Vanessa had been taking mine for granted because I kept doing the laundry.
Each person had looked at the person doing the work and thought, “Well, they’re managing.”
So why change anything?
I turned to Josh.
“Did you know she was doing most of this?”
He hesitated.
“I knew she handled more of the house stuff.”
“More?”
He looked away.
Vanessa stood up.
“I didn’t bring laundry here because I wanted to make Eileen miserable.”
“Then why didn’t you ask me?” I said.
She looked at me.
That was the question I needed answered.
“If you were drowning, why didn’t you say, ‘Eileen, I’m overwhelmed. Can you help me?'”
For a moment, she said nothing.
Then she looked down at the baskets.
“Because you might have said no.”
I hadn’t expected that.
She swallowed.
“At first, I asked. You said yes. Then I kept bringing more, and I started telling myself you didn’t mind. After a while, I just stopped asking.”
I frowned.
“Stopping asking made you feel less guilty?”
“I told myself you didn’t mind.”
“Even after I told you I did?”
She winced.
“No.”
“And ‘You’re home all day anyway’?”
Her eyes filled, but she didn’t look away.
