“This morning.”
“Why?”
“To explain.”
Riley almost groaned.
Jason continued.
“She said she had to force the situation because otherwise you never prioritize family.”
“And?”
“I told her she lied.”
Riley said nothing.
“She said lying was a strong word.”
“Of course.”
“She said she knew you would help once we were physically there.”
Riley closed her eyes.
That was worse.
Not an impulsive misunderstanding.
A plan.
Jason continued.
“She actually said she thought the emergency key would prevent ‘all the drama.’”
Riley opened her eyes.
“She planned to use it.”
“Yeah.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
Riley felt cold despite the tropical air.
Jason looked ashamed.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I know.”
“But…”
He looked behind him.
“Emma heard.”
Riley’s stomach tightened.
“Is she okay?”
“She asked why Grandma can unlock other people’s houses when they say no.”
Riley almost laughed from disbelief.
“What did you say?”
“That she can’t.”
“Good answer.”
Jason nodded.
“Mom left angry.”
“Where did she go?”
“Home.”
Riley looked down.
“She’s going to blame me.”
“Probably.”
“You?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
Riley looked at him.
Jason’s expression was firm.
“Not this time.”
Christmas morning in Nassau was quiet.
Riley called the children.
Emma showed her every present.
Oliver pressed a plastic dinosaur against the camera until Riley could see nothing else.
Sky tried eating wrapping paper.
Linda did not call.
Neither did Peter.
That hurt more than Riley expected.
Her father had always been passive rather than cruel.
Riley had spent years telling herself neutrality was kindness.
Now she wondered.
On Christmas afternoon, Peter finally texted.
Can we talk when you come home?
Riley replied:
Yes.
Nothing else.
She returned to Denver on December twenty-seventh.
The flight landed beneath a sky the color of steel.
Snow lined the roads.
Riley took a rideshare home.
When she reached her apartment hallway, she stopped.
A gift bag sat outside her door.
Inside was a child’s drawing.
Five figures.
Jason.
Stephanie.
Emma.
Oliver.
Sky.
Then another person far away beside blue water.
Above the distant figure Emma had written:
AUNT RILEY ON VACASHUN
At the bottom:
WE LOVE YOU EVEN WHEN YOU SAY NO.
Riley sat on the hallway floor and cried.
Three days later the family met.
Not at Linda’s house.
Riley refused.