Lily sat opposite me.
“Mom, why didn’t you sign his first settlement and walk away?”
“Because walking away without the truth would have left you standing inside his lie.”
Her eyes filled.
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”
I reached across the table.
“You were trying to hold on to your father.”
“And you?”
“I was trying to hold on to myself.”
She came around the table and wrapped her arms around me.
I let the tears come, and she held me until Ruth knocked once and walked in carrying a pie.
“I brought enough for four,” Ruth said.
“There are only three of us,” Lily replied.
A second knock sounded.
Daniel stood on the porch, holding Elaine’s red notebook.
“I thought your mother might want this back.”
I opened the door wider.
“Come in.
But leave the notebook in the hall.”
He set it down.
