The House by Anjuelle Floyd Page A

That’s all I wanted, no alimony, no part of his business, nothing but to sell the house and split the profit. Edward wouldn’t hear of it. It’s like the house was his heaven.”
    “Seems to me you stood to gain more money by accepting the alimony and a part of the worth of the business,” Father Richard mused.
    “I wanted a clean break, not some monthly installments that Edward could hound me about.”
    “Why didn’t you ask for a lump payment? I’m sure your lawyers could have worked something out.”
    “I didn’t want something worked out.” Anna threw up her hands. “I wanted to be free of Edward and that house.”
    “The one you’re back in, and with him and the children.”
    Again Anna glanced down. “I took the house off the market when I learned he was dying. I asked Edward to let me bring him home. He put up no fuss.” Her mind drifted back. “My attorney was eager to push everything through and file the papers. But I knew something was wrong. I haven’t filed the papers. We’re still married. The children don’t know. Neither does Edward.” She held back tears against the rush of emotions. Pragmatism had allowed Anna to survive her time with Edward. Now parts of her were unwilling to accept that he was truly dying. A wave of grief and disempowerment overtook her. Just as she had been unable to keep Edward home and faithful, she was now unable to save him from the cancer.
    “What are your plans for the time you have left with him?” Father Richard asked.
    “I was going to take my half of the proceeds from the sale of the house and move to France. I’ve always wanted to live outside the country. Anna did not answer Father Richard’s question. Instead she described her dreams of living abroad. “When I was in college I wanted to study abroad. Mama said it was unsafe and too expensive. That’s what white people do, Elena had said. Again she had been knitting. And like times before when stating her case to Anna, she had not looked up. Her fingers had continued moving. Your father’s not made of money. He’s a minister. And congregations don’t want their preachers living like movie stars . They had been sitting in the living room the plastic encasing the sofa, on which Anna had been sitting, had crackled. How she hated it. The need to protect. Anna felt like that sofa, its cushions encased and unable to breathe.
    She looked to Father Richard, sitting in the chair across from her, and she on the sofa much like she had been with Anna. “Ed ward gave me freedom, or at least the hope of it.”
    Still avoiding Father Richard’s question, Anna said, “I majored in art history— something Mama thought was impractical. Thank God Daddy was paying the bills. After the conversation with Mama I felt guilty. I didn’t want members of the church thinking we were rich. But I felt stifled. And then there was the matter of leaving Daddy with Mama.”
    “Your parents didn’t get along?”
    “They were civil. Daddy loved Mama. But she always seemed unhappy, bitter. I don’t know why.” Anna took in breath. “I thought maybe when I graduated, I’d go to Paris on my own and get a job in the Louvre as a docent. Then I met Edward.” She chuckled. “He was a year out of Cal, working in real estate, determined to make something of himself,” Anna continued. “I envied that, his sense of purpose. Nothing was going to stop him.”
    Father Richard remained attentive.
    “The day I graduated, I asked him what would become of us. There was no way I was going back home to my parents. Edward suggested we get married the next day. `But we need a marriage license,’ I told him. That’s when Edward pulled an envelope from the pocket of his jacket and handed it to me. `I’ve had it for a month,’ he said. ` Will you marry me ?’ His lips seemed to tremble, like the afternoon in the hospital when I asked him to let me take him home and care for him.”
    Father Richard repeated his unanswered question,