CHAPTER 6: 6. What Celeste Knew
Celeste finally spoke. “Grant told me your marriage had ended before the boys were born.” I stared at her. “He told you they didn’t exist?” “He said there had been a pregnancy,” she whispered, “but that you lost the babies.” Parker sat down hard. Grant reached toward his wife. She stepped away. “You let me say terrible things about this woman in front of our son,” she said. “You knew she was raising two children.” Grant protested that he had been trying to protect their marriage from old complications. “They’re people,” Parker said. “Not complications.” I did not know Celeste well enough to decide what she had believed or ignored over the years. I only knew that Parker’s hurt was real. “I’m sorry you found out like this,” I told him. He shook his head. “I’m glad I found out.” Grant turned on me. “You could have handled this privately.” The unfairness almost made me laugh. “You shouted at me in the registration line,” I said. “My sons chose to speak in a room you entered voluntarily. Don’t rewrite the afternoon already.”
