Page 81 of The Incredible Kindness of Paper
He yanked the covers back over his head as he hit play on the voicemail.
“Sweetheart, I’m sorry…” Jennifer said.
Oliver’s shoulders tensed immediately. What had she done now?
“I tried to be an upstanding citizen, I really did,” she said, “but I fucked up again. I don’t know why it keeps happening… It’s like I can’t help it. But this time… it was Chloe.”
Oliver inhaled sharply.
“I don’t know if you knew this, but she’s the artist who created the yellow paper roses. She got interviewed for a big-dealNew York Timespiece, and she thought maybe she could use the attention for good. Chloe wanted to start a nonprofit for kids and nursing homes and people who needed the flowers. So I said I’d help.
“But here’s the thing, Oliver. Chloe has always had such a sweet heart, but sometimes she’s not realistic. The money she could afford… it wasn’t enough. I mean, yeah, it would’ve covered filing fees, you know, basic stuff. But I thought I could help her get off to a better,biggerstart.”
“Jennifer, no.” Oliver bolted upright in bed.
“So I took her money to one of my contacts in New York. He guaranteed we could quintuple it overnight. I don’t want to get you dirty with the nitty-gritty details because I know you hate that part about me—I’m so sorry—but… the scheme was not as surefire as I thought. I lost it all, Oliver. All of Chloe’s money that she was going to use to make people’s lives better.
“I-I tried. I swear to you, honey, I really was trying to help. But I don’t know if I’m cut out for it. Maybe I’m too old to change. Or maybe I still have a lot to learn. If you happen to see Chloe… let her know I believe in her and I’m sorry for what I did. I wish I could be as admirable a person as she is.”
A growl was growing in the back of Oliver’s throat.Howcouldshe??
“The one thing I do know,” Jennifer said, “is that I can’t keep dragging you and Ben and your dad down with me. So this voicemail is my goodbye. I’m terminating this phone number as soon as I hang up, because I don’t want to taint your lives any longer. I love you, Oliver.” Her voice trembled. “I know it’s hard to see, but that much has always been true. Please give my grandbabies a hug for me. Goodbye…”
The voicemail ended.
Oliver’s entire body trembled so hard, the bed frame rattled. He wanted to punch something, but at the same time, he was immobilized by the shock of this news. How had Jennifer gotten involved with Chloe in the first place? And why, of all the people in New York, did she have to scam the woman Oliver was in love with, the one Jennifer had already torn him apart from in the past?
Ben and Richard had wanted to give Jennifer a chance, and Oliver had been swayed to, as well. But she’d failed them again.
People never changed. He had been foolish to allow himself to hope otherwise.
He beat his pillow over and over.
It was only when he had completely flattened it that something unwelcome—but true—occurred to him.
Therewasa difference in Jennifer’s behavior this time. She hadn’t taken Chloe’s money in order to screw Chloe over. This time, his mom truly had believed she was helping, even if it did end disastrously.
Oliver slumped against the headrest. Because he had to admit thatJennifer actually had changed, even if imperfectly. Her motivations for what she did to Chloe hadn’t been one hundred percent dishonorable.
Still, Oliver thought,we are done.Not only because she’d cut off her cell phone and decided to leave their family alone. But also because Oliver had let Jennifer color his decisions for too much of his life. Ever since she made the family leave Kansas all those years ago, he hadn’t allowed himself to trust people. He hadn’t been able to believe in dreams, because with Jennifer’s influence on his thoughts, dreams had always meant cons and false promises.
But he could change, too. He could believe in dreams that were his own. He could choose to let old wounds begin to heal if he let her go.
Oliver closed his eyes.
“Goodbye, Mom,” he said quietly.
The house was unusually quiet, but that was because Noah and Davy had gone off to preschool, and Elsa was at her kennel.
Ben was in the kitchen gathering the Japanese ingredients Oliver had brought, getting ready to head out to the restaurant.
“Morning, champ,” Richard said, as he wheeled himself to the fridge to grab a piece of leftover pie.
But when he looked at Oliver, he stopped in the middle of the kitchen. “You look peaked, son. Everything all right?”
Oliver laughed in a way that definitely sounded maniacal and shook his head. “The world has suddenly started turning in the other direction, and I’m trying to get my bearings.”
“That bad, huh?” Ben said.
