Her face crumpled. “I know.”
“Then tell me why.”
You deserved the truth.
“Because I spent most of my marriage wondering whether your father had chosen Linda over me. Then he died, and I learned there had been a daughter too. A daughter he’d secretly seen for years.”
“So you punished me for what Dad did.”
“No.”
“You hid my sister from me.”
“I was scared.”
A daughter he’d secretly seen for years.
“Of what?”
“That you’d find her and somehow everything your father did would become my fault too.”
I stared at her. “You were protecting yourself.”
“Yes.”
“At least you finally said it.”
I was scared.
***
The next morning, I called Claire.
“You found something,” she said.
“Yes.”
When she opened the door, I handed her a copy of Dad’s letter.
She read it, then slowly sat down. “Oh, Grace.”
You were protecting yourself.
