“And we will handle it together,” she interjects. “You and me. We’ve got this.”
And with those three words, I know everything is going to be all right.
Becauseshe’swho I want in a partner—someone who isn’t afraid to call me on my shit, who can accept my neurotic moments but not try to change me, and a person who makes me want to be better.
It’s Dilynne.
It’s always been Dilynne.
And it’s about time that I admit it.
***
My mother dabs under her eyes with a tissue. “What am I supposed to do, Elliot? I haven’t worked a day in my life. I have no money…”
I squeeze her hand that I’m holding. “Don’t worry about that right now, Mom. You’ll get to stay in the house for the time being, but every inch of this place is going to be searched.”
Another tear slips down her cheek. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“I believe you.”
“Your father never shared anything with me, you know that.”
“I do.”
She stands from the couch and heads toward the hallway. “Hold on. I need to grab something.”
I watch her walk away and then scour the den around me while I wait for her to return. This house feels warmer somehow without my father here now. I’m still dealing with some residual guilt for turning him in for what he did because, at the end of the day, he is my dad.
But deep down, I know that I did the right thing. Between what he did with my grandfather’s will, manipulating Tori, and the way he’s controlled my mother for years, he deserves to pay for his crimes.
“I guess it’s okay if you have this now,” my mother says when she re-enters the room, holding an envelope in her hand.
“What is that?”
“It’s a letter from your grandfather. You were supposed to get it the day you got married, but since that’s not happening anymore…”
I take the envelope from her, staring at it like it’s a bomb that might explode. “Oh, I still plan on getting married to Dilynne, Mom.”
“But I thought you said that it was fake?”
When I rushed over to her after my father was arrested at the office, I told my mother everything that had transpired over the past six weeks, including my and Dilynne’s arrangement.
“It was, but it’s very real now.”
“She doesn’t want kids, Elliot.”
“So what? Honestly, I’m not keen on the idea either. I know it’s not traditional, but I want to live my life authentically, Mom. I want to be happy.”
She reaches for my hand again. “I want that for you too, and Dilynne does seem to make you happy.”
My smile is instant. “She does, even when she’s driving me nuts, I can’t help but want to know what’s going to come out of her mouth next.”
My mother nods. “Okay then. Would you at least let me help plan the wedding then?”
“I think Dilynne might be open to that. I’ll talk to her about it once I propose, okay?”
“All right.” She points to the envelope. “Are you going to read it?”