Chapter 6 - The Long Drive Home
The cool autumn air outside the Grand Oak Hotel felt like fresh water after hours of suffocation.
Elliot settled Norah into her car seat in the back of our dark blue Volvo estate, strapping her in with practiced, gentle efficiency. Within two minutes, the warmth of the car and the soft hum of the climate control had lulled her to sleep, her thumb resting lightly in her mouth.
Elliot closed the rear door quietly and walked around to the driver’s side.
He didn't turn on the ignition immediately. He sat in the quiet dark of the front cabin, his hands resting on the leather steering wheel, looking straight ahead through the windshield at the grand stone facade of the hotel.
"Are you okay?" he asked softly, turning his head to look at me.
I looked at my hands in my lap. For five years, I had rehearsed what I might say if I ever ran into Chad or Nadine. I had imagined shouting, I had imagined listing every lie, every cold glance, every manipulative text message Chad had sent during our divorce.
I had imagined proving myself to them.
"I didn't feel anything," I said, realization washing over me like a warm tide. "When she dropped that glass... I thought I would feel triumphant. But mostly, I just felt sorry for her."
Elliot reached across the console, wrapping his broad, warm hand around mine, his fingers interlacing with mine.
"You don't have to prove anything to people who were committed to misunderstanding you, Clara," he said gently. "My mother told me once that people like Nadine Vance live in houses built out of mirrors. They think everyone is looking at them, but all they ever see is their own reflection."
"Did you really speak to your mother about tonight?" I asked, a faint smile touching my lips.
May you like
Elliot chuckled—a deep, rumbling sound that filled the dark car. "Eleanor knew Nadine was attending this wedding three weeks ago. She offered to come herself just to make sure Nadine didn't try anything, but I told her my wife didn't need a chaperone to hold her ground."
He started the engine. The powerful V6 purred to life, and we pulled out of the Grand Oak Hotel driveway, leaving the bright chandeliers, the broken crystal, and the decaying social royalty behind in the dark.
