It hurt less than I expected.
Mostly it clarified things.
People prefer polished lies when the truth threatens the story they enjoy about a family. Daniel and Melissa understood that. They had chosen their strategy well. Not open war, not yet. Concern. Concern wrapped in civility. Concern presented through the mouths of churchgoers and consultants until doubt could settle around me like fog.
I went home, made tea, and sat by the window.
The magnolia tree swayed gently, unbothered by the wind.
That was when I realized something that age had taught me too late but not too late to matter: silence is only surrender if you have no plan.
Mine was becoming one.
On Monday morning I called the Savannah Public Library.
The woman who answered sounded cheerful in the efficient way public librarians often do, as if she had solved three problems already and was prepared to solve yours next.
