
re again?”

“To pick up my notes for tonight and my dress that Amanda had dry-
cleaned.”

“And this is for
…?”

“The fund-raiser. The one I’m trying to talk you into going to
…
”
I winked.

“Riiight. The one I keep saying I don’t want to go to?” Her nose wrinkled, something she used to do as a child when I forced her into a situation she didn’t want
to be in.

I led her through the doors and down the hallway to where our offices were located on the ma
in floor.

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun. Normally I wouldn’t go, but it’s for the food bank and I’m on their board. It’s basically one of the only parties I can’t miss. Besides, when I RSVP’d I added a p
lus one.”

“You do realize I don’t have anything to wear, right? Nor do I have any shoes, and I can promise you I’m not in the mood to get my hair done or pretend I’m even remotely interested in meeting anyone there.” She plopped down in one of the chairs opposite my desk while I sat down and went to turn on my
computer.

“Uh-uh. No e-mails, no messages.” She wagged her finger at me. “Just find your notes, grab your dress, and we’re out
of here.”

I rummaged through the stack of papers on my desk to find the notes I’d jotted down the last time I’d popped into the office. I knew they had to be in here somewhere. I grabbed the pile closest to me and sat down in my chair. I massaged my temple for a few seconds before glancing down at t
he sheets.

“Are you okay?” Charl
ie asked.

I looked up and squinted. Large black circles in my vision blocked out most of
her face.

“Diane?” Charlie rose from
her chair.

I blinked and the black circles faded. I blinked a few more times until they disappeared. This happened a few days ago too, just before I got hit with a massive
migraine.

“It’s just a h
eadache.”

Charlie gently massaged the sides of my head and I groaned. It felt so good. Brian used to do that for me too. A hard loneliness hit my heart at the thought. It hurt too much to think about him. I didn’t understand the silence, why he ignored my texts and phone calls. Why he spoke to Nina bu
t not me.

“Do you have any aspirin?” Char
lie asked.

“In m
y purse.”

I listened to Charlie rifle through my purse.
“These?”

I opened my eyes to see an orange prescription bottle in
her hand.

“No, it’s an actual aspirin bottle. I don’t know what those are.” I reached for them and read the label, hoping for it to tell me what they were. But the only information on the bottle was my name and then how many pills to take and how many tim
es a day.

Was this a new prescription? It couldn’t be. I didn’t remember placing these in my purse, let alone getting them filled or even seeing a doctor. I opened the cap and let some of the pills fall into my hand. These weren’t the regular white pills I took at night during tea with Nina. These pills were pink and yellow and
circular.

Charlie must have caught my hesitation as I placed them down on my desk. She grabbed the phone and cal
led Nina.

“Diane has a headache.” She rubbed my shoulder while she listened
to Nina.

“Right, I found those. Are those…okay, h
ow many?”

I grabbed the phone out of her hand. “What are these pills for? I don’t remem
ber them.”

Nina sighed into the phone. “Your headaches. We discussed this already, Diane.” There was a soft cry in the ba
ckground.

“Is that Grace? And I don’t remember these pills. I’m not comfortable taking more medication.” The crying got louder for a brief moment before I heard the sound of a door closing and then
silence.

“These are stronger and will work better with the other medication you’re on. You need to take them every four hours with food. I gave you some crackers as well. Did you fin
d those?”

“Are there crackers in there too?” I covered the mouthpiece with my hand as Charlie searched in my purse and pulled out the packs of saltine crackers Nina
mentioned.

“Found them,” I
told her.

“Take those and we can talk when you get home about your he
adaches.”

I opened the pack of crackers and nibbled on one as I eyed the tiny pills. I didn’t want to take them. But at the same time, I wasn’t sure how I would get through my meeting and the dinner tonight if I got slammed with another headache. Despite my hesitation, I popped the pills in my mouth, took a sip of water, and wished for the best. And then I made a note to talk to Nina about all these medications I seemed to be taki
ng lately.

How could she be prescribing medication for me when I hadn’t even seen
a doctor?

“W
ell, look who’s here! My two favori
te girls.”

Walter’s loud voice boomed in against the walls of my office as he walked in with his arms wide open. I wasn’t surprised to see him. I knew the receptionist at the front desk would have told him I’
d arrived.

I cringed as his voice ricocheted in my head while Charlie almost ran into his arms. She loved Walter probably as much as I did. Walter had stepped into our lives while we lived with Aunt Mags. I never figured out how the two knew each other, but Walter would often show up at the house with bags of groceries or toys for us in those early years. We started to call him Uncle Walter shortly after that. He always seemed to be there for us whenever we ne
eded him.

“It’s so good to see you!” Walter held Charlie by the arms and looked her over. I wonder if he’d see what I saw when she first arrived. Walter normally caught the little things when it came to Charlie, the things she tried to hide fr
om others.

“What’s wrong?” His eyes narrowed as he stared at her. I caught the tiny shake of her head before he pulled her in close and wrapped her in
his arms.

My relationship with Walter was different from Charlie’s. Mine had evolved throughout the years as I worked alongside him. But Walter was Charlie’s pseudo father. Even though I couldn’t see her reaction, I knew she was struggling no
t to cry.

“It’s going to be okay. You know that, right? Just one day at a time, there, kiddo. We’ll get throu
gh this.”

I leaned forward, elbows on my desk as I watched the two in front of me. What did he mean by that? Had Charlie talked with Walter about Marcus and the whole baby issue without telling me? For some reason, the thought of being left out like that really bot
hered me.

“It’s harder than I thought it would be.” Charlie pulled back but kept her hand on his arm. “Diane just needed to pop in for some notes and her dress for
tonight.”

Walter turned to
face me.

I didn’t like the attitude he was giving off. His arms were crossed over his massive chest while he directed a fierce fro
wn my way.

“What?”
I asked.

I massaged a small part on the side of my head to help with the
headache.

“Why are you here? I thought I told you to take more time off.” He walked closer to my desk and gla
red at me.

I shrugged. I wasn’t in the mood to get my hand slapped. I was a grown woman. I should be the one who decided what I did or
didn’t do.

“I’ve been trying to talk her out of it all day, but she won’t listen to me.” Charlie sank down in a chair and refused to l
ook at me.

“I’m not a child, so stop treating me like one, both of you.” I pinched my lips together as I could feel my muscles tighten in response to the anger building up insi
de of me.

“No one is treating you like a child.” Charl
ie sighed.

Really? She was really going to
go there?

“You haven’t let me out of your sight since the day you arrived. You follow me around the house and treat me as if I’m a china doll that will break into pieces if you say the wrong thing. Seriously, I’ve had enough.” I sat back in my chair and crossed my
own arms.

“Diane—” Walter leaned down, placing his hands on my desk, but I interrupted anything he was abou
t to say.

“No. Walter. Don’t. I’ve had a child. I didn’t suffer a major
catastrophe. I’m not an invalid.” Well, other than the piercing head
ache…

“You don’t look well. I’m just co
ncerned.”

“So concerned that you can’t even take the time to come by t
he house?”

I glanced up at him and saw the concern in his eyes. I felt bad for berating him a m
oment ago.

“She’s been getting some bad migraines,” Charli
e offered.

“You have one now, don’t you?” Walter’s gaze scruti
nized me.

There was no reason to deny it—Charlie wouldn’t let me anyway—so
I nodded.

“You don’t need to come tonight. I told you that. The board already knows you won’t be there; they’re not expect
ing you.”

I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. We’d discussed this over and over and over. And again this
morning.

“I want to be there. There’s no reason for me to miss it tonig
ht. None.”

“There’s every reason!” Walter flung up his hands and
paced my
office.

I felt like I was in the twilight zone, where everyone was speaking a language only I couldn’t un
derstand.

“Name one,” I challenged him. I glanced at Charlie for support but that was a mistake. I knew right away she wasn’t going to back me in this. She was rubbing lotion on her hands and wouldn’t even look me i
n the eye.

“Diane…” Walter sighed but didn’t finish.

“Look, I’ll stay low-key, arrive late, and leav
e early.”

When all Walter did was shake his head, I knew he wasn’t going to continue to argue with me, which was good. Maybe the issue wasn’t that they were treating me like a child, but that I was lett
ing them.

“I’m worried that you’re not ready, that it will be too much all at once.” Walter sat down in the chair beside Charlie and crossed
his legs.

“How is this too much? Would you be this worried about me if this was before Grace’
s birth?”

His eyes widened at that. “Of cou
rse not.”

“Then what’s the issue?” I shrugged. “Besides, Charlie will be with me. It’s not like I’m comi
ng alone.”

Walter turned to Charlie, wh
o nodded.

“You promise not to ov
erdo it?”

“Scout’s honor.” I held u
p my hand.

“Like I’m going to trust that. You weren’t even in the Scouts.” Walter scoffed as he adjusted his tie. “Look”—he fiddled around in the chair—“you don’t need my approval, I know that. But I’m just…I want to take care of you, to make sure you’re okay. This isn’t the Diane I know a
nd love.”

That caught me by
surprise.

“I’m the same woman I’ve always been, Walter. Why would you
say that?”

“He just means you’ve softened since Grace. Don’t you?” Charlie rushed in while Walter struggled to
respond.

“Softened?” What did she mean by that? Did she mean it in a bad or good way? Was she talking about my paranoia to take Grace outside? She wouldn’t hold that against me,
would she?

All of a sudden, the thoughts in my mind compounded on one another until I didn’t recognize them other than the awful symphony of pain that came with their whispered words. My eyes twitched as I glanced from Walter to Charlie and back to Walter. The way they were looking at each other…something was going on and it had to do with me. Their mouths were moving, but I couldn’t hear the words they said to each other. There was a loud ringing in my ears and the black dots were coming back in
my vision.