to your sixteen-year-old daughter?”
“I didn’t believe she would actually go.”
“But she did. And six years later, she came back anyway.”
Dad covered his face.
I refused to let the conversation end there.
“What did you tell her in 1992?”
“I said she couldn’t simply return and rip open everyone’s wounds again.”
“Did Mom say that?”
“No.”
“Did I?”
“No.”
“Did Laura?”
“No.”
I leaned toward him.
“Then who exactly were you protecting?”
“All of you.”
“No.”
“Emelia…”
“You were protecting yourself. You didn’t want to admit that you
