Then their mother.
— You know what’s strange?
– What ?
— For years, I believed that you were the person in the family who loved me the least because you were always the one who said no.
He was an inspiration.
— Actually, you were the first person to love me enough to stop saving me.
Camille shook her head gently.
— I only set a limit. What you did after that is up to you.
Julien smiled.
– I know.
And that was essential.
His transformation was not his own doing.
Neither did his father’s apologies.
His mother’s progress even less so.
Camille had spent almost her entire life believing that it was her responsibility to keep the four members of this family together.
She was wrong.
Her only responsibility was to decide what she accepted, what she gave, and how far others could enter her life.
The rest belonged to them.
Before sunset, Alain called from the garage:
— Are you coming? We’ll order pizzas.
Julien started to go home.
Then he turned around.
— Camille ?
She remained in the aisle for a few more seconds.
Years earlier, the four of them had stood outside another house, around a wrecked car, convinced that family meant Camille had to give in whenever the others demanded something.
Today, nothing was perfect.
Money had not erased the lost years.
The new windshield did not eliminate the noise on the first try.
The apologies had not changed the past.
But no one was asking him anymore to pretend that nothing had happened.
Camille looked at her house.
His office was lit by the evening sun.
His cherry tree.
His car.
His door was open.
Then she looked at the three figures waiting for her inside.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m coming.”
She went in and gently closed the door behind her.
Not to keep his family away.
For the first time in her life, Camille simply closed the door of her house.
