Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN AINSLEY WANTED TO BECOME
Ainsley placed the ring on the table.
For the first time since the engagement dinner, she looked less angry than exhausted.
“I hated her.”
Galen waited.
“And I loved her.”
That was the truth she had avoided.
Serena had been the closest person in Ainsley’s life.
The first woman who knew about Claire.
The first friend who sat beside her without trying to fix the shame.
Serena also possessed everything Ainsley believed she had missed.
A mother who eventually loved her openly.
A husband who listened when he remembered to.
A child.
A home.
A name that made rooms pay attention.
Ainsley wanted Serena’s friendship.
Then her confidence.
Then her position.
Not all at once.
Slowly.
That was what frightened even Ainsley when she finally admitted it.
“When Serena died, I thought the feeling would disappear.”
“It didn’t.”
“No.”
Ainsley helped with Eira.
Not initially as a plan.
Eira cried for her mother at night.
Ainsley stayed.
Galen was drowning in grief.
Ainsley stayed.
Months passed.
People began saying she was good for them.
Good with Eira.
Good for Galen.
The suggestion became permission.
Then Galen proposed.
“I should have said no.”
“Yes.”
Ainsley looked at him.
“You needed someone.”
“That doesn’t mean it needed to be you.”
“No.”
Galen picked up Serena’s ring.
“Why take this?”
Ainsley cried.
“Because I wanted one thing she had that chose me.”
The sentence was so broken that Galen understood it before rejecting it.
The ring did not choose anyone.
Neither did his grief.
Neither did Eira.
Ainsley had been turning objects into proof.
Then Galen asked about Serena’s belongings.
Eira said they were going to disappear after the wedding.
Ainsley admitted she had already packed several boxes.
Photographs.
Clothes.
Books.
Serena’s perfume.
She planned to move them into storage.
“Why?”
“Because Eira asks for her every day.”
“She’s three.”
“I know.”
Ainsley’s voice cracked.
“Every time she says Mommy, I remember Serena looking at me at the lake house.”
There it was.
Not jealousy alone.
Guilt.
Ainsley wanted the dead woman gone because Serena’s presence made forgetting impossible.
Galen stood.
“You will never decide what Eira remembers.”
Ainsley nodded.
“I know.”
“No.”
He looked directly at her.
“You know now because I stopped you.”
Ainsley lowered her eyes.
Then Michael entered.
He carried a box.
One of Serena’s boxes Ainsley had packed.
Inside were letters.
Eira’s baby bracelet.
Old photographs.
A recipe card.
Nothing dangerous.
Then Michael found an envelope taped beneath the lid.
Addressed to Ainsley.
She stared.
Serena had prepared it before her death.
Ainsley opened it with shaking hands.
The letter was short.
Ainsley,
You are not evil because you envy me.
You are dangerous when you make other people pay for that envy.
Ainsley stopped reading.
Galen waited.
She continued.
If I die before we repair this friendship, do not turn my daughter into a place where you fight with my memory.
She is not mine after I am gone.
She is not yours.
She belongs to herself.
Ainsley began crying.
Then came the final paragraph.
And if Galen ever chooses you after me, make sure he chooses you.
Not the woman you think I was.
Not a quieter version of me.
Not a replacement mother for Eira.
You.
Ainsley lowered the letter.
She looked destroyed.
Not because Serena hated her.
Because Serena had understood her completely.
Then Michael saw something else inside the box.
A small key.
A tag tied to it.
THE HOUSE.
Galen looked toward Michael.
The house Serena wanted.
The house Michael bought.
Nobody had entered since Serena died.
They drove there that afternoon.
Eira came too.
The small property stood beneath old maple trees.
No gates.
No guard post.
No family crest.
Inside, dust covered the furniture.
Serena had furnished one room.
Eira’s.
Tiny bed.
Yellow curtains.
A painted bookshelf.
Galen stood in the doorway.
Then Eira ran toward the wall.
“Daddy!”
She pointed.
A child’s height marks had been drawn near the door.
Impossible.
Eira had never lived there.
Then Galen saw the dates.
They were from before Serena died.
Serena had brought Eira here.
Several times.
And beside the marks was another handwriting.
Ainsley’s.
Galen turned.
May you like
Ainsley whispered:
“I helped Serena decorate this room.”
