My son stepped into the backyard holding a champagne glass.
The instant he saw me kneeling in the mud…
His face drained of every trace of color.
The glass slipped from his fingers.
It shattered across the stone patio.
“…Mom?”
The single word crashed through the party like thunder.
Vanessa stopped smiling.
Patricia lowered her eyes.
George instinctively took one step backward.
Ethan sprinted across the lawn.
He dropped beside me, tore off his suit jacket, and carefully wrapped it around my shoulders.
His hands were shaking.
His eyes filled with horror.
“Who did this?”
Silence.
No one answered.
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Finally she forced a nervous smile.
“Honey…”
“It was just a misunderstanding.”
“I thought she was someone who wandered in asking for money.”
Ethan slowly turned toward her.
I’d never seen his expression so cold.
“So…”
His voice was dangerously quiet.
“You sprayed an elderly woman with a garden hose in front of two hundred guests?”
