Chapter 14 - Sisterly Reckoning
At noon, as the last federal vehicle pulled away from the empty Caldwell mansion, Natalie walked up my steps alone.
She didn't knock. She just stood near the top step, looking down at her worn sandals, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
I stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door quietly behind me.
"They're taking everything, Claire," Natalie whispered, her voice dry and hollow. "The house, the cars, the accounts. Grant is going to prison for twenty years. Travis is looking at ten for home invasion and assault."
"I know," I said.
"What am I supposed to do now?" she asked, looking up at me. Her eyes were sunken, filled with a deep, hopeless panic. "I don't have a job. I don't have money. Mom won't speak to me after what came out in the news."
"You could start by telling the truth," I said calmly. "To yourself, mostly."
Natalie wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I hated you, Claire. When we were growing up, you were always the strong one. The one Dad was proud of. Then you joined the military, you became this mysterious officer, and I... I married a rich guy's son because I thought it made me better than you."
"I never thought I was better than you, Natalie," I said softly. "I just wanted to live my life."
"I let Travis talk to you like that at the barbecue," she sobbed, dropping her face into her hands. "I sat there and smiled because I wanted to see you brought down. I was so jealous of you it made me sick."
I stood watching her for a long moment. The anger I had carried since Labor Day had completely evaporated, replaced by a quiet, distant pity.
"I won't let you stay here, Natalie," I said firmly. "You made your bed with those men, and you have to bear the weight of that. But I won't let you starve either. I've arranged for an attorney to help you file for divorce from Travis, and I’ll pay for two months in a small apartment downtown so you can get a job."
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Natalie looked up, stunned. "After everything I did to you?"
"Not for you," I said softly, looking through the front window where Sophie was sitting happily at the table, drawing pictures in the sunlight. "For Mom. And because unlike your family... I don't crush people when they're down."
