“But you came here and tried to rewrite what happened.”
“I was hurt too.”
“I believe you.”
Elena looked surprised.
“I do.”
Chloe continued.
“Maybe you regretted leaving.”
“Maybe you were ashamed.”
“Maybe Dad was angry.”
“Maybe Julian heard a version of the story that made it easier for you to live with your decisions.”
Elena covered her mouth.
“But none of that turns absence into someone else’s fault.”
The room was silent.
Chloe’s father stood near the table looking like he wanted the floor to swallow him.
He had never wanted praise.
That was another thing about him.
He simply did what needed doing.
For fifteen years.
Six daughters.
Six sets of school forms.
Six teenagers.
Six different heartbreaks.
There were years when he worked until his hands cracked.
Years when money was so tight that Christmas presents came from clearance aisles.
Once, when the furnace broke, he slept beside the space heater in the living room because there were not enough blankets to keep every bedroom warm.
