Page 64 of The Summer House
“It was a gorgeous day, and Luke had such a ball that he fell asleep on the way home. Before we left, Freddy asked if we’d come again, but seeing him was so hard that I had to tell him no.” Her voice cracked again as she finished her sentence. “I’d made a choice to love Edward, and I’d already messed that up once. I wasn’t going to do it again.”
“But you’re divorced now, from Edward,” Aiden said, his sentence more of a question. Why hadn’t Lillian set things straight then? Why hadn’t she gone after Frederick?
“Looking back, my infidelity was a symptom of something bigger, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t make it work. I gave it everything I had. But if I had it to do over, I’d change a lot about what I did. Freddy’s been without his son, Luke doesn’t know his father, and Edward has been misled this whole time. I feared they would all despise me,” she said, hanging her head.
“But, Mom,” said Juliette, “didn’t you wonder if being hated would be better than keeping this huge secret for all these years? Did you ever think that Luke, thatDad, had a right to know?”
Lillian squeezed her eyes shut. “I did consider that—of course I did, every day. But I was scared. I didn’t know how to make it right after making it so wrong for so many years. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t know how to react!” Juliette said, shaking her head as she processed it all. She turned to Luke, her face full of worry, her lips beginning to wobble. Luke pulled her close, stroking her hair.
Then he got up and put his arms around his mother. She shooed him off sweetly, and Callie could tell she was concerned about blubbering and making a scene. He held her anyway and kissed the top of her head. On the way back to his seat, Luke glanced over at Frederick just briefly and Frederick wiped away his tears.
Lillian picked up her fork and toyed with it. “I worry about what comes next. We’re going to have to tell Edward.”
