Chapter 4
Richard took the microphone from the host.
"Emily," he said, "you have always deserved a beautiful beginning."
A soft sound moved through the room. Chairs turned toward the family table. Phones rose to record him.
I stayed at Table Fourteen with my unread toast across my knees.
"When you were little, you loved spending summers at Lake Haven," Richard continued. "You used to say you would get married there one day."
My hands stopped moving.
Lake Haven had belonged to my father.
He had taught me to swim from its narrow dock and let me paint at the old kitchen table while rain struck the windows. When he died, he left the house to me.
Only me.
Richard looked directly at Emily.
"So Claire and I have decided to give you and Mark Lake Haven as our wedding gift."
The room burst into applause.
Someone behind me said, "Oh my God."
Another guest called, "That's incredible!"
Emily covered her mouth with both hands. Then she stood and threw her arms around Richard.
I could not move.
On the screen behind them, a photograph of Lake Haven appeared. White house. Blue water. My father's red canoe resting upside down beside the dock.
Below it were the words:
THEIR NEW HOME.
I had never seen that photograph.
I had never agreed to give away the house.
Mark stood more slowly. He looked at the screen, then at Emily.
"Did you know about this?"
Emily shook her head, smiling through tears.
He leaned closer.
"Claire agreed?"
"Dad said she did."
Her answer reached me between the applause.
I rose so quickly that my toast slid from my lap to the floor.
The woman beside me bent to pick it up, but I was already walking toward the family table.
Vanessa saw me coming. Her smile disappeared.
Richard lifted his glass.
"To Emily and Mark. May Lake Haven hold the beginning of your life together."
The guests raised their glasses.
I reached him before he could drink.
"That house is not yours," I said quietly.
His smile remained fixed for the phones pointed at us.
"Not now."
"You had no right to announce this."
"We're giving Emily a home."
"You're giving her my home."
His hand closed around my elbow. To anyone watching, it might have looked affectionate.
His fingers hurt.
"You always said she loved that house."
"Loving something doesn't make it hers."
Emily stared at us. Vanessa placed one hand over hers.
Richard leaned closer.
"Everyone is watching."
"That was the point, wasn't it?"
For the first time, his smile tightened.
He released my arm and slipped his car keys into my hand.
"The papers are in the glove box."
"I'm not signing anything."
"You haven't even read them."
"I don't need to read a document that gives away my house."
Applause still filled the room. From a distance, it probably looked as if Richard and I were sharing an emotional moment.
He lifted his glass again.
"Smile, Claire," he whispered. "Then go get the papers. You'll sign them tonight."