I froze. “I have a brother?”
“His name is Daniel.”
“And you raised him?”
“Yes.”
“So you left.”
“But you gave up on me?”
“Yes. I kept telling myself you’d come looking for me when you were older.”
“How could I? I didn’t even know you wanted me!”
“See?” my mom said. “He left you for another family!”
I spun around.
“You hid his letters from me! Why?”
I froze.
“Because I knew he’d hurt you eventually. I wasn’t going to let him do to you what he did to me.”
That’s when I understood.
She wasn’t just afraid of her own story repeating.
She was so sure all men were the same that she’d decided, for me, what kind of father Thomas was.
I looked at Wade. “And you thought bringing him here like this was a good idea?”
“I wanted her to see what she was doing. But I should’ve put you first.”
