Page 103 of Little Bitter Truths
“The night Wren was murdered, Coco scratched the person who attacked her.Skin tissue was recovered from beneath her nails.The moment Coco saw Bryan tonight, she growled and then started barking.”
“And that’s not like her,” Mia said.
Up to now, Renee had been in denial, but as she sat there, processing everything we said, grief turned into something different—anger.
“When we lost the court case, Bryan changed,” Renee said.
“What do you mean?”Mia asked.
“At first he was angry.He said Grandpa made a mistake.I wanted to forget about it and move on.But he kept talking about the house, obsessing over it, saying it wasn’t fair, that I deserved at least part of it after everything I’d done for him.The thing is, I never wanted to go to court over the house.It was Bryan’s idea.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I don’t know.He’s my husband.He convinced me I was doing the right thing.He said you were a … a …”
“It’s okay,” Mia said.“You can tell me.”
“He called you a privileged brat.I’m sorry.”
Mia reached out, grabbing Renee’s hand.“It isn’t your fault.”
“Itismy fault.I should have realized what he’d done.Before Wren died, he said something that shocked me.I didn’t think anything about it at the time, but now … now I am starting to see everything I didn’t.”
“What did he say?”I asked.
“He said if Mia wasn’t involved with the house, he was certain Wren would have agreed to split it with me.”
A knot formed in my stomach.
“All this time, the signs were right in front of me, and I didn’t see them,” Renee said.“How could he do this to me?How could he take my cousin from me?From you, Mia?I’ll never, ever forgive him for this!”
Anger turned to emotion as the tears fell.
“It’s all my fault, Mia,” Renee said.“All of it.I let you down.I let this … this monster into our family.I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”
“You didn’t do anything,” Mia said.“He did.This is all on him.”
“What am I supposed to say to my kids?How do I tell them that their father … their father is a?—”
“We’ll figure it out together,” Mia said.
Renee wiped the tears from her eyes, blinking at Mia like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.“After what Bryan’s done, I can’t believe you’d want anything to do with me.”
“We’re family.I may not have always been there before, but I’m here now.”
As I watched the two women sitting together, I couldn’t help thinking that for all the damage Bryan had caused, one thing had happened despite him.Mia and Renee had found their way back to each other.And for the first time since Wren died, neither of them had to face what came next alone.
39
One week later
There weresome cases that stayed with me longer than others.
Not because they were the most complicated.
Not because they were the most violent.
But because of the people left behind.
