She Was Never Just the Billionaire’s Wife (Natasha and Chase) novel Chapter 86

(Clarice)

The house is smaller than I remember.

It was my first thought when I stepped over the threshold again, and it feels even smaller now that I’ve filled it with furniture and flowers.

I’m standing in the doorway of the sitting room with a glass of chardonnay I've been nursing for forty minutes.

Maybe it’s not the size so much as the fact that it felt more imposing back then.

The way things do when you're young and frightened and everything feels enormous because you have no power.

Dr. Hennessy said returning would help.

She said the memories would lose their ability to overwhelm me if I faced them in daylight, with people around me, with somewhere safe to go afterwards.

She said a great many things, and I've tried to believe most of them.

I look at the window that faces the beach and it hits me.

I used to stand here when Nat was small.

When she was learning to walk and I'd watch her from here while she made her deliberate, furious way across the sand toward the water.

Nathaniel right on her heels, keeping a close eye on her.

He was so protective of his little sister.

Her little feet would touch the water and she’d stop, walking backwards, as if the rules changed at the waterline and she didn’t like it.

She had my hair. The same colour exactly.

I take a sip of wine.

"Your home is beautiful, Clarice."

Eleanor Warren appears at my elbow, elegant and composed, wearing warmth the way some women wear perfume.

She’s been perfectly pleasant all afternoon.

The kind of pleasant that has to be actively sustained.

She must know my background.

She’s probably judging me for abandoning a child, and doing her best not to show it.

"Thank you for coming," I tell her.

"It’s wonderful to finally meet the woman who’s grown so close to my daughter."

I’m no stranger to faking pleasantries myself.

She smiles and says something gracious about the view.

I watch her eyes move around the room in the way that people do when they're assessing rather than simply looking.

Hendrik swoops in, greeting Eleanor effusively before leading her away to show her the rest of the house.

He seems to have a sixth sense for when I’m uncomfortable, and he’s made it his life’s mission to remove all obstacles from my path.

He’s a wonderful husband. Better than I probably deserve.

I met Eleanor’s son earlier.

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