Page 84 of Playing Her Game

“Partly.”

“Oma.”

“Anneliese.”

We look at each other, and I know that tone. It means she has decided something, considered the consequences, and is now waiting for the rest of us to catch up.

She signals to her driver, who pulls into a quiet parking area overlooking a stretch of water. Once the car is stopped, she turns toward me.

“I need to ask you something, and I want you to answer honestly.”

“Of course.”

“Can you cover for me?”

I blink. “Cover for you?”

“If your parents ask, I am spending a few days at the estate. You have not heard otherwise. You do not know where I am going or whom I intend to see.”

“Oma, what are you doing?”

“Something I should have done sooner.”

Her expression is calm, but I see the resolve beneath it. She has not made this decision on a whim. Whatever she intends to do, she has been thinking about it for some time.

“Who are you going to meet?”

She pauses, considering me.

“I will tell you when I return.”

“That isn't fair.”

“No,” she agrees. “It isn't. But I am asking you to trust me for a little while.”

I study her face. “You know I do.”

“I know.” She reaches across the console and takes my hand. “And I trust you, which is why I am telling you at all.”

I squeeze her fingers.

She nods to the driver to go ahead.

“I know about Hildy's pregnancy. I know what she and Lenzin are building together, and I know what your parents think that means for you.”

My throat tightens. “They think it means everything has changed.”

“Everything has changed,” she says. “That does not mean everything has gone wrong.”

I look down at our joined hands.

“They think I'm throwing away my future.”

“Your future is not a family arrangement to be negotiated without your participation.”

The words settle somewhere deep in my chest.

I have heard versions of that from other people, but coming from Oma, it feels different. She knows my parents. She understands the history, the expectations, the obligations that have shaped our family for generations. She isn't dismissing any of it. She's simply refusing to let it become an excuse to ignore me.