Chapter 15
One year after the staircase, Elowen stood at the same top landing wearing a pale pink dress.
Alaric stopped below.
For a second, both remembered.
He could see it in her face.
Then she put one foot onto the first step.
Another.
She walked down normally.
No dramatic recovery.
No applause.
Just a child using stairs.
At the bottom, Alaric held out his hand.
Elowen looked at it.
Then ignored it and jumped the final step.
He caught her automatically.
She laughed.
“Cheater.”
“You jumped at me.”
“You’re supposed to catch me.”
“I did.”
That sentence lingered.
Alaric did not make it sentimental.
They were leaving for Elowen’s eighth-birthday dinner.
Small restaurant.
Marjorie.
Rebecca.
Dr. Hart was not invited because therapists apparently had boundaries, a fact Elowen considered rude.
Before leaving, Rebecca handed Alaric an envelope.
“What’s this?”
“Seraphine.”
Elowen heard the name.
Her smile disappeared.
Alaric looked toward her.
“Do you want me to put it away?”
“Is it for me?”
“Yes.”
“Did you read it?”
“No.”
Elowen stared at the envelope.
Seraphine had completed the requirements of her legal resolution.
She had complied with the no-contact restrictions.
She had not attempted to reach Elowen through relatives.
This was the first request approved to reach Alaric through counsel.
Not permission to visit.
A letter.
Elowen walked closer.
“What does she say?”
“I don’t know.”
“You really didn’t read it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your name is on it.”
Elowen looked surprised.
A year earlier, Seraphine had taught her that adults could put her name on papers and make decisions without her understanding.
Alaric had spent the year trying to teach the opposite.
Elowen touched the envelope.
Then pulled her hand away.
“Do I have to read it?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
“Can I later?”
“Yes.”
She thought.
Then pointed toward Alaric’s desk.
“Put it there.”
He did.
Not hidden in a drawer.
Not destroyed.
Not opened.
Just waiting.
Everything practical had been resolved.
The forged documents had been exposed.
The trust had been repaid.
Seraphine had lost the authority she abused.
Elowen knew her father had never planned to send her away.
The staircase no longer controlled the house.
Only one question remained.
Someday, when Elowen was older and the fear no longer spoke louder than her own judgment, would she want to hear what Seraphine had to say?
Alaric did not know.
May you like
He finally understood that he did not need to.
The answer belonged to Elowen.
