Edwin saw what happened in that family.
He saw Vivian belittle me.
He saw Nolan avoid confronting her.
He saw me keep showing up anyway.
And because he was a kind man with a bad habit of avoiding conflict, he rarely intervened directly.
I did not know until much later how guilty he felt about that.
Edwin died four years into my marriage.
Sudden cardiac arrest.
He had been in the garden trimming dead branches from the roses.
The ambulance came.
Then the hospital.
Then nothing.
Vivian’s grief was enormous.
For months, the entire Hartwell family moved around her like attendants around a queen in mourning.
She wore black.
Canceled social memberships.
Kept Edwin’s chair untouched.
And began referring to Wrenwood Avenue as:
