Chapter 6 - Grandma Linda’s Plan
Linda Hayes denied it at first.
“I suggested a visit.”
Robert stood in her kitchen the next morning.
“A month?”
“A few weeks.”
“Vanessa says you offered to keep him through the birth.”
Linda stirred sugar into her tea.
“She was overwhelmed.”
“So you encouraged her to move my son out.”
“I encouraged her to accept help.”
“Without talking to me.”
Linda set the spoon down.
“You would have said no.”
Robert laughed once.
“Apparently everyone has decided that means I no longer need to be asked.”
Linda looked offended.
“I am your mother.”
“And I am Ethan’s father.”
The words silenced the room.
Linda had always loved Ethan fiercely.
After Melissa died, she moved into Robert’s home for nearly six months.
She bathed Ethan.
Packed lunches.
Slept beside his bed during nightmares.
When Robert met Vanessa two years later, Linda was polite but distant.
She never openly rejected her.
She simply behaved as though Vanessa were temporary.
Robert had ignored that too.
“What exactly did you tell Vanessa?” he asked.
Linda looked away.
“That I could take Ethan for a while.”
“Why?”
“Because newborns are exhausting.”
“That’s not the whole reason.”
Linda’s mouth tightened.
“Vanessa has never understood him.”
“Explain.”
“She expects him to act like a normal child.”
“He is a normal child.”
“He lost his mother.”
“He is still a normal child.”
Linda sighed.
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes. And I also know you use Melissa’s death to make every difficulty with Ethan untouchable.”
“That is unfair.”
“Is it?”
Linda stood.
“You came here to attack me.”
“I came because my son believed he was being removed from his home.”
“I would never make him feel unwanted.”
“Did you tell him he could have his own room here?”
Linda froze.
Robert stared.
“When?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“What did you say?”
“He asked.”
“What did you say?”
“I said if he ever needed to stay with me, the blue room could be his.”
Robert closed his eyes.
Adults again.
Offering reassurance.
Creating fear.
“Did you say anything about after the baby?”
Linda hesitated.
“Maybe.”
“Mom.”
“I might have told him things would be calmer here when the baby came.”
Robert felt anger rising.
“You told a seven-year-old his grandmother’s house would be calmer after his father had another child.”
“I was trying to comfort him.”
“You were making him choose sides.”
Linda’s face hardened.
“I don’t trust Vanessa.”
“That is your problem.”
“It becomes Ethan’s problem when she packs his suitcase.”
Robert paused.
That was true too.
But Linda had been feeding the very fear Vanessa later confirmed.
“When did she first ask you to take him?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“What did she say?”
Linda sat.
“She said she felt like Ethan hated her.”
“He doesn’t.”
“I told her children say things.”
“What things?”
Linda looked reluctant.
“What?”
“He told her she would never be his mother.”
Robert exhaled.
That sounded like Ethan.
Not cruel.
Defensive.
“What happened?”
“She asked him to help choose baby clothes. He said his real mom picked better clothes.”
Robert almost smiled despite himself.
Melissa had loved clothes.
Vanessa preferred neutral colors and simple things.
Linda continued.
“Vanessa told him she wasn’t trying to replace Melissa.”
“And?”
“He said, ‘Then stop acting like you live here forever.’”
Robert’s smile disappeared.
“Where did he get that?”
Linda looked guilty.
“Mom.”
“I may have said something once.”
“What?”
“That people come into our lives for different seasons.”
Robert stared.
“To Ethan?”
“He asked whether I thought you’d marry Vanessa.”
“And you told him she might be temporary.”
“I didn’t use that word.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Linda looked genuinely ashamed.
“I didn’t realize.”
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite sentence.”
Silence.
Robert walked toward the window.
In the yard, the old swing set Ethan used during visits moved slightly in the wind.
“How much did you dislike Vanessa?”
Linda looked at him.
“I didn’t dislike her.”
“Mom.”
“I resented her.”
There.
Finally.
“Why?”
“Because she got everything Melissa lost.”
Robert’s breath caught.
Linda’s eyes filled.
“She got you. She got Ethan. Now she gets a daughter. She gets to stand in a family photograph where Melissa should have been.”
Robert felt anger and compassion collide.
“Vanessa didn’t kill Melissa.”
“I know.”
“Ethan didn’t betray his mother by caring about Vanessa.”
“I know.”
“And I didn’t betray Melissa by marrying again.”
Linda looked down.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Tears slid down her face.
“Some days.”
Robert sat opposite her.
For once, neither tried to fix the other.
After a long silence, Linda said, “I did tell Vanessa I’d take Ethan after the baby came.”
“For how long?”
“She asked for six weeks.”
“And you said yes.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Because part of me thought he’d be better here.”
Robert stared.
That answer hurt.
“Better than with me?”
“Better than in a house where everyone is pretending they aren’t angry.”
He had no response.
His phone buzzed.
A message from Rachel.
You need to see Vanessa’s nursery notebook before you talk to her again.
Robert frowned.
Why?
Rachel replied with a photograph.
A page covered in dates and plans.
At the top, Vanessa had written:
ETHAN — LINDA: JUNE 2–JULY 14
Six weeks.
Below that:
Change school pickup authorization before June 1.
Robert stared.
School authorization.
Not a casual visit.
A plan.
Then he noticed the final line.
If Robert refuses, use the Melissa room issue. He’ll fold.
His stomach turned.
Vanessa had not merely panicked.
May you like
She had anticipated his objection.
And planned how to defeat it.
