Chapter Seven – Silas Between Them
Silas crossed the room without hurrying.
The sunset behind him threw his figure first into silhouette, then gradually revealed his face as he entered the warmer interior light.
Neither woman moved.
The younger woman’s arm remained raised, finger directed toward Ruth.
Ruth stood beside the table, pale and exhausted.
Silas positioned himself between them.
Not as a barrier.
As a pause.
“That’s enough.”
His voice was calm.
The younger woman stared at him.
“Move.”
“No.”
“This has nothing to do with you.”
“Maybe not.”
“Then move.”
Silas looked at her.
“You came here for the truth.”
“Yes.”
“You won’t hear it if both of you spend the evening defending yourselves.”
Her jaw tightened.
“I am not defending myself.”
“No. You’re prosecuting someone before hearing the evidence.”
The words landed badly.
She lowered her hand.
“Do not speak to me as though I am unreasonable.”
“I don’t think you’re unreasonable.”
“Then what do you think?”
“I think you’re grieving.”
The younger woman’s eyes sharpened.
Silas continued before she could answer.
“And I think grief has been asking questions your mother should have answered while she was alive.”
Ruth looked away.
The younger woman said nothing.
“That isn’t your fault,” Silas continued. “But it isn’t entirely Ruth’s either.”
Ruth looked at him.
“Silas.”
He raised one hand slightly.
“You asked me once to stop you if you tried to protect the secret longer than the people involved.”
Ruth’s expression changed.
The younger woman looked between them.
“You knew this would happen.”
Silas answered.
“I knew Ruth was afraid to tell you.”
“Why?”
He glanced at Ruth.
“Because the truth does not make your mother innocent.”
The younger woman froze.
“Of what?”
Silas did not answer.
Instead, he looked at Ruth.
She closed her eyes.
The room seemed to darken as the sun slipped lower outside.
When Ruth opened her eyes again, something had settled inside her.
Decision.
“There is another letter,” she said.
The younger woman’s breath caught.
“Where?”
Ruth looked toward the stove.
“Behind the loose board beneath it.”
Silas stepped aside.
For the first time since entering, there was no one physically between the two women.
Yet the argument had changed.
The confrontation was no longer about who was lying.
It was about who had been brave enough to tell the whole truth.
