Chapter 15
Ryan wrote once a month from prison.
Nora kept the letters.
I did not read them.
Lily would decide one day if she wanted them.
For now, she deserved childhood without envelopes full of adult guilt.
Claire read some of hers.
Then stopped.
“He apologizes like he is asking for a receipt,” she said.
I laughed because it was painfully accurate.
Mara asked hard questions as she grew.
“Did Daddy know where I was?”
Claire answered truthfully.
“Yes.”
“Did he try to get me?”
“No.”
Mara went quiet.
Then she said, “I don’t want him.”
Claire nodded.
“You do not have to.”
Lily asked about Ryan too.
“Was Daddy bad?”
I held her small hands.
“He made very bad choices that hurt you.”
“Does he love me?”
I breathed carefully.
“I think he says he does. But love must protect.”
She thought about that.
“Then he didn’t love good.”
“No,” I whispered. “He didn’t.”
She leaned against me.
“You love good.”
I closed my eyes.
“I try.”
May you like
“You do.”
That was enough to keep me going for months.
