June shook her head and winced as if it pained her to say again the words she’d surely just spoken to Melanie only moments before. “He killed himself, Eva.”
Melanie pivoted to June. “And how do we know that’s what happened? How do we know you didn’t do this to him?”
“Because she loved him,” Eva said quickly, not taking her eyes off June. “Right, June? You would not do this and lose the house and your work. You would not do it.”
“What are you talking about!” Melanie exclaimed.
June pulled out a kitchen chair and slumped into it. “No. I would not.”
“What do you mean by ‘lose the house’?” Melanie said.
“In his will Elwood left the house—everything—to the sons of that woman who was in the car with him the night of the accident,” Eva said. “And no one knows this, but June is the one who has been writing Elwood’s scripts. She has nothing if he’s dead, Melanie. No house. No work. And she loved him. She didn’t do this.”
“But you don’t bury a man in his backyard. For heaven’s sake, June! What were you thinking?” And then Melanie pivoted to face Eva. “And why didn’t you tell me you’re Russian? God in heaven, the two of you are going to ruin me!”
“I should have quit when I found out about that list. I should have. But you need to know I am not—”
“What? Not Russian?” Melanie cut in. “Of course you are! I don’t care if you think you’re German. You were born in Russia! You lived there. Your family was shipped off to a Siberian gulag! That’s what happened, isn’t it? That’s how you lost everybody you cared about. They were hauled off to Siberia. InRussia! Tell me everything June just told me about you isn’t true.”
Eva swiveled to look at Nicky again. He was knocking over his tower with a spatula she’d loaned him from the kitchen, happily uninterested in what the adults were shouting about. She turned back to Melanie.
“What June probably told you is true, but IamGerman. All my family is German. Yes, I was born in Russia, but I am not Russian.”
“Then why did you lie to me about it? Why have you been lying to everyone? Why have you told everyone you are from Poland? Why do you pretend to be someone who you are not? Can’t you see how that looks? It looks like you have something to hide. It looks like you’re a communist trying to pretend that you’re not one!”
“I assure you I am not.”
“But it looks like you are! Don’t you see? That’s all that matters!”
Melanie pulled out a kitchen chair, too, and sank down into it, resting her head in her hands.
Eva took the chair beside her. “I’m so sorry, Melanie. I will leave at once. I didn’t—”
But Melanie didn’t let her finish. “Me firing you doesn’t solve anything. It solves nothing. You’ve already been here for five months. It’s too late for that. And you can’t leave me with this mess!” Melanie tossed a hand in June’s direction.
“I swear I didn’t know when I first started coming here what had happened to you,” Eva said. “When I found out about the blacklist, I did look for another job so that I could quit. I should have quit anyway. It was wrong of me to stay on. It’s wrong of me to stay now.”
Melanie sighed. Shook her head as she massaged her temple. “I told you. It’s too late. You’ve already been here all this time. And I don’t want you to quit. I…I need you right now. For this goddamn mess and for that little boy. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
“Hush up and let me think.”
“You are wonderful with him and he is so fond of you. I can tell. He feels safe with you.”
“That’s nice of you to say, but that doesn’t solve anything, either.”
“What do you mean? What must we solve?”
Melanie pointed in the direction of the house next door. “Elwood is dead and everyone thinks he’s alive. Oh, and let’s not forget June buried him in the backyard and you and I both know it.”
June looked up. “Hey. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I did that.”
“No shit, June!” Melanie said hotly. “What exactlywereyou thinking?”
“I…I just panicked,” June said. “When I found him, I knew I was going to have to call somebody. And I knew when I made the call, they would come and take him away and he would be gone from me for good and I would have nothing. I just…I didn’t want to say goodbye to any of it. To him. To his house. To my life here. To any of it.”
“Okay, but why the rose garden?” Eva asked.
