Chapter 21 - celeste’s apology waited until maisie wanted the truth
Celeste’s first letter to Maisie arrived when Maisie was six.
I did not give it to her.
I did not destroy it either.
That took effort.
The envelope stayed with Brooke.
When Maisie turned eight, she started asking more about the wedding.
Not the business scheme.
The wig.
“Why did Celeste hate my hair?”
“She didn’t.”
“Then why cut it?”
I struggled.
Finally:
“She was angry at things that had nothing to do with your hair.”
“Like Rosemere?”
I looked at her.
She knew more than I realized.
“Yes.”
“Because I owned it?”
“Partly.”
Maisie became quiet.
Then:
“Did she say sorry?”
“Yes.”
“Can I see?”
I knew what she meant.
The letter.
We retrieved it.
Maisie read well for eight, but the letter was long.
I offered to read.
She said no.
Audrey sat nearby.
Not me.
That hurt.
I respected it.
Celeste had written:
I blamed Derek for making me see you as competition.
He encouraged it.
But I was the adult who accepted that idea.
I was jealous that your father would always put you first.
I was jealous Rosemere’s future could belong to you.
And when you called it “Daddy and Maisie’s castle,” I treated a child’s joy like an attack on me.
Maisie stopped reading.
“Did I say that?”
“Yes.”
“Lots?”
“All the time.”
She smiled faintly.
Then continued.
Celeste admitted the clippers had nothing to do with hair.
The wig was simply the thing in front of her when resentment became cruelty.
At the end:
You never needed to look different.
You never needed to own less.
You never needed to be quieter for me to belong.
I was the person who did not know how to belong without being first.
Maisie closed the letter.
No tears.
Then:
“Do I have to answer?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She put it back inside the envelope.
“Can I keep it?”
“Yes.”
That night she wore the wig to bed.
Not because she was afraid.
May you like
Because she forgot to take it off while reading.
Ordinary again.
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