Chapter 2 - Rosalie Had Asked Me for a Place to Stay Without Her Husband
Callum believed the argument had begun when he entered my dining room.
It had actually begun at 6:14 that morning.
Rosalie called me before sunrise.
She was whispering.
“Mom?”
I sat up immediately.
“What happened?”
“Can I come stay with you after dinner?”
Something about the way she said I made me stop.
Not we.
I.
“How long?”
“A few weeks. Maybe a month.”
“Rosalie, where’s Callum?”
“Sleeping.”
Then I heard her breathing change.
“Does he know you’re calling me?”
“No.”
I got out of bed.
“What happened?”
She wouldn’t answer directly.
Instead she said:
“I just need somewhere quiet.”
I knew my daughter well enough to understand what she was trying not to say.
She had spent the last year becoming quieter.
Canceling lunches.
Leaving family gatherings early.
Explaining bruises before anyone asked.
Callum was always nearby with a reasonable story.
Cabinet door.
Gym accident.
Slippery stairs.
Rosalie never contradicted him.
That morning I asked one question.
“Are you afraid of your husband?”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
She started crying.
I told her:
“You and only you can stay as long as you need.”
She whispered:
“He’ll insist on coming.”
“He won’t stay here.”
“Mom, don’t confront him.”
“I won’t unless I have to.”
Apparently Callum found out anyway.
And instead of letting Rosalie leave him for a month—
he decided he would move into my house with her.
That was what his announcement at Christmas dinner really meant.
We’re staying here for a month.
Not a request.
May you like
A declaration that Rosalie was not going anywhere without him.
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