Chapter 24
“You were not keeping everyone in line.”
“I know.”
“You were controlling me.”
She nodded.
I looked toward Lucas.
He was trying to climb onto a small plastic bridge and failing with tremendous determination.
Marlene watched him too.
“I should never have used him against you.”
My chest tightened.
“No.”
“I was afraid you would leave and Daniel would fall apart.”
“So you made me afraid to leave.”
“Yes.”
I turned toward her.
“That is the part I will not forget.”
“I understand.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
She looked at me.
“I spent months wondering if you could take my child from me because you said things with enough confidence that I started believing you. I was scared every time I disagreed with you. I hid conversations from my own father because I thought asking for help would make me look unstable. I walked injured because you wanted to teach me a lesson.”
Her eyes filled.
I did not stop.
“You didn’t lose control of me because you discovered who my father was.”
She flinched.
“You lost control because I finally discovered who I was.”
Marlene looked away.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
I believed she meant it.
That did not mean everything was repaired.
Forgiveness and access are not the same thing.
“I accept the apology,” I said.
She looked relieved.
“But things are not going back to the way they were.”
Her expression fell.
“I know.”
“No threats. No decisions about Lucas that override Daniel or me. No criticizing me through him. No taking property because you think I need discipline.”
She nodded slowly.
“And if any of that starts again, I step away.”
“I understand.”
I looked at her.
This time, I thought maybe she did.
A week later, Dad came over for dinner.
He sat on the floor with Lucas building a tower from wooden blocks.
Lucas destroyed it every time Dad finished.
My father reacted with dramatic horror.
“No! My engineering masterpiece!”
Lucas squealed.
I leaned against the kitchen counter and watched them.
Eventually Dad looked up.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That face is not nothing.”
I smiled.
“I was thinking about the day you found me.”
His expression softened.
“So was I.”
“Were you really just driving by?”
“Yes.”
“What were the chances?”
“Low.”
I shook my head.
“What would you have done if I had told you everything six months earlier?”