“Did you tell her I’d agreed?” I asked.
“I needed somewhere she could be safe.”
“That wasn’t the question,” Tessa said.
He looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
“And you knew I hadn’t,” I said.
“Yes. I knew.”
“Then why tell me work meetings?”
“Because you’d have told her to try again with him.” His voice rose. “You already did. I thought you’d get her parents involved, and then we’d lose any chance of keeping it quiet.”
I wanted to say he didn’t know what I would have done. The memory of that sink stopped me.
“I gave her bad advice,” I said. “Tessa, I’m sorry. I should have listened instead of telling you how to fix something I didn’t understand.”
Caleb lifted his head, as if I had finally reached his point.
“But you could have chosen not to tell me her business,” I said to him. “You could have found somewhere else. You didn’t get to promise her my permission.”
“I was trying to help my sister.”
“You lied to your sister too.”
Tessa tightened her grip on the bag. Caleb looked at her, then back at me.
“Yes,” he said. “I lied to both of you.”
I pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down. I believed now that he had wanted to protect her. I still needed him to understand that my front door wasn’t his to give away.
Ruth waited until Caleb stopped looking at me.
“Tessa, your intake is confirmed for tomorrow morning,” she said. “We can finish the arrangements now. You don’t have to keep using this address.”
Tessa lowered her bag to the floor, slowly, as though she wanted to be certain she had heard correctly.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes. I’ll go over everything with you before we leave.”
I put both hands flat on the table. Here was something I could agree to without pretending I had agreed to everything before it.
“You can finish here,” I said. “This meeting. Today.”
Caleb pulled out the chair beside mine. “We should keep it available until she’s settled. In case there are problems.”
“No.”
“You don’t know how long this takes.”
“Neither do you. That’s why I’m not agreeing to something with no end.”
He left the chair halfway out. I hated that Tessa had to sit there while we argued about a room she had thought she was welcome in.
I turned toward her. “I’m not asking you to leave this minute. I’m saying he can’t offer you my home again.”
“I understand,” she said. Then, to Caleb, “Let her answer for herself.”
He sat down, but Ruth asked whether Tessa wanted him involved in the rest of the planning. Tessa said she would rather finish with Ruth. Caleb went downstairs. I stayed in the kitchen until Tessa called me back to ask if I could come with her in the morning.
“Yes,” I said.
It was a small answer. It felt better than making a promise I hadn’t thought through.
Before they left, we went down to reception for the parcels. Imogen brought them from behind the desk and checked the names with Tessa. She didn’t ask what was inside. Tessa signed for them, then fitted the smaller packages into her bag. I carried the largest one while she adjusted the strap on her shoulder.
Caleb reached for it.
“I’ve got it,” I said.
For once he let an answer stand.
The next morning, I met Tessa with her bag and the parcels and accompanied her to intake. Ruth was there. I sat beside Tessa while she answered the first questions, then waited outside when she wanted privacy.
I had spent part of the night wanting to explain that my advice about her marriage had come from ignorance, not indifference. Sitting there, I understood how little that distinction would do for her. She had asked for help once. I had told her to go back and try harder.
