Chapter 16 - Before I Was Born
Mom read Dad's letter twice. Then she folded it and set it beside her tea.
"He's telling the truth about one thing," she said. "There's something I didn't tell you."
My stomach tightened. "What?"
"I left Ethan once. Before you were born."
She told me she'd gone to a friend's apartment with one suitcase and a pregnancy test. Dad had been shouting at her, checking her messages, deciding which friends she could see. She'd met Caleb and admitted she was afraid.
"He offered to help me find a place," she said. "I was young, and I wanted to believe Ethan could change. When he came with flowers and promised counseling, I went back."
"Why?"
"Because I loved him. Because I was frightened. Because I thought I could make a family out of a promise. None of those were good reasons for staying once he hurt us. But they're the truth."
I sat with the answer. For a moment, I was furious with her. Then I remembered the way she had looked on the kitchen floor, trying to pull me toward the stairs even while she could barely breathe.
"Dad wants me to blame you," I said.
"Yes."
"I don't know how I feel about you going back."
"You don't have to know today."
I moved to the chair beside her. "I do know I want to be here with you."
She held my hand without speaking.
That afternoon, Caleb came over. Mom asked him why he hadn't insisted that Ethan get help before we were born.
"I was more worried about protecting the family business than I was about protecting you," he admitted. "I thought I could handle him privately. I was wrong."
Mom said, "Then don't make that mistake with anybody else."
He nodded. And I knew that wasn't the end of his work.
Two months later, our lawyer phoned with news. Investigators had authenticated an audio recording from the lake house.
May you like
"It captures Ethan telling Sarah what to say while a child is crying behind a locked door," she said.
I knew which child.
