“It can wait.”
“It has been missing since January.”
She moved receipts aside with one finger. The kitchen clock showed 9:04, though I knew
it was really 9:00. It had been four minutes fast for as long as I could remember.
Elaine found the button under a takeout menu and held it up between two fingers.
“See?”
I smiled despite myself. “You keep more in that drawer than the hardware store.”
“Your father keeps hardware in there. I keep evidence.”
She dropped the button beside my coffee cup and reached for a napkin. She folded it once, then again.
“I need to tell you something.”
I waited.
“I remember your arm.”
The napkin stopped moving.
“What about it?”
“Years ago. You had marks on your arm.”
She looked toward the hallway before continuing.
“I asked what happened. Douglas came in before you answered.”
“What did he say?”
Elaine pressed the folded napkin flat.
“He said you had been careless with a cabinet door.”
I looked at her.
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted
to.”
She picked up my coat button again and turned it over.
“I should have asked you what happened before I listened to him.”
I put my coffee down. “How long have you remembered that?”
“I never forgot seeing it.”
“Then why did you never tell me?”
Her eyes stayed on the button.
“Because every time I started to ask, your father had an explanation ready.”
The kitchen door opened before I could answer.
Douglas carried the mail in one hand. He looked at the coffee, then at the napkin on the table.
“Everything all right?”
Elaine folded the napkin smaller.
“Madison was asking about old incidents.”
Douglas placed the mail in a neat stack.
“Which incidents?”
“The ones involving Aaron.”
He straightened the stack until every envelope lined up.
“Elaine remembers those incorrectly.”
She looked at him.
