Chapter 14 - Rosa Refused the Mansion
A week later, Ethan made a mistake.
He bought Rosa a house.
He genuinely believed it was a good idea.
Four bedrooms.
A fenced garden.
Close to Lily’s future preschool.
A piano in the living room.
He gave Rosa the keys during breakfast.
She stared at them.
“What are these?”
“A house.”
She blinked.
“You bought me a house?”
“For Lily.”
“No.”
Ethan frowned.
“No?”
“No.”
“You haven’t seen it.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Rosa.”
“You cannot solve everything with property.”
“I’m trying to make sure my daughter has—”
“Your daughter already has a home.”
“The employee apartment?”
“Our home.”
Ethan stopped.
Rosa pushed the keys toward him.
“You keep doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“Trying to catch up by spending money.”
His face tightened.
“That’s not fair.”
“Maybe not.”
“But it’s true.”
Ethan stood.
“I missed three years.”
“Exactly.”
“And I cannot get them back.”
“Exactly.”
“So forgive me for wanting to give her something.”
Rosa’s anger softened.
“She wants you.”
The words silenced him.
“She doesn’t need four bedrooms.”
“She wants you to remember that she hates peas.”
“She wants you to show up when she asks you to play piano.”
“She wants you to read the dragon book three times even though you’re tired of it after once.”
Ethan looked down at the keys.
Rosa continued.
“Give her time.”
“That is the expensive thing.”
He almost smiled.
“I’m not very good at ordinary.”
“I noticed.”
He sat again.
“What should I do with the house?”
“Sell it.”
“I’ll lose money.”
“Welcome to consequences.”
Ethan laughed.
Rosa smiled.
It was the first moment between them that felt like four years earlier.
Then Ethan looked at her Columbia sweatshirt hanging over a chair.
“What if I gave you something you actually wanted?”
Rosa became cautious.
“What?”
“A chance to finish your degree.”
Her smile vanished.
“Ethan.”
“Not through Caldwell.”
“I already spoke to no one.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I learned.”
He continued.
“I’m asking whether you still want it.”
Rosa looked toward Lily.
For years, that dream had belonged to another version of herself.
One without daycare schedules.
One without cleaning uniforms.
One without fear.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s okay.”
“You don’t have to decide.”
Rosa studied him.
“You really are learning.”
“Painfully.”
Lily ran into the room holding a picture.
“Daddy!”
Ethan turned.
She handed him the drawing.
Three stick figures stood beside a giant black rectangle.
“What’s this?”
“The piano.”
“And these people?”
“Me.”
“Mama.”
“And you.”
Ethan looked at Rosa.
His chest tightened.
Then he noticed another figure.
A woman drawn above them in the sky.
“Who is that?”
“Grandma.”
Ethan swallowed.
Lily smiled.
“She listens when we play.”
Rosa watched Ethan carefully fold the picture and place it inside his wallet.
May you like
He had photographs of CEOs, politicians, and award ceremonies stored everywhere.
But that crooked drawing became the first thing he carried with him every day.
