Chapter 9 - What Clayton Had IgnoredRachel found the email because Clayton had forgotten it existed.
Sent eighteen months earlier by his sister, Rebecca.
Subject:
WYATT.
Clayton opened it.
I don’t like how Denise talks about Emma’s share around him.
Clayton’s response:
You’re reading too much into it.
Rebecca:
She told me Mason is “the child she can actually build something for.”
Clayton:
She was frustrated.
Rebecca:
You always translate what she says into something nicer.
Clayton stopped.
Rachel did not comment.
Another email.
Rebecca:
Wyatt asked me whether Denise can make him give Mason his farm.
Clayton had replied:
He probably misunderstood.
Three words.
He probably misunderstood.
Clayton covered his face.
“I knew.”
Rachel corrected:
“You saw pieces.”
“And ignored them.”
“Yes.”
He looked at her.
No comfort.
Good.
He needed truth.
After Emma died, Clayton became terrified of failing as a single father.
Denise arrived when he was exhausted.
She loved structure.
Bills paid.
Meals planned.
Farm organized.
Wyatt had someone helping with bedtime.
Clayton had wanted the family to work so badly that every warning became a threat to the life he was rebuilding.
He called Rebecca.
“I’m sorry.”
She was silent.
“For what?”
“You were right.”
“That isn’t why I warned you.”
“I know.”
“You don’t need to tell me I was right.”
Her voice softened.
“You need to tell Wyatt you should have listened.”
That night Clayton sat beside Wyatt.
“I made a mistake.”
Wyatt looked up from his picture book.
“About what?”
“Denise.”
Wyatt became very still.
“You told me things.”
“Yeah.”
“And sometimes I thought you misunderstood.”
Wyatt stared at the blanket.
Clayton continued.
“I should have asked more questions.”
Wyatt whispered:
“Are you mad at me?”
Clayton felt his heart crack.
“No.”
“Because she’s leaving?”
“No.”
“Because the farm is messed up?”
“No.”
Wyatt looked at him.
“Then whose fault?”
Clayton answered carefully.
“Adults are responsible for adult choices.”
“What about when I took Mason’s toy?”
“You should have asked.”
Wyatt nodded.
“And the barn was still wrong.”
Another nod.
May you like
Both could be true.
Clayton wished someone had taught him that years earlier.
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